Goddesses Bhuvanesvari and Bagala

This is the one of five prints depicting the Ten Mahavidyas (“Great Wisdom” goddesses), and completes the set in the Met’s collection. The Mahavidyas are tantric manifestations of the great goddess (mahadevi), analogous to the ten avatars of Vishnu, and are personifications of Shakti, Shiva’s energy. Two scenes occupy the sheet: on the left, the goddess Bhuvaneshvari, worshipped as the embodiment of the power of knowledge. She is thus the tantric equivalent of Sarasvati, represented in both spoken and visual evocations in tantric ritual. In the right panel is Bagala. Her full name is Bagalamukhi which translates as “the one who checks the mouth,” to silence speech and still the mind. She is popularly referred to as the ‘Paralyzer.’ In later tantric yoga she is associated with the practice of meditative breath control (pranayama). As the “goddess who paralyzes her enemies,” Bagala is depicted here wielding a club in the act of slaying her assailant armed with a raised club (gada) while ripping out his tongue, to silence him (“to check his mouth”).