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The Mahavidya (Sanskrit: महाविद्या, IAST: Mahāvidyā, lit. Great Wisdoms ) are a group of ten Hindu [ 1 ] Tantric goddesses . [ 2 ] The ten Mahavidyas are usually named in the following sequence: Kali , Tara , Tripura Sundari , Bhuvaneshvari , Bhairavi , Chhinnamasta , Dhumavati , Bagalamukhi , Matangi and Kamalatmika . [ 3 ]
Another description in the same text says Dhumavati is aged with a wrinkled, angry face and cloud-like complexion. Her nose, eyes, and throat resemble a crow's. She holds a broom, a winnowing fan, a torch, and a club. She is cruel and frowning. Her hair appears dishevelled and she wears the simple clothes of a beggar. Her breasts are dry. [1]
The commonly known origin of Tara is from the 17th chapter of the Rudrayāmala which describes the initial unsuccessful attempts of the sage Vasiṣṭha in worshipping Tara, and the subsequent meeting with the god Vishnu in the form of Buddha in the region called Mahācīna (China) and his eventual success by the means of kaula rites.
Besides the Mahavidya Bagalamukhi, Matangi is the other Mahavidya, whose worship is primarily prescribed to acquire supernatural powers. A hymn in the Maha-Bhagavata Purana asks her grace to control one's foes, while the Tantrasara says that recitation of her mantra, meditation on her form and her ritual worship gives one to the power to ...
An 18th-century painting from Rajasthan depicts Chhinnamasta as black, as described in the Pranatoshini Tantra legend. She is seated on a copulating couple. Chhinnamasta is often named as the fifth [24] [25] [26] or sixth [1] [27] [20] Mahavidya (Mahavidyas are a group of ten fearsome goddesses from the Hindu esoteric tradition of Tantra), with hymns identifying her as a fierce aspect of Devi ...
Sri Vidya practices are primarily divided into Kaula and Samaya, as referenced in the Lalita Sahasranama.Kaula is further subdivided into different schools: Dakṣiṇācāra, which focuses on external rituals; Mishramachara, a combination of ritualistic and meditative practices; and Vamachara, or left-hand practices.
Tripura Sundari means the most beautiful woman in the three worlds. Tripura could also mean the three cities crafted by Mayasura and destroyed by Tripurantaka, thus meaning "She who is beautiful to the destroyer of the Three Cities". She is known as Tripura as her mantra has three clusters of letters.
In her Mahavidya context, she is also rarely associated with incarnations of Lakshmi such as Sita and Rukmini, though she is identified as two of the Saptamatrikas who are also forms associated with Vishnu, Varahi, and Vaishnavi.