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Matrikas (Matrika singular, Sanskrit: , "mother"), also called Matara (Sanskrit: plural, ) and Matri (, singular), is a group of Hindu goddesses who are always depicted together.〔Kinsley .151〕 Since they are usually depicted as a heptad, they are called Saptamatrika(s) (Sanskrit: , , "seven mothers"): Brahmani, Vaishnavi, Maheshvari, Indrani, Kaumari, Varahi, Chamunda and Narasimhi. However, they may sometimes be eight (Ashtamatrika(s): , , "eight mothers"). Whereas in South India, Saptamatrika worship is prevalent, the Ashtamatrika are venerated in Nepal.〔van den Hoek in Nas, p.362〕 The Matrikas assume paramount significance in the goddess-oriented sect of Hinduism, Tantrism.〔Wangu p.41〕 In Shaktism, they are "described as assisting the great Shakta Devi (goddess) in her fight with demons."〔Bhattacharyya, N. N., ''History of the Sakta Religion'', Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. (New Delhi, 1974, 2d ed. 1996), p. 126.〕 Some scholars consider them Shaiva goddesses.〔Wangu p.75〕 They are also connected with the worship of warrior god Skanda.〔The Iconography and Ritual of Śiva at Elephanta By Charles Dillard Collins p.143〕 In most early references, the Matrikas are described as having inauspicious qualities and often described as dangerous. They come to play a protective role in later mythology, although some of their inauspicious and wild characteristics still persist in these accounts.〔Kinsley (1988) p.151〕 Thus, they represent the prodigiously fecund aspect of nature as well as its destructive force aspect.〔Jain p.162〕 In the 6th century encyclopedia Brihat-Samhita, Varahamihira says that "Mothers are to be made with cognizance of (different major Hindu) gods corresponding to their names."〔Brhatsamhita, Ch.57, v.56. 〕 They are associated with these gods as their spouses or their energies (''Shaktis'').〔 Originally believed to be a personification of the seven stars of the star cluster the Pleiades, they became quite popular by the seventh century and a standard feature of goddess temples from the ninth century onwards.〔Wangu Glossary p.187〕 ==Origins and development== According to Jagdish Narain Tiwari and Dilip Chakravati, the Matrikas were existent as early as the Vedic period and the Indus Valley civilization. Coins with rows of seven feminine deities or priestesses are cited as evidence for the theory.〔Jagdish Narain Tiwari, "Studies in Goddess Cults in Northern India, with Reference to the First Seven Centuries AD" p.215-244; as referred in Kinsley p.151〕〔Dilip Chakravati in ''Archaeology and World Religion'' By Timothy Insoll, Published 2001, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-22154-4, pp.42–44〕 A Hindu text known as the Rigveda (IX 102.4) speaks of a group of seven Mothers who control the preparation of Soma, but the earliest clear description appears in some layers of the epic Mahabharata (dated to 1st century AD).〔Kinsley p.151〕〔Pal in Singh p.1836〕 Wangu believes that Matrika description in Mahabharata, is rooted in the group of seven females depicted on Indus valley seals.〔 It was assumed that the people locally worshipped these goddesses, such an example is also described in Zimmer Heinrich book ''The Art Of Indian Asia'', about the seven shrines of seven Mother Goddesses worshipped locally. By the fifth century, all these goddesses were incorporated in mainstream orthodox Hinduism as Tantric deities.〔Zimmer Heinrich, 1960,2001 The Art Of Indian Asia, Its Mythology and Transformations.Motilal Banarsidas Publication. New Delhi (Page B4C,257,135)〕〔Harper in Harper and Brown, p.48〕 David Kinsley proposes that the Matrikas may be non-Aryan or at least non-Brahmanical (orthodox Hinduism), local village goddesses, who were being assimilated in the mainstream. He cites two reasons for his assertion: their description in Mahabharata as dark in colour, speaking foreign languages and living in "peripheral areas" and their association with non-Brahmanical god Skanda and his father, Shiva, who though Vedic has non-Brahmanical attributes.〔Kinsley p.155〕 Sara L. Schastok suggests that Matrikas maybe inspired by the concept of Yakshas, who are associated with Skanda and Kubera – both are often portrayed with the Matrikas.〔Schastok pp.58–60〕 In contrast to Indus valley origins theory, Bhattacharyya notes:
The Sapta-Matrikas were earlier connected with Skanda (Kumara) and in later times, associated with the sect of Shiva himself.〔 During the Kushana period (1st to 3rd century), the sculptural images of the matrikas first appear in stone. The Kushana images merged from the belief in ''Balagraha'' (lit "destroyers of children") worship related to conception, birth, diseases and protection of children. The Balagraha tradition included the worship of the infant Skanda with the Matrikas. The goddesses were considered as personifications of perils, related to children and thus, were pacified by worship. The Kushana images emphasize the maternal as well as destructive characteristics of the Matrikas through their emblems and weapons. They appear to be an undifferentiated sculptural group but develop in standard and complex iconographic representation during the following Gupta period.〔Wangu pp.58–59〕 In the Gupta period (3rd to 6th century A.D.), folk images of Matrikas became important in villages.〔Wangu p.67〕 The diverse folk goddesses of the soldiers like Matrikas were acknowledged by the Gupta rulers and their images were carved on royal monuments in order to strengthen the loyalty and adherence of the armed forces.〔Wangu p. 68〕 The Gupta kings Skandagupta and Kumaragupta I (c. second half of fifth century) made Skanda (Kumara) their model and elevated the position of Skanda's foster mothers, the Matrikas from a cluster of folk goddesses to court goddesses.〔Wangu p.76〕 Since the fourth century, Parhari, Madhya Pradesh had a rock-cut shrine been solely devoted to the Sapta Matrika.〔Berkson p.212〕 The Western Ganga Dynasty (350–1000 CE) kings of Karnataka built many Hindu temples along with ''saptamatrika'' carvings〔 p51〕 and memorials, containing sculptural details of ''saptamatrikas''.〔Kamath (2001), p52〕 The evidence of Matrika sculptures is further pronounced in the Gurjara–Patiharas (8th to 10th century A.D.) and Chandella period (8th to 12th century A.D.).〔 "Anistoriton is an electronic Journal of History, Archaeology and ArtHistory. It publishes scholarly papers since 1997 and it is freely available on the Internet. All papers and images since vol. 1 (1997) are available on line as well as on the free Anistorion CD-ROM edition."〕 The Chalukyas claimed to have been nursed by the Sapta Matrikas. It was a popular practice to link South Indian royal family lineage to a Northern kingdom in ancient times.〔Dr. Suryanath U. Kamath (2001), A Concise History of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, MCC (Reprinted 2002), p60〕 During the Chalukya period (11th to 13th century), all Matrikas continued to figure among the deity sculptures of this period. The Kadambas and Early Chalukyas from the fifth century praise the Matrikas in their preambles, as giver of powers to defeat enemies.〔Lorenzen, David in Harper and Brown, p.29〕〔Harper in Harper and Brown, p.121〕 In most of the relevant texts, their exact number has not been specified, but gradually their number and names became increasingly crystallized and seven goddesses were identified as matrikas, albeit some references indicate eight or even sixteen Matrikas.〔Kinsley p.156〕 Laura Kristine Chamberlain (now Laura K. Amazzone) cites:
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