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. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Attributions
Mythic AssociationIn 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
GenderSourced to the subject's own account Function
Domain / FunctionSourced to the subject's own accountDestruction and dissolution 1 Belief
TheologySourced to the subject's own account Attestation
Veneration TodaySourced to the subject's own accountActively venerated in a living tradition 1 HistoricitySourced to the subject's own accountNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1 Origins
Origin of the NameSourced to the subject's own accountMaheswari, 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 IconographySourced to the subject's own accountShown riding a bull, Shiva's own mount, and carrying his trident, the standard canon for the Matrika who is his shakti. 1 Correspondences & Relations
Connections
Associated With
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, Deities 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)
This source names Shakti directly: "of Hindu tradition, embodying the shakti or divine power of Shiva."
Source Matrikas (Wikipedia)
Attested In
Source Matrikas (Wikipedia)
Depicted In
Source Battle Scene from a Devi Mahatmya, Object Record (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Member Of
Source Matrikas (Wikipedia)
Worshipped In
Source Matrikas (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Matrikas (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAshta-Matrikas as described in the Devi Mahatmya, Mahakali/Maheshvari paragraphQuote, Ashta-Matrikas as described in the Devi Mahatmya, Mahakali/Maheshvari paragraph
Maheshvari is depicted seated on Nandi (the bull) and has four or six hands.
2. Battle Scene from a Devi Mahatmya, Object Record (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
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