Nayikas
India
There are three uses of this term.
First, there are two groups of deities called nayika, each consisting of eight
individual goddesses.
Based on the second group, also specific women are sometimes given the name nayika.
Nayikas (1)
This group comprises eight manifestations of Durga,
with a fierce and sometimes even violent character; a fact that is
indicated by their names. Each goddess of this team has - in one or
another way - the term canda incorporated in her name; a Sanskrit
word meaning "fiery, fierce and violent". The following list shows
this clearly:
- Ati-Canda
- Camunda (a yogini of the Kalika Purana, a Navadurga and a Saptamatrika)
- Canda (a yogini of the Kalika Purana)
- Candanayika (a yogini of the Kalika Purana)
- Candavati (a yogini of the Kalika Purana)
- Candroga (a yogini of the Kalika Purana)
- Pracanda
- Ugracanda (or Ugra; a yogini of the Kalika Purana)
These eight Indian deities are said to be personifications of "illicit love" (if such can really exist) and are probably remnants of an earlier Indian society, in which sexuality had not yet been classified into what "may" and "may not" be done. Their individual names are
Aruna, Balini, Jayini, Kameshvari, Kaulesi, Medini, Sarvesvari and Vimal.
Nayikas (3)
Another use of the term nayika refers to real-life women who, as the
Kama Sutra states, may be approached
and joined by men without such 'intercourse' being regarded as sin;
hinting at the fact that they are so-called sacred or ritual prostitutes.