113bC4l

siddhas and the religious landscape ⁄ 181
figure 6 Interior of Hirapur Yogini Pitha in Orissa.
Ronald M. Davidson
is no sexual representation at all in any of the sculptural programs associated
with the sites, although erotic motifs have been seen on contemporary temples
from the same geographical area. 40 In reality, the primary activity depicted at
these sites—beyond the figures of the yoginis—is the display of severed heads
(Figure 7), indicating that the sanguinary rites were probably the principal activity
practiced. The location of these temples in areas dominated by tribal
peoples that were involved in sanguinary rituals suggests that they were constructed
with a similar ritual in mind. The major problem is a lack of evidence
for undomesticated tribal peoples building in stone, even if the yogini temple
at Khajuraho was identifiably the product of a branch of the Gond tribe.
We also have evidence of other temples in which the representation of yoginis
has continued: the Causathyayogini mandirs in Banaras and Ujjain, the
Siddhbhadra mandir in Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), the Baba kot Mandir in
the Damdama Palace in Mandi. In addition, yoginis are interpreted as part of
the sculptural program in the %aktidevi Mandir at Chattrarhi (Himachal
Pradesh) by those in the village. With the exception of the %aktidevi Mandir,
which is not clearly yogini in execution, the others are from the seventeenth
century or later. In the two Mandi temples, the yoginis are represented by sim