SAPTA MATRIKAS INTODUCTION TO SHAKTA CULT: WORSHIP OF THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE. The worship of female deities can be traced back to ancient times of the Indus and Harappan civilisations in India. The worship of female principle can be easily demonstrated by the various ornamental stone rings and discs found from the Maurya and Sunga period and also the nude female figurines that were found from the Indus civilisations. Many scholars also believe that the pottery images of goddesses found were probably