Chhinnamastā Devī of Rajrappa

Chhinnamastā Devī of Rajrappa

Who She Is

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.

Temple & Pilgrimage

• Location: Rajrappa, Ramgarh (23.6333°N, 85.7167°E) Jharkhand
• Tradition: Hindu, Shakta, Tantric
• Historical: Medieval; current structure 18th c.

Worship Tradition

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).

Festival Calendar

• Navrātri (Āśvin (Sept–Oct), 9 days)
• Chhinnamastā Jayantī (Vaishākha (May), 1 day)

Her Place in the Shakta Landscape

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.