Deities

Maheswari

deity

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Maheswari." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/deities/maheswari.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Maheswari. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/deities/maheswari

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-maheswari,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Maheswari},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-divinity.interactiveatlas.org/deities/maheswari},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Maheswari, also spelled Maheshvari, is one of the Sapta Matrikas, the seven mother goddesses of Hindu tradition, embodying the shakti or divine power of Shiva. She rides his mount, the bull, and carries his trident. The Devi Mahatmya recounts the Matrikas springing from the bodies of the gods to fight beside the goddess Durga against the demon armies, each taking her parent god's own form and arms.

Facts

Attributions

Mythic Association

In the Metropolitan Museum's Pahari painting of the Devi Mahatmya battle scene she is shown mounted on a bull, flying above the field alongside the other Matrikas around Durga and the emaciated Chamunda. 2

Identity

Genderthe subject's own account

Female 1

Function

Domain / Functionthe subject's own account

Destruction and dissolution 1

Belief

Theologythe subject's own account

Debated 1

Attestation

Veneration Todaythe subject's own account

Actively venerated in a living tradition 1

Historicitythe subject's own account

Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1

Origins

Origin of the Namethe subject's own account

Maheswari, or Maheshvari, is the feminine form of Maheshvara, the Great Lord, an epithet of Shiva, naming her directly as his shakti rather than as an independently rooted theonym. 1

Cult

Attributes and Iconographythe subject's own account

Shown riding a bull, Shiva's own mount, and carrying his trident, the standard canon for the Matrika who is his shakti. 1

Correspondences & Relations

Pantheons

Hindu

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Battle Scene from a Devi Mahatmya, Object Record (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

This source names Maheswari directly: "above, with Indrani on an elephant and Maheswari on a bull."

Source Battle Scene from a Devi Mahatmya, Object Record (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Durga

This source names Durga directly: "the gods to fight beside the goddess Durga against the demon armies, each taking her parent god's own form and arms."

Source Matrikas (Wikipedia)

Shakti

This source names Shakti directly: "of Hindu tradition, embodying the shakti or divine power of Shiva."

Source Matrikas (Wikipedia)