The ten Mahavidyas explained: Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, Kamala, the Sati story and Bengal.
The ten Mahavidyas with Bhairavas, Kangra school, 1880. Photo: Unknown artist, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
The most common list and order are below. Texts differ slightly, and the descriptions summarise widely shared iconography rather than any single scripture.
An illustrated leaf of the Devi Mahatmya. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The best-known account of how the Mahavidyas appeared is told in Shakta texts composed in eastern India, notably the Mahabhagavata Purana and the Brihaddharma Purana.
The ten Mahavidyas with Bhairavas, Kangra school, 1880. Photo: Unknown artist, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
The first and most important Mahavidya, the goddess of time and transformation.
A Kali Puja pandal in Kolkata. Photo: Tarunsamanta, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Bengal's devotion to the goddess, Shakta tradition, is visible in its calendar: Durga Puja in autumn, Kali Puja about three weeks later, Jagaddhatri Puja after that, and Basanti Puja in spring.
A lit pandal at Chandannagar during Jagaddhatri Puja. Photo: Sourabh.biswas003, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
For Shakta devotees, Durga, the Mahavidyas and the Navadurga of Navratri are all forms of one Mahadevi, great goddess.
Sabudana khichdi, a common Navratri fasting food. Photo: Mrudit161187, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The ten Mahavidyas explained: Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, Kamala, the Sati story and Bengal.
Dasha Mahavidya → Next story: Eco-friendly Durga Puja: celebrating greener All photo storiesMusic: Sitar sample yaman, Tito Dutta, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.