Brahmani (Sanskrit: ब्रह्माणी,

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Brahmāṇī) or Brahmi (Sanskrit: ब्राह्मी,

: Brāhmī), is one of the seven

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

mother goddesses known as Sapta Matrikas. She is a form of

Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

and is considered as the

Shakti Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...

of the creator god

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. She is an aspect of Adi Shakti, possessing the "Rajas Guna" and is therefore the source of Brahma's power.

Legends

When

was in meditation for the creation of the universe, his body was divided into two parts. They then formed the gods and goddesses, whereby one part was male and the other one female. Thus female parts became

Gayatri Gayatri (Sanskrit: गायत्री, IAST: Gāyatrī) is the personified form of the Gayatri Mantra, a popular hymn from Vedic texts. She is also known as Savitri, and holds the title of ''Vedamata'' ('mother of the Vedas'). Gayatri is the ...

, Savitri,

, and others.

Iconography

The goddess is depicted yellow in colour with four heads and four(or six) arms. Like Brahma, she holds a

japamala A japamala, , or simply Japay mala (; , meaning 'garland') is a loop of prayer beads commonly used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. It is used for counting recitations ('' japa'') of mantras, prayers or other ...

, a

kamandalu Kamandalu (Sanskrit: कमण्डलु, ), kamandal, or kamandalam is an oblong water pot, originating from the Indian subcontinent, made of a dry gourd (pumpkin) or coconut shell, metal, wood of the Kamandalataru tree, or from clay, usually w ...

(water pot), a lotus stalk, bells,

vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

and the

trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

while she is seated on a

hamsa The ''hamsa'' (, referring to images of 'the five fingers of the hand'),Zenner, 1988p. 284World Institute for Advanced Phenomenological Research and Learning (Belmont, Estados Unidos), 1991p. 219Drazin, 2009p. 268 also known as the hand of Fa ...

(identified with a swan or goose) as her

vahana ''Vāhana'' () or ''vahanam'' () denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular Hindus, Hindu deity is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vāhana is often called the deity's "mount". Upon the partnership b ...

(mount or vehicle). Sometimes, she is shown seated on a lotus with a swan on her banner. She wears various ornaments and is distinguished by her basket-shaped crown called '.

Kuldevi

She is the Kuldevi Prajapati samaj(Gurjar),Kshatriya Kadiya , Golvadiyas(subcast of leuva Patels), nagar brahmins, darji samaj and other communities of Rajasthan and Kutch, including Rajputs and the KGK Community.Kutch Gurjar Kshatriyas : A brief History & Glory: by Raja Pawan Jethwa. (2007) Calcutta.Section IV Kuldevi names

Brahmani temples in India

*Brahmani Mataji Temple at Baran in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. *Brahmani Mataji Temple at Pallo near

Hanumangarh Hanumangarh is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Rajasthan, situated on the banks of the river Ghaggar also identified as ancient Sarasvati river, located about 400 km from Delhi. It is the administrative headquarter o ...

, Rajasthan. *Brahmani Mata Temple at Village Brahmani, Hanumanganj, near Ballia in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. *Brahmani Mata Temple at Bharmour near Chamba,

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

. *Brahmani Mata Temple at Dingucha near Kalol,

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

.Brahmani Mataji Temple at Dinghucha
/ref> *Brahmani Mata Temple at Jamiyatpura, Gandhinagar *Brahmani Mata Temple at Sorsan, Rajasthan *Brahmani Mata Temple at Anjar. *Brahmani Mata temple at Visnagar. * Brahmani Mata Temple *In Narsoli village of Bhiloda district (Gujarat) there are also 1000 year old temples of Shri Brahmani Mata and Shri Eklingji Mahadev which were destroyed in the Mughal attack, their archeological remains are still present and Eklingji temple is being rebuilt at the same place. *Brahmani Devi Temple at Mollem, Goa

References

{{HinduMythology Hindu goddesses Mother goddesses War goddesses Shaktism Forms of Saraswati Consorts of Brahma Folk deities of Rajasthan

Legends

Iconography

Kuldevi

Brahmani temples in India

See also

References