Kurukullā (; also (i.e. 'knowledge' or 'magic woman') zh, c=咕嚕咕列佛母 or zh, c=作明佛母 ) is a female, peaceful to semi-wrathful

Yidam A ''yidam'' or ''iṣṭadevatā'' is a meditational deity that serves as a focus for meditation and spiritual practice, said to be manifestations of Buddhahood or enlightened mind. Yidams are an integral part of Vajrayana, including Tibeta ...

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

particularly associated with rites of magnetization or enchantment. Her Sanskrit name is of unclear origin. She is related to

Shri Yantra The Sri Yantra, Shri Yantra, or Shri Chakra (Sanskrit: श्री यन्त्र, IAST: śrī yantra) is a form of mystical diagram (''yantra'') used in the Shri Vidya school of Hinduism. Comprising nine interlocking triangles, it embodies ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, occupying the centre of the mystic diagram with

varahi Varahi (, IAST:) is one of the Matrikas, a group of seven mother goddesses in the Hindu religion who bears the head of a sow. In Nepal, she is called Barahi. In Rajasthan and Gujarat, she is venerated as Dandini. Varahi is more commonly v ...

, together with whom the fifteen signs of moon phases () were born from. She is identified with

Tripura Sundari Tripura Sundari (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरसुन्दरी, IAST: Tripura Sundarī), also known as Lalita, Shodashi, Kamakshi, and Rajarajeshvari, is a Hindu goddess, revered primarily within the Shaktism tradition and recognized as o ...

and Tara in some sources of Hinduism.

Representation

Kurukullā is a goddess whose body is usually depicted in red with four arms, holding a bow and arrow made of flowers in one pair of hands and a hook and noose of flowers in the other pair. She dances in a

Dakini A ḍākinī (; ; ; ; alternatively 荼枳尼, ; 荼吉尼, ; or 吒枳尼, ; Japanese: 荼枳尼 / 吒枳尼 / 荼吉尼, ''dakini'') is a type of goddess in Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the ḍākinī somewhat differs depending on t ...

-pose and crushes the

asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

Rahu Rāhu (Sanskrit: राहु, 16px, ☊) is one of the nine major celestial bodies ( navagraha) in Hindu texts and the king of meteors. It represents the ascension of the Moon in its precessional orbit around the Earth, also referred to as ...

(the one who devours the sun). According to Hindu astrology, Rahu is a snake with a demon head (

Navagraha The navagraha are nine heavenly bodies and deities that influence human life on Earth according to Hinduism and Hindu mythology. The term is derived from ''nava'' ( "nine") and ''graha'' ( "planet, seizing, laying hold of, holding"). The nine part ...

) who represents the ascending

lunar node A lunar node is either of the two orbital nodes of the Moon; that is, the two points at which the orbit of the Moon intersects the ecliptic. The ''ascending'' (or ''north'') node is where the Moon moves into the northern ecliptic hemisphere, ...

. She is considered either an

emanation Emanation may refer to: *Emanation (chemistry), a dated name for the chemical element radon *Emanation From Below, a concept in Slavic religion *Emanation in the Eastern Orthodox Church, a belief found in Neoplatonism *Emanation of the state, a lega ...

Amitābha Amitābha (, "Measureless" or "Limitless" Light), also known as Amituofo in Chinese language, Chinese, Amida in Japanese language, Japanese and Öpakmé in Tibetan script, Tibetan, is one of the main Buddhahood, Buddhas of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddh ...

, one of Tara's forms, or a transformation of

Heruka :''Heruka is also a name for the deity of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra.'' ''Heruka'' (; ) is the name of a category of wrathful deities, enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient beings. In East A ...

History

Kurukullā was likely an Indian tribal deity associated with magical domination. She was assimilated into the Buddhist pantheon at least as early as the ''

Hevajra Tantra Hevajra ( Tibetan: kye'i rdo rje / kye rdo rje; Chinese: 喜金剛 Xǐ jīngāng / 呼金剛 Hū jīngāng;) is one of the main yidams (enlightened beings) in Tantric, or Vajrayana Buddhism. Hevajra's consort is Nairātmyā ( Tibetan: bdag ...

'', which contains her

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

. Her function in Tibetan Buddhism is the "red" function of subjugation. Her root tantra is the ''Arya-tara-kurukulle-kalpa'' (''Practices of the Noble Tara Kurukullā''). It was translated by Tsültrim Gyalwa, a disciple of

Atiśa Atish Dipankar Shrijnan (Sanskrit transliteration: Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana) (c. 982–1054 CE) was a Bengalis, Bengali Buddhist religious teacher and leader. He is generally associated with his body of work authored at Vikramashila, Vikram ...

Buddhist traditions

She has a complex history of traditions. In one of the many stories, a queen was unhappy being neglected by her king. To win his affection, she sent her helper to find a solution. Her helper encountered a (dark-)red skinned enchantress in a market, who offered to do some magic. The enchantress gave magical food (or medicine) to the helper, and instructed the queen to give the food to the king to win his love by magical means. The queen upon receiving the magic item, decided that it was inappropriate and harmful, and threw it to into a lake. A

naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions ** Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong River ** Naga, another name for Bakunawa, an ...

dragon king The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the '' lóng'' in ...

from the lake ate the food and was enchanted to impregnate the queen while both burn intensively in "flames of desire". The King learned about the pregnancy (or saw the child), and decided to punish the queen. The queen explained to the king what happened. The King decided to summon the enchantress into the palace. The king recognized and appreciated the enchantress as an extraordinary person (some said the enchantress was Kurukulla) and requested blessings and teachings from her. The king acquired magical powers

siddhis In Indian religions, (Sanskrit: '; fulfillment, accomplishment) are material, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of yogic advancement through sādhanās such as meditation ...

from her practices and blessings, and then wrote instructions on the practice of Kurukulla.

Mantra

The essential mantra of Kurukullā is ''Oṃ Kurukulle Hrīḥ Svāhā'' (). This mantra uses the vocative form (Kurukulle) of her name.

References

Citations

Works cited

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External links

Kurukulla Main Page
at ''HimalayanArt.com'' {{Authority control Bodhisattvas Dakinis Taras Wisdom goddesses