Mahavidyas

deity intermediate Hindu single tradition · 6

The Mahavidyas are a group of ten goddesses who provide liberating knowledge. Kali is the first of the ten Mahavidyas.

↻ synthesized from 6 sources

When

First attested
0 CE
Attested period
0 – 2020
Historical notes
Mentioned in the Shakta Maha-Bhagavata Purana, Brihaddharma Purana, and Devi Bhagavata Purana.

Relationships

created by
Parvati
aspect of
Shakambhari
manifested by
Mahadevi

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who provide liberating knowledge.”

#12701 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“Her rage at Shiva's attempt to walk out manifests in the form of ten terrifying goddesses who block Shiva's every exit.”

#29329 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“A story from the Shakta Maha-Bhagavata Purana and the Brihaddharma Purana (13th century) narrates the creation of all Mahavidyas, including Chhinnamasta.”

#30545 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat

“Kamakhya is associated with the Mahavidyas, who each have temples dedicated to them at the Kamakhya temple complex in Assam.”

#31034 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat