About
Maa ChinnaMasta

The Divine Depiction Of
Maa ChinnaMasta
With Her Severed Divine Head
Facing Towards The Empty Space Above
The Divine Body
Shows Her Severed Divine Head
In Her Divine Hand
Facing In Her Direction.
‍
This Symbolizes Her Guidance To
the sincere devotees to look within
and seek realization Of The True Self
in order to attain spiritual liberation,
that they should make their minds look inwards,
Into The Abode Of Pure Consciousness,
to realize The True Self, “shiva”.

Maa ChinnaMasta Jayanti Is
An Auspicious Festival Celebrated Annually
On Shukla Paksha Chaturdashi
Of Baisakh Month As Per the lunar calendar
by the ardent devotees and worshippers Of
Maa ChinnaMasta,
The Divine Mother Of Self-Sacrifice And Altruism,
The Life-Giver And The Life-Taker.

The Divine Mother's Depiction
Being Without Divine Head
Is Also A Subtle Metaphor Referring To
The Transcendence Of one’s identification
with bodily consciousness.
This Divine Depiction Also Refers To
the overcoming of attachment
to thoughts and desires.
Maa ChinnaMasta’s Detached
Divine Head Also Symbolises
The Nature Of Pure Consciousness,
Detached from body, mind,
aligned only with the soul.

Origin Stories And Legends Of
The Divine Mother
Maa ChinnaMasta

Maa ChinnaMasta Appears
In Two Distinct Sets Of Legends:

Legend 1:
Maa ChinnaMasta As
Maa Das MahaVidya

In Chapter 8 Of The Tenth Century
Shakta Mahabhagavata Purana,
lord shiva extolled The Glory Of
Maa Das MahaVidya to sage narada.
lord shiva also recounted to sage narada
The Legend Of Emergence Of
Maa Das MahaVidya,
The Ten Great Cosmic Wisdom Expressions Of
The Divine Mother Of the universe.

According To The Legend, Once,
Maa Sati – A Manifestation Of
The Divine Mother In the Form Of
The Daughter Of daksha And
The First Consort Of lord shiva –
Became Enraged Because Her father
did not invite Her and lord shiva
to his yagna ceremony (fire ritual).
Maa Sati, Angrily, Insisted On Attending
the ceremony To Destroy Her father’s pride,
despite lord shiva’s protests.

When lord shiva kept refusing
to attend the ceremony,
Maa Sati Decided To Remind lord shiva
That She Was The Very Emanation Of
The Divine Mother Herself.
With Divine Lips Trembling With Anger
And Divine Eyes Blazing
Like The Conflagration Of Destruction,
Maa Sati Roared With Laughter.
lord shiva was terrified and attempted to exit.
To Restrain him,
The Divine Mother Appeared In
One Transcendent Form In Each
Of The Ten Directions In Which
lord shiva attempted to move Towards.
In Whichever Direction lord shiva went,
Maa Sati Appeared In One Divine Form Of
Maa Das MahaVidya.

To lord shiva's Right (In The East)
Maa Sati Stood As In The Form As
Maa ChinnaMasta,
The Fearsome And Enigmatic Form Of
The Divine Mother.

Legend 2:
Maa ChinnaMasta As
An Individual Form Of
The Divine Mother

In The Prana Toshini Tantra,
A Compilation Of The Tantric Texts,
There Is A Story Of The Origin Of
Maa ChinnaMasta From
‍Narada Pancharatra.
According To The Story, One Day,
Maa Parvati,
The Reincarnation Of Maa Sati,
Went To Bathe In The Mandakini River
With Her attendants jaya and vijaya,
also known as dakini and varnini.
Around That Time,
Her two attendants begged
Maa Parvati For food
out of extreme hunger.
They prayed and begged saying,
“we are overpowered with hunger,
O Mother Of the universe!
Give us food so we may be satisfied,
O Merciful One,
Bestower Of Boons And Fulfiller Of desires.”
On Hearing this sincere prayer Of Her devotees,
The Merciful Divine Mother
Smiled And Severed Her Divine Head
With Fingernails –
Maa Parvati's Divine Head Fell
On The Palm Of Her Left Hand –
Three Bloodstreams Emerged From
Maa Paravati's Divine Throat;
The Left And Right Streams Of Blood
Fell Respectively Into the mouths
Of Her attendants flanking Her On Either Side,
And The Central Bloodstream Fell Into
The Divine Mother's Own Mouth.
Maa Parvati Was Thereafter Venerated As
Maa ChinnaMasta.

In Svatantra Tantra Of Prana Toshini Tantra,
lord shiva narrates The Myth Of
Maa ChinnaMasta’s Emergence.
‍
In krta yuga,
Maa MahaMaya Was Engaged In MahaVrata
With lord shiva On Kailasa.
At the time of lord shiva’s seminal emission,
The Divine Mother Appeared Fierce
And From Her Body two shaktis emerged
and became Her attendants dakini and varnini.

One Day,
The Divine Mother Went To
The Bank Of The Pushpabhadra River
With Her two attendants.
When it was noon,
Her hungry attendants requested
The Divine Mother,
“Please Give us food.”
Hearing this,
The Smiling And Auspicious
Divine Mother Looked In All Directions
And Severed Her Head.
She Fed dakini With The Left Bloodstream
Coming Out Of Her Divine Throat,
varnini With The Right Bloodstream,
And From The Central One,
She Drank Her Own Blood.
After Playing In This Way,
She Replaced Her Divine Head
And Reverted To Her Original Divine Form.
At Dusk,
The Divine Mother Returned Home With Her attendants.
This Legend Happened On The Day Of Viraratri.
Thus, According To The Legend,
Maa ChinnaMasta Emerged On Viraratri.

Temples Commemorating
Maa ChinnaMasta Jayanti

“Maa ChinnaMasta Jayanti”
Is Observed And Celebrated Annually
On Shukla Paksha Chaturdashi Of
The Baisakhi Month Of the lunar calendar.
On “Maa ChinnaMasta Jayanti”,
devotees and worshipers celebrate with great festivities,
decorating Temples And Shrines with love,
chanting Mantras, and reciting praises Of
Maa ChinnaMasta.

Temples In india
dedicated to the worship Of
Maa ChinnaMasta: