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Mundamala
Mundamala (, muṇḍamālā), also called kapalamala or rundamala, is a garland of severed human heads and/or skulls, in Hindu iconography and Tibetan Buddhist iconography. In Hinduism, the mundamala is a characteristic of fearsome aspects of the Hindu Divine Mother and the god Shiva; while in Buddhism, it is worn by wrathful deities of Tibetan Buddhism. Hindu iconography Fearsome goddesses The mundamala is often found in the iconography of the Mahavidyas, a group of ten fearsome Tantric goddesses. Kali, the foremost Mahavidya, often wears a garland of freshly severed heads. The blood from her bleeding garland bathes her body. The number of heads in the mundamala is generally described as fifty. Other Mahavidyas like Tara, Chhinnamasta, Bhairavi, Dhumavati and Matangi are depicted or at least described wearing mundamalas; the goddess may also hold a severed head or skull (kapala) in her hand.Kinsley p. 153 In description of Bhairavi, the heads are said to be so fresh th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kali
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tradition, she is considered as a ferocious form of goddess Mahadevi, the supreme of all powers, or the ultimate reality. She is the first of the ten Mahavidyas in the Hindu tantric tradition. Kali's earliest appearance is when she emerged from Shiva. She is regarded as the ultimate manifestation of Shakti, and the mother of all living beings. The goddess is stated to destroy evil in order to protect the innocent. Over time, Kali has been worshipped by devotional movements and Tàntric sects variously as the Divine Mother, Mother of the Universe, Principal energy Adi Shakti. Shakta Hindu and Tantric sects additionally worship her as the ultimate reality or ''Brahman''. She is also seen as the divine protector and the one who bestows ''m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhumavati
Dhumavati ( sa, धूमावती, , literally "the smoky one") is one of the Mahavidyas, a group of ten Hindu Tantric goddesses. Dhumavati represents the fearsome aspect of Mahadevi, the supreme goddess in Hindu traditions such as Shaktism. She is often portrayed as an old, ugly widow, and is associated with things considered inauspicious and unattractive in Hinduism, such as the crow and the ''Chaturmas'' period. The goddess is often depicted carrying a winnowing basket on a horseless chariot or riding a crow, usually in a cremation ground. Dhumavati is said to manifest herself at the time of cosmic dissolution (pralaya) and is "the Void" that exists before creation and after dissolution. While Dhumavati is generally associated with only inauspicious qualities, her thousand-name hymn relates her positive aspects as well as her negative ones. She is often called tender-hearted and a bestower of boons. Dhumavati is described as a great teacher, one who reveals ultimate knowle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tara (Devi)
In Hinduism, the goddess Tara ( sa, तारा, ) is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or "''Great Wisdom goddesses''", and is a form of Adishakti, the tantric manifestation of Parvati. Her most famous centre of worship is the temple and the cremation ground of Tarapith in West Bengal, India. Her three most famous forms are Ekajaṭā, Ugratara, and Nīlasarasvatī (Neelasaraswati or Neela Saraswati or Neelsaraswati). Legends and theology The commonly known origin of Tara is from the 17th chapter of the Rudrayāmala which describes the initial unsuccessful attempts of the brahminical sage Vasiṣṭha in the worship of the deity (his initial locations are usually placed by the ocean or in Kāmākhyā according to the Brahmayāmala) and the subsequent meeting of Vishnu in the form of Buddha in the region of Mahācīna and his eventual success by the means of kaula rites which employ the five makāras of Shaakta kaula tantra. She is also described as the form of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chhinnamasta
Chhinnamasta ( sa, छिन्नमस्ता, , "She whose head is severed"), often spelled Chinnamasta, and also called Ch(h)innamastika and Prachanda Chandika and Jogani Maa (in western states of India), is a Hindu goddess (Devi). She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten goddesses from the esoteric tradition of Tantra, and a ferocious aspect of Mahadevi, the Hindu Mother goddess. The self-decapitated nude goddess, usually standing or seated on a divine copulating couple, holds her own severed head in one hand and a scimitar in another. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck and are drunk by her severed head and two attendants. Chhinnamasta is a goddess of contradictions. She symbolises both aspects of Devi: a life-giver and a life-taker. She is considered both a symbol of sexual self-control and an embodiment of sexual energy, depending upon interpretation. She represents death, temporality, and destruction as well as life, immortality, and recreation. The godde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamunda
Chamunda (Sanskrit: चामुण्डा, ISO-15919: Cāmuṇḍā), also known as Chamundeshwari, Chamundi or Charchika, is a fearsome form of Chandi, the Hindu Divine Mother Shakti and is one of the seven Matrikas (mother goddesses).Wangu p.72 She is also one of the chief Yoginis, a group of sixty-four or eighty-one Tantric goddesses, who are attendants of the warrior goddess Parvati.Wangu p.114 The name is a combination of Chanda and Munda, two monsters whom Chamunda killed. She is closely associated with Kali, another fierce aspect of Parvati. She is identified with goddesses Parvati, Kali or Durga. The goddess is often portrayed as residing in cremation grounds or around holy fig trees. The goddess is worshipped by ritual animal sacrifices along with offerings of wine. The practice of animal sacrifices has become less common with Shaivite and Vaishnavite influences. Origins Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar says that Chamunda was originally a tribal goddess, wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kapala
A kapala (Sanskrit for "skull") is a skull cup used as a ritual implement (bowl) in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra (Vajrayana). Especially in Tibet, they are often carved or elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels. Etymology 'Kapala' () is a loan word into Tibetan from Sanskrit ''kapāla'' (Devanagari: कपाल) referring to the skull or forehead, usually of a human. By association, it refers to the ritual skullcup fashioned out of a human cranium. The Sanskrit word, in turn, was derived from Proto Indo-Aryan *kapā́las, and descended from Proto-Indo-European *káp-ōl- (cup, bowl), from *kap- (to seize, to hold). In Hinduism Kapalas are used mainly for esoteric purposes such as rituals. Among the rituals using kapalas are higher tantric meditation to achieve a transcendental state of mind within the shortest possible time; libation to gods and deities to win their favor. Hindu deities Hindu deities that may be depicted with the kapala include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matangi
Matangi ( sa, मातङ्गी, ) is a Hindu goddess. She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten Tantric goddesses and an aspect of the Hindu Divine Mother. She is considered to be the Tantric form of Saraswati, the goddess of music and learning. Matangi governs speech, music, knowledge and the arts. Her worship is prescribed to acquire supernatural powers, especially gaining control over enemies, attracting people to oneself, acquiring mastery over the arts and gaining supreme knowledge. Matangi is often associated with pollution, inauspiciousness and the periphery of Hindu society, which is embodied in her most popular form, known as Uchchhishta-Chandalini or Uchchhishta-Matangini. She is described as an outcaste ( Chandalini) and offered left-over or partially eaten food (''Uchchhishta'') with unwashed hands or food after eating, both of which are considered to be impure in classical Hinduism. Matangi is represented as emerald green in colour. While Uchchhishta-Matangini car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gajasurasamhara
Gajasurasamhara (lit. "The Slayer of the elephant demon"), also Gajasamhara, Gajantaka and Gajaha (all three lit. "the Slayer of the elephant") and Matangari ("The Enemy of the elephant"), is a fierce aspect of the Hindu god Shiva as the Destroyer of the elephant demon, Gajasura. The icon is popular in Pallava and Chola art, which portray him dancing vigorously in the flayed elephant hide of Gajasura. The chief temple of Gajasurasamhara is at Valuvur (Vazhuvur), Tamil Nadu, where the chief icon is an eight-armed bronze Gajasurasamhara. Valuvur is one of the '' Atta-virattam'' temples, the eight sites of the heroic acts of Shiva. Textual references and legend The Gajasurasamhara form is associated by scholars to the epithet Krittivasa ("who has skin as his garment"), used in the Vedic hymn ''Shri Rudram Chamakam'' for Rudra, a Vedic God associated with Shiva. Often, devotional hymns of the ''Tevaram'' call Shiva the one who wears the elephant hide, alluding to this incident. The ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devi
Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) 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 2nd millennium BCE. However, they do not play a vital role in that era. 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 expansion in mythology and literature associated with Devi, with texts such as the Devi Mahatmya, wherein she manifests as the ultimate truth and supreme power. She has inspired the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. Further, Devi and her primary form Parvati is viewed as central in the Hindu traditions of Shaktism and Shaivism. Etymology ''Devi'' and ''deva'' are Sanskrit terms found in Vedic literature around the 3rd mille ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Art
The vast majority of surviving Tibetan art created before the mid-20th century is religious, with the main forms being thangka, paintings on cloth, mostly in a technique described as gouache or distemper (paint), distemper, Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, and small statues in bronze, or large ones in clay, stucco or wood. They were commissioned by Tibetan monasticism, religious establishments or by pious individuals for use within the practice of Tibetan Buddhism and were manufactured in large workshops by monks and lay artists, who are mostly unknown. Various types of religious objects, such as the ''phurbu'' or ritual dagger, are finely made and lavishly decorated. Secular objects, in particular jewellery and textiles, were also made, with Chinese influences strong in the latter. Himalayan art is an overall term for Tibetan art together with the art of Art of Bhutan, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, Kashmir and neighbouring parts of Mongolia and China where Tibetan Buddhism is practice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virabhadra
Virabhadra (), also rendered Veerabhadra, Veerabathira, and Veerabathiran, is a fierce form of the Hindu god Shiva. He is created by the wrath of Shiva, when the deity hurls a lock of his matted hair upon the ground, upon hearing of the self-immolation of his consort, Sati, at the Daksha yajna.the Horse-sacrifice of the Prajapati Daksha The Mahabharata translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883–1896), Book 12: Santi Parva: Mokshadharma Parva: Section CCLXXXIV. p. 315 Mahadeva created from his mouth a terrible Being whose very sight could make one's hair stand on its end. The blazing flames that emanated from his body r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharmapala
A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are also known as the Defenders of the Justice (Dharma), or the Guardians of the Law. There are two kinds of ''dharmapala'', Worldly Guardians ('' lokapala'') and Wisdom Protectors (''jnanapala''). Only Wisdom Protectors are enlightened beings. Description A protector of Buddhist dharma is called a ''dharmapala''. They are typically wrathful deities, depicted with terrifying iconography in the Mahayana and tantric traditions of Buddhism. The wrathfulness is intended to depict their willingness to defend and guard Buddhist followers from dangers and enemies. The '' Aṣṭagatyaḥ'' (the eight kinds of nonhuman beings) is one category of ''dharmapālas'', which includes the Garuda, Deva, Naga, Yaksha, Gandharva, Asura, Kinnara and Mahoraga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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