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Saktism
Shaktism ( sa, शाक्त, , ) is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti (Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, all considered aspects of the same supreme goddess. Shaktism has different sub-traditions, ranging from those focused on most worshipped Durga, gracious Parvati to that of fierce Kali. The Sruti and Smriti texts of Hinduism are an important historical framework of the Shaktism tradition. In addition, it reveres the texts ''Devi Mahatmya'', the ''Devi-Bhagavata Purana'', ''Kalika Purana'' and Shakta Upanishads such as the Devi Upanishad. The ''Devi Mahatmya'' in particular, is considered in Shaktism to be as important as the ''Bhagavad Gita''. Shaktism is known for its various sub-traditions of tantra, as well as a galaxy of goddesses with respective systems. It consists of the Vidyapitha and Kulamārga. The pantheon of goddesses in Shaktism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahavidya
The ''Mahavidya'' ( sa, महाविद्या, , lit. ''Great Wisdoms'') are a group of ten Hinduism, Hindu Tantra, Tantric Devi, goddesses. The 10 Mahavidyas are usually named in the following sequence: Kali, Tara (Devi), Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi , Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamalatmika, Kamala. Nevertheless the formation of this group encompass divergent and varied religious traditions that include ''yogini'' worship, Saivism, Vaishnavism, and Vajrayana Buddhism. The development of the Mahavidyas represent an important turning point in the history of Shaktism as it marks the rise of the Bhakti aspect in Shaktism, which reached its zenith in 1700 CE. First sprung forth in the post-Puranic age, around 6th century C.E., it was a new theistic movement in which the supreme being was envisioned as female. A fact epitomized by texts like ''Devi-Bhagavata Purana'', especially its last nine chapters (31-40) of the seventh ''skandha'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tantra
Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice". A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and thus they are commonly referred to as Mantramārga ("Path of Mantra") in Hinduism or Mantrayāna ("Mantra Vehicle") and Guhyamantra ("Secret Mantra") in Buddhism. Starting in the early centuries of the common era, newly revealed Tantras centering on Vishnu, Shiva or Shakti emerged. There are tantric lineages in all main forms of modern Hinduism, such as the Shaiva Siddhanta tradition, the Shakta sect of Sri-Vidya, the Kaula, and Kashmir Shaivism. In Buddhism, the Vajrayana traditions are known for tantric ideas and practices, which are based on India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Durga
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity, and dharma, representing the power of good over evil. Durga is believed to unleash her divine wrath against the wicked for the liberation of the oppressed, and entails destruction to empower creation. Durga is seen as a motherly figure and often depicted as a beautiful woman, riding a lion or tiger, with many arms each carrying a weapon and often defeating demons. She is widely worshipped by the followers of the goddess-centric sect, Shaktism, and has importance in other denominations like Shaivism and Vaishnavism. The most important texts of Shaktism, Devi Mahatmya, and Devi Bhagavata Purana, revere Devi (the Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in her complete form. She is also revered in her appearances as Durga and Kali.Suresh Chandra (1998), Encyclopedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, , pp 245–246 She is one of the central deities of the goddess-oriented sect called Shaktism, and the chief goddess in Shaivism. Along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi. Parvati is the wife of the Hindu god Shiva. She is the reincarnation of Sati, the first wife of Shiva who immolated herself during a yajna (fire-sacrifice).Edward Balfour, , The Encyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, pp 153 Parvati is the daughter of the mountain-king Himavan and queen Mena.H.V. Dehejia, Parvati: Goddess of Love, Mapin, , pp 11 Parvati is the mother of the Hindu deities Ganesha and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kali
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, 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 Tantras (Hinduism), 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. Shaktism, Shakta Hindu and Tantra, Tantric sects additionally worship her as the ultimate reality or ''Brahman''. She is also seen as the divi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Durga Puja
Durga Puja ( bn, দুর্গা পূজা), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsava, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated because of Durga's victory over Mahishasur. It is celebrated all over the world by the Hindu Bengali community but it is particularly popular and traditionally celebrated in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Tripura, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh (eastern parts) and the country of Bangladesh. The festival is observed in the Indian calendar month of Ashwin, which corresponds to September–October in the Gregorian calendar. Durga Puja is a ten-day festival, of which the last five are of the most significance. The Puja (Hinduism), puja is performed in homes and public, the latter featuring a temporary stage and structural decorations (known as ''pandals''). The festival is also marked by scripture recitations, performance ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devi Mahatmya
