The Mahavidyas (Sanskrit: महाविद्या, IAST: Mahāvidyā, literally "Great Wisdoms") are a group of ten Hindu Tantric goddesses venerated within the Shakta tradition. The group is most commonly enumerated in the sequence: Kali, Tara, Tripura Sundari, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamalatmika.
The formation of this collective draws upon several distinct religious currents, including yogini worship, Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Vajrayana Buddhism. As such, the Mahavidyas reflect a synthesis of varied tantric and devotional streams rather than a single lineage, with each goddess carrying her own iconography, mantra and theological associations.
The emergence of the Mahavidyas is regarded as an important turning point in the history of Shaktism, marking the rise of its Bhakti aspect. First appearing in the post-Puranic age, around the 6th century CE, this development was part of a wider theistic movement in which the supreme being was envisioned as female. The Bhakti dimension of Shaktism is generally held to have reached its zenith around 1700 CE.
Texts central to this tradition include the Devi Bhagavata Purana, particularly the last nine chapters (31–40) of its seventh skandha, known as the Devi Gita. These chapters became foundational scriptures of Shaktism, articulating the theology of the Goddess as the ultimate reality and providing a framework within which the worship of the ten Mahavidyas is situated.
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article on Mahavidya.