REALMS archive of entities

sapta matrika

deity earth non-Vedic traditions single tradition · 2

The sapta matrika, meaning "seven mothers," are a group of goddesses first mentioned in the later layers of the Mahabharata dating to the 1st century CE. Their lack of mention in the Vedas indicates a non-Vedic origin for these goddesses, and they are commonly associated with gramadevatas (village deities).

↻ synthesized from 2 sources

When

First attested
0 CE
Attested period
0 – 2020
Historical notes
First mentioned in later Mahabharata layers (1st century CE); non-Vedic origin indicated by absence from Vedic texts.

Relationships

co occurs with
Mariamman, Mata, Indrani, Bhumi, Mother goddess, Durga, Indra
enemy of
Raktabija

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Mentioned by

Sources

wikipedia (2)
  1. Gramadevata
  2. Indrani

Source passages

“Another group of common iconography related to gramadevatas are the sapta matrika, the "seven mothers." The first mention of these goddesses occurs in the later layers of the Mahabharata dating to the 1st century CE”

#9471 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5