The five (‘pancha’) faces (‘mukha’) of Panchamukha Hanuman stand for the five means of worship that the great yogi extended to Lord Rama: naman, smaran, keerthanam, yacham, and arpanam. The faces are (from left to right) Lakshmi Varaha, Mahaveera Garuda, Anjaneya, Karala Ugraveera Narasimha, and Hayagriva. The Panchamukha on this page is possessed of eight arms (the ashtabhujadhari). The m

The episode of the battle of the great goddess and the demon Raktabija as mentioned in the Vamana Purana describes the powerful expansions of the Adi-Shakti, which took the form of warring goddesses, each one of them originating from the other, assisting the Adi Devi Durga in slaying the demon. These goddesses came to be known as Sapta-Matrikas, “seven mothers”, and are associated with the mal