Chakreshvari is the yakshi, a class of guardian deity attending a tirthankara, associated with Rishabhanatha, the first of the twenty-four Jain tirthankaras. Depicted riding the mythical bird Garuda and typically shown with multiple arms holding a discus (chakra) among other attributes, Chakreshvari receives devotional veneration in Jain temples in her own right, functioning, like Ambika and Padmavati with their own tirthankaras, as an intercessory and protective figure within the broader Jain devotional and iconographic tradition.
Facts
Cult
Attributes and IconographyMulti-armed, riding the Garuda bird, holding a discus (chakra) 1 Worship and PracticeChakreshvari receives devotional veneration in Jain temples in her own right, functioning as an intercessory and protective figure alongside Ambika and Padmavati in the wider tradition of tirthankara-guardian yakshis. 1 Function
Domain / FunctionProtection and guardianship 1 Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 3 HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1 Belief
TheologyNon-theistic: no creator god is central 1 Attributions
Mythic AssociationPaired as protective guardian goddess with Rishabhanatha, the first of the twenty four Jain tirthankaras, the earliest and best attested of the sasanadevi pairings. 1 Origins
Origin of the NameFrom Sanskrit chakra, discus or wheel, her principal identifying attribute among the sasanadevis, the guardian yakshis paired with each of the twenty four Jain tirthankaras. 1 Correspondences & Relations
Connections
Associated With
This source names Garuda directly: "Depicted riding the mythical bird Garuda and typically shown with multiple arms holding a discus (chakra) among other attributes, Chakreshvari receives devotional veneration in Jain temples in her..."
Source The JainsPaul Dundas
This source names Padmavati directly: "right, functioning, like Ambika and Padmavati with their own tirthankaras, as an intercessory and protective figure within the broader Jain devotional and iconographic tradition."
Source The JainsPaul Dundas
This source names Rishabhanatha directly: "a tirthankara, associated with Rishabhanatha, the first of the twenty-four Jain tirthankaras."
Source The JainsPaul Dundas
Related To
Worshipped In
Source The JainsPaul Dundas
Sources
1. The Jains
Paul Dundas, Routledge, 2002on the Jain yakshis and their iconographyView the Source 2. Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.), Routledge, 2008Chakreshvari, medieval Jain textsView the Source 3. Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India
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