Sri Tripura Sundari (Shodashi, Lalita)

The Goddess Who is “Beautiful in the Three Worlds” (Supreme Deity of Srikula systems); the “Tantric Parvati” or the “Moksha Mukta”. She is the head of Manidweepa, the eternal supreme abode of the goddess. Shodashi is seen with a molten gold complexion, three placid eyes, a calm mien, wearing red and pink vestments, adorned with ornaments on her divine limbs and four hands, each holding a goad, lotus, a bow and arrow. She is seated on a throne. Tripura Sundari is also known as Goddess Shodashi. As the name suggests Goddess Shodashi is the most beautiful in all three worlds. In Mahavidya, She represents Goddess Parvati or also known as Tantric Parvati. Goddess Shodashi is also known as Lalita and Rajarajeshwari which means “the one who plays” and “queen of queens” respectively. Mahavidya is Tripurasundari, also known as Kamala. A form of Mahalakshmi, She symbolizes wealth. According to the description in her dhyana mantra, Tripurasundari’s complexion shines with the light of the rising sun. This rosy color represents joy, compassion, and illumination. She is shown with four arms in which she holds five arrows of flowers, a noose, a goad and sugarcane as a bow. The noose represents attachment, the goad represents repulsion, the sugarcane bow represents the mind and the arrows are the five sense objects. In the Sakta Tantra, it is Mother who is supreme, and the gods are her instruments of expression. Through them, she presides over the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of the universe, as well as over the self-concealment and self-revelation that lie behind those three activities. Self-concealment is the precondition as well as the result of cosmic manifestation, and self-revelation causes the manifest universe to dissolve, disclosing the essential unity. Tripurasundari represents the state of awareness that is also