The word Mahavidya is made of maha, great, and vidya, knowledge or wisdom. It names a group of ten goddesses, the Dasha Mahavidya, who are among the most striking images of the Goddess in Indian religion. Some are fierce and some are serene; one wears a garland of skulls and another sits on a lotus with elephants pouring water over her. The tradition gathers them into one set because it sees them as ten ways of knowing the one Goddess, from the dark that swallows time to the beauty that makes the world.
This section has one page for each of the ten. Everything here is tradition set out as tradition. We describe images, stories, temples and festivals as devotees and scholars report them. We do not give mantras, rituals or procedures, and we make no promise of results. Tantric worship is a matter between a teacher and a student, and this site is not a teacher.
The ten Mahavidyas
| No. | Form | The name means | In a few words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kali | The dark one, or time | Dark, with a garland of heads, stands over Shiva |
| 2 | Tara | The star, the saviour | Blue, who carries the devotee across |
| 3 | Tripura Sundari | Beauty of the three worlds | Red, seated on a throne, with a sugarcane bow |
| 4 | Bhuvaneshvari | Queen of the worlds | Mistress of space, with noose and goad |
| 5 | Bhairavi | The fierce one | Red, with a rosary and book, a fire of austerity |
| 6 | Chhinnamasta | She whose head is cut off | Holds her own head, a sign of self-offering |
| 7 | Dhumavati | The smoky one | An old widow with a crow, who stands for emptiness |
| 8 | Bagalamukhi | She who holds speech still | Golden-yellow, with a club, who stills the tongue |
| 9 | Matangi | The tantric Saraswati | Green, with a veena and a parrot |
| 10 | Kamala | The lotus one | Golden, on a lotus with elephants, a form of Lakshmi |
The story of the ten
The tradition tells the origin of the Mahavidyas through the story of Sati, the daughter of Daksha and the first wife of Shiva. Daksha arranged a great sacrifice and did not invite Shiva. Sati wished to go to her father’s house all the same, and Shiva advised against it. In the telling usually given, Sati grew angry at the refusal, and her form changed: she became terrible and dark, and then, when Shiva turned to leave, she appeared in ten forms that stood in all the ten directions so that he could not go. Shiva understood who she was, and she then went to the sacrifice, where she gave up her body. The story is told in the Mahabhagavata Purana and in several Tantric texts, with differences in the order and the details.
The story serves a purpose within the tradition. It shows that the Goddess is the whole of reality, the husband’s equal and more, and not merely his companion. A reader need not take the narrative literally to see its point: ten ways of seeing one power.
Where the list comes from
The set of ten is found in the Shakta Tantras and in some Puranas. The names are very widely agreed, and the order given above is the one used in the common lists. Some texts give the fifth as Tripura Bhairavi, and a few Tantric traditions keep lists of a different length or order. We follow the usual ten.
The tradition also divides the ten in several ways. A common division is into the fierce forms (Kali, Tara, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Bhairavi) and the gentler ones (Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Matangi, Kamala), though the dividing line is not the same in every text. Another division, in Tantric scholarship, speaks of two families, the Kali kula and the Sri kula, and the placing of each Mahavidya differs between texts.
A modern astrological tradition links each Mahavidya to a planet or to the ascendant: Kali with Saturn, Tara with Jupiter, Tripura Sundari with Mercury, Bhuvaneshvari with the Moon, Bhairavi with the ascendant, Chhinnamasta with Rahu, Dhumavati with Ketu, Bagalamukhi with Mars, Matangi with the Sun and Kamala with Venus. This is a later layer, and the lists differ from teacher to teacher. It is not found in the older Tantras, and it is not a reason to think any planet in a chart calls for a particular worship.
How the ten are worshipped
Worship of the Mahavidyas takes several forms, and they are not alike.
In ordinary devotion, people go to a temple, read a hymn and light a lamp, as they would for any form of the Goddess. Several of the ten, such as Kali and Kamala, are worshipped in this way by millions of households, and the festivals of Kali and Lakshmi are among the largest in India.
In Tantric worship, the Mahavidyas are approached through a lineage. A student receives initiation (diksha) from a teacher, and learns a mantra, a diagram (yantra) and a way of practice that belong to that line. Some lineages use symbolic and inner practices, and some use outer ritual that is private to the initiated. The Sri Vidya tradition of Tripura Sundari is the best known of these, with its own texts and with a long scholarly tradition. We describe the existence of these traditions and leave their practice to those who are in them. Reading about the goddesses is not an invitation to try a ritual from a page, and teachers in the tradition say the same.
Temples
The Mahavidyas have no single centre, but the Kamakhya temple on the Nilachal hill in Guwahati, Assam, is the place most associated with the whole group, with shrines on the hill for several or all of the ten, and a tradition that links the main temple with Tripura Sundari. Individual forms have their own well-known places, which are named on each page, including Kalighat and Dakshineswar in Kolkata for Kali, Tarapith in West Bengal for Tara, and Datia in Madhya Pradesh for Bagalamukhi and Dhumavati. We do not quote timings, fees or rules; check each temple’s own site.
Festivals
Each Mahavidya has a jayanti, a birthday observance, on a tithi given by tradition, and the days are given on each page as the commonly stated ones, with a note that calendars differ. Some line up with larger festivals: Kali with Kali Puja at Diwali, Matangi with Akshaya Tritiya, and Kamala with Diwali. The Navratri festivals honour the Goddess in many forms, and the Navadurga guide covers a different set of nine. Two other sections complete the picture: the Ashta Lakshmi for the gentle side of the Goddess, and the Durga Saptashati for her oldest scripture.
Hymns and texts
The older Devi texts on this site include the Devi Suktam, the Lalita Sahasranama (the thousand names of Tripura Sundari in the Sri Vidya tradition), the Mahishasura Mardini Stotram, the Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram and the Bhavani Ashtakam.
Frequently asked questions
↳ Who are the ten Mahavidyas?
They are Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala. The tradition sees them as ten forms of the one Goddess.
↳ What does Mahavidya mean?
It means great knowledge or great wisdom. The name suggests that each form is a way of knowing the Goddess, and not only an image to be worshipped.
↳ How did the Mahavidyas appear, according to tradition?
The Mahabhagavata Purana and some Tantras tell that Sati, refused permission to go to her father's sacrifice, took ten forms that stood in the ten directions around Shiva. Details differ between tellings.
↳ Are the Mahavidyas dangerous to worship?
Ordinary devotion, such as a hymn or a temple visit, is open to anyone. Tantric practice is passed from teacher to student, and this site does not teach it. If you are interested, speak to a teacher of a recognised lineage.
↳ Are the Mahavidyas the same as the Navadurga?
No. The Navadurga are nine forms of Durga for the nine days of Navratri, while the Mahavidyas are ten forms in the Tantric tradition. Both are forms of the one Goddess, and the two sets are different.