TYPE: Mother goddess
ORIGIN: Hindu
INFORMATION: Applied collectively to groups of deities, the divine mothers, also more specifically to the consort of the god Kasyapa. As divine mothers they are also regarded as Saktis. The numbers vary according to separate traditions and they are therefore identified as the Saptamataras (seven), Astamataras (eight) and Navasaktis (nine). Less commonly there may be up to fifty mataras in a group. Their images are normally carved in stone (very few exist in metal) and they are depicted seated, often upon a corpse, and may be of terrifying appearance.