ABSTRACT
The ten Mahāvidyās are often shown as a group in some goddess temples. Their images are usually painted on the temple walls, or they may be represented by wooden or stone images [Figs. 1.1–13]. Sometimes, the presiding goddess of a temple in which the Mahāvidyās are depicted is herself one of them. 1 On the contrary, it is rare to find an independent temple dedicated to each Mahāvidyā or a conglomeration of such temples in a sacred site of goddess worship. I have come across a few goddess shrines with the images of the Mahāvidyās in the Śākta pīṭhas of West Bengal, such as the Chinnamastā temple in Bishnupur, Bankura; the Nandikeśvarī temple in Sainthia, Birbhum; and the Attahas temple in Katwa, Bardhaman. However, most of the images are recent creations, and a separate shrine of each Mahāvidyā is not so commonly known except that of Kālī. The paucity of Mahāvidyā temples is probably due to the general tendency of Tantric traditions to accentuate internal and individual worship.
