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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 ]
The word Bhuvaneshvari is a compound of the words Bhuvana Iśwari, meaning "Goddess of the world" or "Queen of the universe", where the worlds are the tri-bhuvana or three regions of bhūḥ , bhuvaḥ and svaḥ (Heavens).
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.
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 ...
Dhumavati is always considered a widow, and thus, is the only Mahavidya without a consort. Though associated with Shiva, having eaten him, he has since left her. [3] [20] Having destroyed the male element in the universe, she is left with nothing, but she is still Shakti, the female element with latent energy.
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.
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 ...
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.