Historical Period18c CE
Medieval; current structure 18th c.
📷 Kuarun · [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) · source
Deities
Chhinnamastā Devī of Rajrappa
Chhinnamastā — the self-decapitating goddess of Rajrappa
Chhinnamastā — the self-decapitating goddess of Rajrappa
Chhinnamastā ("the severed-head goddess") is the 6th of the 10 Mahāvidyās. Her primary shrine is at Rajrappa at the confluence of the Bhairavi and Damodar rivers, Jharkhand. Iconography: the goddess has severed her own head which she holds in her hand; three jets of blood flow from her neck — two feed her two attendants, the third feeds her own severed head. Symbolically: life feeding on itself, fearlessness, radical non-attachment. Tantric practitioners visit here for advanced Cakra-sādhana. Non-tantric Hindus approach with caution.
Daily aarati at dawn and dusk; abhisheka with water/milk/turmeric; kumkum offering; red hibiscus; oil lamp. For Tantric or non-Brahmin shrines: goat-sacrifice (traditional; increasingly symbolic pumpkin-breaking).
Hinduism's goddess-traditions are vast and diverse — 51 Shakti Pīṭhas, 10 Mahāvidyās, 9 Navadurga, 8 Ashta Matrika, hundreds of regional forms. Each is a distinct face of the one supreme Mahā-Devī.
