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The Devi

The Dasha Mahavidya

दशमहाविद्याः

Ten forms of the one Devi, from Kali to Kamala, each a mahavidya, a great wisdom, worshipped in the Tantras and in the Shakta Puranas as doorways to the Mother.

The ten great wisdomsTen forms of Adi ParashaktiKali to Kamala
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Cite

MLA

“The Dasha Mahavidya.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/dasha-mahavidya/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). The Dasha Mahavidya. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/devata/dasha-mahavidya/

How they are shown

Each has her own form. Kali is dark and naked, garlanded with heads. Tara is blue and stands on Shiva. Shodashi is a girl of sixteen. Bhuvaneshvari holds the noose and goad and blesses. Bhairavi is red and fierce. Chhinnamasta holds her own severed head, which drinks from the streams of blood rising from her neck. Dhumavati is an old widow in a chariot with a crow on its banner. Bagalamukhi, dressed in yellow, holds an enemy by the tongue. Matangi plays the vina. Kamala sits on a lotus while elephants pour water over her.

01The ten, and how they appeared

The usual order is Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari (Shodashi), Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala. The Mahabhagavata Purana tells how they came forth. Daksha was holding his yajna without inviting Shiva, and Sati wished to go. When Mahadev forbade her, she grew terrible, and as he turned to leave, ten forms of the Devi stood in the ten directions to block his way. Seeing them, Shiva understood who his wife was and let her go. The Shakta tradition places their home in Manidvipa, the jewelled island of the Mahadevi, and the Devi Bhagavata Purana and Rudra Yamala Tantra describe them.

02Kalikula and Shrikula

Two great streams of Shakta worship read the ten differently. The Kalikula takes Kali as the highest and the other nine as her forms; the Shrikula takes Tripura Sundari as the highest. The Todala Tantra pairs each Mahavidya with one of the ten avatars of Vishnu, while the Guhyatiguhya Tantra turns it around and says the avatars came forth from the Mahavidyas. Their worship is the work of initiates, done with the guru’s mantra and yantra, and much of it is kept quiet. The Gupta Navaratris of Magha and Ashadha, the two ‘hidden’ Navaratris, are the seasons for it.

03Where they are worshipped

On the Nilachal hill at Kamakhya in Assam, the Mahavidyas have their own shrines around the great peetha. Tara is worshipped at Tarapith in Birbhum, at the Ugratara Devalaya in Guwahati as a small pool of water, and on a hilltop above Shimla. Chhinnamasta has her temple at Rajrappa, where the Bhairavi river meets the Damodar, and is worshipped as Chhinnamastika at Chintpurni in Himachal. At the Pitambara Peeth in Datia, Bagalamukhi and Dhumavati are worshipped side by side, and Nalkheda in Malwa keeps another old seat of Bagalamukhi. A Kangra painting of 1880 now in the Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, sets all ten in a row with their Bhairavas.

In the texts

  • Mahabhagavata Purana
  • Devi Bhagavata Purana
  • Todala Tantra
  • Rudra Yamala Tantra

Utsav: festivals

Gupta Navaratri (Magha and Ashadha)Kali Puja (Kartika Amavasya)Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya

Temples on this site 14

Kamakhya TempleRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Kamakhya Temple

On Nilachal hill above the Brahmaputra stands the most revered of the Shakti Peethas of the east, where the Kalika Purana says the yoni of Mata Sati fell. There is no murti in the garbhagriha, only a cleft in the rock kept wet by a spring.

TarapithStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Tarapith

The seat of Maa Tara on the Dwarka river in Birbhum, beside a great cremation ground, made famous in the 19th century by the siddha Bamakhepa. Many count it among the Shakti Peethas, where the third eye of Sati fell.

Ugratara Devalaya, GuwahatiRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Ugratara Devalaya, Guwahati

The temple of Ugratara in Uzan Bazaar, Guwahati, built by the Ahom king Siva Singha in 1725 beside the Jorpukhuri tanks. There is no murti: the Devi is a small pit of water in the sanctum.

Tara Devi Temple, ShimlaStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Tara Devi Temple, Shimla

Tara, the Mahavidya who carries the devotee across the sea of samsara, has her seat on Tarav hill south-west of Shimla. The Sen family of Keonthal, who came to these hills from Bengal, brought her with them.

Maa Chhinnamastika Temple, RajrappaStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Maa Chhinnamastika Temple, Rajrappa

The temple of Devi Chhinnamasta at the meeting of the Bhairavi and the Damodar in Ramgarh district, the best-known seat of this Mahavidya and a centre of Tantric sadhana in eastern Bharat.

Mata Chintpurni (Chhinnamastika) TempleStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Mata Chintpurni (Chhinnamastika) Temple

The Devi who ends worry, Chintpurni, worshipped as Chhinnamastika in a pindi on a ridge of the Una hills. Four Mahadev temples guard her seat, one in each direction.

Shri Pitambara Peeth, DatiaStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Shri Pitambara Peeth, Datia

An ashram-temple of the Mahavidyas in Datia, founded by a renunciate known simply as Swami ji. Bagalamukhi, the Devi in yellow, is worshipped here for victory over enemies and in lawsuits.

Maa Baglamukhi Temple, NalkhedaStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Maa Baglamukhi Temple, Nalkheda

Baglamukhi, the Mahavidya who stills the tongue and the movement of enemies, is worshipped at Nalkheda in a three-faced image, and havans in yellow are offered day and night by those facing lawsuits, elections and battles of every kind.

Maa Bamleshwari Temple, DongargarhStanding
Independent Bharat

Maa Bamleshwari Temple, Dongargarh

The temple of Bamleshwari on a 1,600-foot hill above Dongargarh, with a second, lower shrine to Chhoti Bamleshwari at its foot. In the two Navratris it is the busiest Devi temple in Chhattisgarh.

Bhubaneswari Temple, Udaipur (Tripura)Standing
The Mughal era and the resistance

Bhubaneswari Temple, Udaipur (Tripura)

A small Bengal-roofed Devi temple on the Gomati beside the ruined palace of Govinda Manikya in the old Tripura capital of Udaipur. Rabindranath Tagore set his novel Rajarshi and his play Bisarjan here.

Tripura Sundari Temple, UdaipurStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Tripura Sundari Temple, Udaipur

The Matabari of Tripura, a Shakti Peetha on a low hill shaped like a tortoise’s back, built by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya in 1501. Tradition says the right foot of Mata Sati fell here.

Kalighat Kali Temple, KolkataRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Kalighat Kali Temple, Kolkata

One of the Shakti Peethas, where the toes of Sati’s right foot fell, on the old course of the Ganga called Adi Ganga. The city of Kolkata is said to take its name from Kalikshetra.

Show all 14

Read further

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