The ''Devi Mahatmya'' or ''Devi Mahatmyam'' ( sa, देवीमाहात्म्यम्, devīmāhātmyam, Glory of the Goddess) is a Hindu philosophical text describing the Goddess as the supreme power and creator of the universe. It is part of the Markandeya Purana. ''Devi Mahatmyam'' is also known as the ''Durgā Saptashatī'' () or Śata Chandī (शत् चण्डी). The text contains 700 verses arranged into 13 chapters. Along with ''Devi-Bhagavata Purana'' and Shakta Upanishads such as the Devi Upanishad, it is one of the most important texts of Shaktism (goddess) tradition within Hinduism. The ''Devi Mahatmyam'' describes a storied battle between good and evil, where the Devi manifesting as goddess Durga leads the forces of good against the demon Mahishasura—the goddess is very angry and ruthless, and the forces of good win. In peaceful prosperous times, states the text, the Devi manifests as Lakshmi, empowering creation and happiness. The verses of this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devi-Bhagavata Purana
The Devi Bhagavata Purana ( sa, देवी भागवतपुराणम्, '), also known as the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavata Purana or simply ''Devi Bhagavatam'', is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas of Hinduism. Composed in Sanskrit by Veda Vyasa. The text is considered as a major purana for Devi worshippers. It promotes '' bhakti'' (devotion) towards Mahadevi, integrating themes from the Shaktadvaitavada tradition (syncretism of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta. literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti). The purana consists of twelve cantos (sections) with 318 chapters. Along with '' Devi Mahatmya'', it is one of the most important works in Shaktism, a tradition within Hinduism that reveres Devi or Shakti (Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brahman (ultimate truth and reality). It celebrates the divine feminine as the origin of all existence, the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of everything, as well as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Along with Parvati and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi of Hindu goddesses. Within the goddess-oriented Shaktism, Lakshmi is venerated as the prosperity aspect of the Mother goddess. Lakshmi is both the consort and the divine energy (''shakti'') of the Hindu god Vishnu, the Supreme Being of Vaishnavism; she is also the Supreme Goddess in the sect and assists Vishnu to create, protect, and transform the universe. She is an especially prominent figure in Sri Vaishnavism, in which devotion to Lakshmi is deemed to be crucial to reach Vishnu. Whenever Vishnu descended on the earth as an avatar, Lakshmi accompanied him as consort, for example, as Sita and Radha or Rukmini as consorts of Vishnu's avatars Rama and Krishna, respectively. The eight ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shakta Upanishads
Shakta Upanishads are a group of minor Upanishads of Hinduism related to the Shaktism theology of a Goddess (Devi) as the Supreme Being. There are 8 Shakta Upanishads in the Muktika anthology of 108 Upanishads. They, along with other minor Upanishads, are generally classified separate from the thirteen major Principal Upanishads considered to be from the ancient Vedic tradition. The Shakta Upanishads also contrast from other groups of minor Upanishads, such as the Samanya Upanishads which are of a generic nature, the Sannyasa Upanishads which focus on the Hindu renunciation and monastic practice, the Yoga Upanishads related to Yoga, the Shaiva Upanishads which highlight aspects of Shaivism, and the Vaishnava Upanishads which highlight Vaishnavism. Composed in medieval India, the Shakta Upanishads are among the most recent minor Upanishads, and constitute an important source of information on Devi worship and Tantra-related theology. Some Shakta Upanishads exist in more than on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devi Upanishad
The ''Devi Upanishad'' (Sanskrit:देवी उपनिषत्), is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism and a text composed in Sanskrit. It is one of the 19 Upanishads attached to the Atharvaveda, and is classified as one of the eight Shakta Upanishads. It is, as an Upanishad, a part of the corpus of Vedanta literature collection that present the philosophical concepts of Hinduism. The text was likely composed between 9th- to 14th-centuries CE. It refers to ''Mahadevi'' as representing all goddesses. The Devi Upanishad is part of the five Atharvashiras Upanishads important to Tantra and Shakta philosophy traditions. The Upanishad states that the Goddess is the Brahman (ultimate metaphysical Reality), and from her arise Prakṛti (matter) and Purusha (consciousness). She is bliss and non-bliss, the Vedas and what is different from it, the born and the unborn, and all of the universe. Etymology ''Devi'' and ''Deva (Hinduism), Deva'' are Sanskrit terms found in the Vedi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tripura Sundari
Tripura Sundari (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरा सुन्दरी, IAST: Tripura Sundarī), also known as Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi, Kamakshi, and Lalita is a Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of supreme goddess Mahadevi mainly venerated in Shaktism, the goddess-oriented sect of Hinduism. She is also one of the ten Mahavidyas. She is praised in many Shakta texts, with '' Lalita Sahasranama, Soundarya Lahari'' being the most popular one. She is known as Adi Parashakti in Lalitopakhyana of Brahmanda Purana. According to the Srikula tradition in Shaktism, Tripura Sundari is the foremost of the Mahavidyas, the supreme divinity of Hinduism and also the primary goddess of Sri Vidya. The Tripura Upanishad places her as the ultimate Shakti (energy, power) of the universe. She is described as the supreme consciousness, ruling from above Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Kinsley says, "In one instance she is said to be sitting on Shiva's lap in the Kameshwara form, the 'Lor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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