Who is Goddess Chinnamasta?
Chinnamasta is the Hindu Goddess of transformation. She is the sixth of the Dasa Mahavidya, the wisdom Goddesses, and is also known as Chhinnamastika or Prachanda Chandika.
She is depicted holding her own head, which she has just cut off. She is known as the self-decapitated Goddess and also as Prachanda Chandika. She is a form of Shakti with ferocious power. Chinnamasta actually means, “Severed head”, and in Hindu dharma, she is often correlated with fearsome nature.
Buddhists believe she is closely related to Chinnamunda, the severe-headed form of Vajrayogini, the Tibetan Buddhist goddess.
Her birth anniversary is celebrated as Chhinamastika Jayanti. This falls on the Chaturdashi during the Shukla Paksh in the month of Viashkha. The self-decapitating Goddess is one of the important and worshipped Shaktipat Goddesses. Chinnamasta symbolises both life-giver and life-taker. Chinnamasta is considered both as a symbol of self-control on sexual desire as well as an embodiment of sexual energy, depending upon interpretation.
