In a story from the Shakta Maha-Bhagavata Purana, which narrates the creation of all the Mahavidyas, Sati, the daughter of Daksha and wife of the god Shiva, feels insulted that she and Shiva are not invited to Daksha's yagna ("fire sacrifice") and insists on going there, despite Shiva's protests. A similar list in the Guhyatiguhya-Tantra omits Matangi altogether, however the scholar Sircar interprets the goddess Durga – equated to the avatar Kalki in the list – as an allusion to Matangi. A list contained within the prose of the Mundamala equates Vishnu's ten avatars with the ten Mahavidyas. Matangi is often named as the ninth Mahavidya. The painting of Goddess Matangi in Brooklyn Museum The veena symbolizes her association with music. Matangi is often depicted with a parrot in her hands, representing speech. The green complexion is associated with deep knowledge and is also the colour of Budha, the presiding deity of the planet Mercury who governs intelligence. She is also described to love the parrot and is embodied in the nectar of song. She carries a noose, a goad, a sugarcane bow and flower arrows, which the goddess Tripura Sundari is often described to hold. The Dhyana Mantra describes her to be four-armed, with a dark emerald complexion, full breasts anointed with red kumkum powder, and a crescent moon on her forehead. Īccording to Kalidasa's Shyamaladandakam, Matangi plays a ruby-studded veena and speaks sweetly. She is also depicted wearing a garland of white lotus (here lotus signifies multi-colored world creation), similar to the iconography of goddess Saraswati, with whom she is associated with. The Saradatilaka, adds to this description that Raja-Matangi plays the veena, wears conch-shell earrings and flower garlands, and has flower paintings adorning her forehead. Seated on an altar and flanked by two parrots, she represents the 64 arts. Below her navel are three horizontal folds of skin and a thin vertical line of fine hair. She perspires a little around the face, which renders her even more beautiful. She has long hair, a smiling expression and intoxicated eyes, and wears a garland of kadamba flowers and various ornaments. The Dhyana Mantra of Raja-Matangi from the Purashcharyarnava describes Matangi as green in colour with the crescent moon upon her forehead. Her waist is slim and her breasts well-developed. In her four arms, she carries a noose, a sword, a goad, and a club. She wears jewellery and is seated on a jewelled throne. The Dhyana mantras in the Purashcharyarnava and the Tantrasara describe Matangi as blue in colour. She carries a skull bowl and a sword in her two hands, and is offered leftovers. The goddess is described as a young, sixteen-year-old maiden with fully developed breasts. Matangi is seated on a corpse and wears red garments, red jewellery and a garland of gunja seeds. The Dhyana mantra (a mantra that details the form of the deity on which a devotee should meditate) of the Brhat Tantrasara describes Uchchhishta-Matangini, one of the most popular forms of the goddess. While Uchchhishta-Matangini carries a noose, sword, goad, and club, her other well-known form, Raja-Matangi, plays the veena and is often pictured with a parrot. Matangi is represented as emerald green in colour. She is described as an outcaste ( Chandalini) and offered left-over or partially eaten food ( Uchchhishta) with unwashed hands or food after eating, both of which are considered to be impure in classical Hinduism. Matangi is often associated with pollution, inauspiciousness and the periphery of Hindu society, which is embodied in her most popular form, known as Uchchhishta-Chandalini or Uchchhishta-Matangini. Her worship is prescribed to acquire supernatural powers, especially gaining control over enemies, attracting people to oneself, acquiring mastery over the arts and gaining supreme knowledge. Matangi governs speech, music, knowledge and the arts. She is considered to be the Tantric form of Saraswati, the goddess of music and learning. She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten Tantric goddesses and an aspect of the Hindu Divine Mother. Matangi ( Sanskrit: मातङ्गी, Mātaṅgī) is a Hindu goddess.
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