Deveno-ueeskeâ ISSN : 2349-137X UGC CARE - Listed Journal Je<e &-8,Deb keâ-17 216 Mahavidyas : The Changing Mood in Visual Presentation Kartik Tripathi Ph.D. Visual Studies School of Arts & Aesthetics Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Abstract The article is a formalist analysis of murals related to Mahavidyas, Hindu tantric goddesses, which are painted in a Vaishnava temple, Ram Janaki temple, of Assi, Varanasi. The depiction of Mahavidyas have unique iconographical properties. The property that differentiates it from the classical tradition of presentation of the goddesses. Here this paper explains its unique qualities through formal analysis and discuss about the mood of images. Keyword Mahavidya, Mural, Culture, Banaras, Vaishnava Temple, Iconography, Tantric Goddesses Introduction : The city, Varanasi, has always been a stronghold of Hinduism along with Buddhism and Jainism since a long time. Hindu texts, especially, Puranas and Mahabharata explicitly praised Kashi as a pilgrimage place. In the same way, Sarnath is the main site of the Buddhist religion. Goutam Buddha first preached his sermon here after getting enlightenment in Bodhgaya, Bihar. The Buddhist Tripitaka 1 texts reflect vociferously about Kashi and its trade values. 2 Similarly, four Tirthankaras of the Jain religion were born in the city viz. Parshavanath, Shuparshvanath, Shreyan- shanath and Chandraprabhu. 3 So, it is also an important site from Jain view as well. And in the medieval period and thereafter, respectively, the dominance of Islamic rulers, the Sultanate, and the Mughals, then British Raj, over the city added culturally and materially, new layers to the fabrication of the city. Many powerful rulers such as Peshwas of Maharashtra, rulers of Rajasthan, nawabs of Awadh, Mughals, British Raj, etc. tried to capture and ruled the city at times. So, the city felt a lot of changes in the context of political as well as cultural values from a long time. Consequently, these all affected the visual culture of Banaras as well. The visuals that emerged from the city are very interesting and important. There are many layers we get in an analysis of