Devi Sri vs. Coatlicue

Devi Sri

Dewi Sri is believed to have dominated over the underworld and the Moon. Thus, Dewi Sri encompasses the whole spectrum of the Mother Goddess- having dominion over birth and Life: she controls rice: the staple food of Indonesians; hence life and wealth or prosperity; most especially rice surpluses for the wealth of kingdoms in Java such as Mataram, Majapahit and Pajajaran; and their inverse: poverty, famine, hunger, disease (to a certain extant) and Death. She is often associated with rice paddy snake.

Dewi Sri is always depicted as a youthful, beautiful, slim yet curvaceous woman, with stylised facial features idiosyncratic to the respective locale, essentially a woman at the height of her femininity and fertility. Usually Dewi Sri is depicted holding rice plant with full rice grains in one of her hands. High Javanese culture reflecting the wayang aesthetic dictates she be depicted with a white face, thin-downward cast eyes and a serene expression. There is much cross-pollination between the qualities, aesthetics and so forth between the deity Dewi Sri and the wayang character Sinta in the Javanese version of the Ramayana and the same for Rama with Sedhana. The loro blonyo (two "pedestals" or foundations) statue also have some overlap with Dewi Sri and Sedhana.

India probably takes the credit for birthing the ultimate rice culture almost 10,000 years ago, according to researcher Tuk-Tuk Kumar author of the history of rice. A strain of wild rice found on the Himalayan slopes has also been documented 4000 years ago called Indica. Extraordinary in yield, nutrition, resistance to disease, and of course, good taste, rice migrated around the globe over the years but India still claims the best rice -- the prized aromatic rice, Basmati.

In those early days eating and religion were more than a Sunday dinner after church. Food and the preparation of food and the deities around food make up the fabric of culture and religion that was a part of everyday Indian Life. Hinduism's ancient scriptures have many references to rice. The Yajur Veda describes the preparation of rice cakes as a ritual offering. In the Atharva Veda, rice is described as "healing balms, the sons of heaven who never die." Smritis tell how Goddess Devi Lalithambika is known to be especially fond of payasa annam, sweet rice. Indeed, husked rice is always present in even the simplest Hindu puja as one of the offerings. So ...