Devī is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is deva.
Devi and deva mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in
Hinduism.
The concept and reverence for goddesses appears in the Vedas, which were composed around the 3rd millennium BCE.
Goddesses such as
Lakshmi,
Parvati,
Durga,
Saraswati,
Sita,
Radha and
Kali have continued to be revered in the modern era.
The medieval era Puranas witness a major .