Goddess of Contradictions Chhinnamasta

Chhinnamasta, often spelled as Chinnamasta, and also known as Chhinnamastika, Chhinnamasta Kali, Prachanda Chandika, and Jogani Maa, is a Hindu goddess (Devi). Chhinnamasta is a goddess of contradictions. She symbolizes both aspects of Devi - a life-giver and a life-taker. Depending on interpretation, she represents both sexual self-control and sexual energy. The Hindu goddess Chhinnamasta holds significant importance in both Tantric and Tibetan Buddhism, where she is known as Chinnamunda or Trikaya-vajrayogini. She is one of the Mahavidyas, a group of ten goddesses from the esoteric tradition of Tantra, and represents a fierce aspect of Mahadevi, the Hindu Mother Goddess. The self-decapitated nude goddess is usually standing or seated on a divine copulating couple, holding her own severed head in one hand and a scimitar in another. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck and are drunk by her severed head and two attendants. Here the Chhinnamasta goddess is being worshipped in a temple in Tehatta, West Bengal, India, on December 29, 2024.