The Ten Great Wisdoms - Mahavidyas Quiz

Answer: Kamala

Kamala, also known as Kamalatmika, is the Tantric manifestation of the goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, wealth, prosperity, luck, beauty, etc. She is represented as sitting on a lotus, with four arms, and with elephants sprinkling water over her.

Answer: Chhinnamasta

Chhinnamasta, also known as Chinamastika or Chintapurni, is an incarnation of Kali. In this incarnation she is headless, and two of her attendants drink her blood, while she stands over Kama and Rati making love. The legend says that once, when Kali was returning from a fight with her attendants, her attendants demanded blood to fulfill their thirst. So Kali cut her own head and fed her attendants from her blood.

Answer: Baglamukhi

Baglamukhi is the goddess of paralyzing enemies. Portrayed as wearing yellow, she is shown holding the tongue of a demon, hence paralyzing his speech. In her other hand she holds a "gada" or a mace.

Answer: Lalita Tripurasundari

Lalita Tripurasundari is the Tantric manifestation of Parvati, and is also the goddess of plants and flowers. She is seated over Shiva, and in her four arms holds a noose, a goad, a bow made of sugarcane, and five flower arrows.

Answer: Tara

Tara is the Tantric manifestation of Kali. She is represented as standing on Shiva just like Kali, and also wears a garland of skulls. But, unlike Kali, she also wears a skirt of tiger skin, and in her four hands she holds a pair of scissors, a lotus, a scythe, and a skull bowl.

Answer: Dhumavati

Dhumavati is portrayed as an old woman, wearing white, since she is considered a widow. She holds a winnowing basket and sits in a chariot, on which many crows are seated.

Answer: Matangi

Matangi, or the Tantric Saraswati, is depicted as holding a noose, goad, a sarod, and a sword. She is closely associated with Saraswati and Parvati and is worshiped as Meenakshi Devi in the Southern parts of India.

Answer: Bhuvaneshwari

Bhuvaneshwari is considered to be beautiful, and it is believed that the whole Cosmos resides in her body.

Answer: Bhairavi

Bhairavi is considered to be the female equivalent of Bhairava, or the angry manifestation of Shiva. In the hint given above, Shubmkari means that she behaves excellently toward good people, and she is the most terrible nightmare to the bad ones.

Answer: Kali

Kali is the first Mahavidya, the most famous of them all. She is depicted as standing on Shiva, with her pets, a snake, a jackal, and a tiger. She wears a skirt made of hands of demons. She wears a garland of skulls (mundmala), and her tongue is lolling out.

She holds in her arms a trident (trishul), a sword (talwar), a skull bowl (kapala), and a severed head of a demon (mundi). She is the most fierce goddess of all, but is believed to also be very kindhearted and motherly. Her complexion is very dark, too.