Within Shaktism, the Divine Mother is understood as one all-encompassing reality who reveals herself through many distinct yet interrelated forms. At the highest level she is revered as the supreme Śakti or Mahādevī, the ultimate source from which all other goddesses arise. This single Divine Feminine principle is then contemplated through specific manifestations that express her powers of creation, preservation, destruction, wisdom, compassion, and protection. The diversity of forms is not seen as contradiction, but as a rich symbolic language through which devotees approach the same transcendent Mother according to temperament, need, and spiritual maturity.

A central way of understanding these manifestations is through the ten Mahāvidyās, the “Great Wisdom Goddesses.” These include Kālī, Tārā, Tripurasundarī (also known as Śrī Vidyā or Lalitā), Bhuvaneśvarī, Bhairavī, Chinnamastā, Dhūmāvatī, Bagalāmukhī, Mātangī, and Kamalā. Each of these goddesses embodies a particular mode of divine wisdom and power, ranging from fierce, transformative energies to more benign, auspicious qualities. Together they form a comprehensive mandala of the Divine Mother’s inner, esoteric dimensions, especially emphasized in Tantric Shakta traditions.

Another important grouping is the Navadurgā, the nine forms of Durgā especially venerated during Navarātri: Śailaputrī, Brahmacāriṇī, Candraghaṇṭā, Kūṣmāṇḍā, Skandamātā, Kātyāyanī, Kālarātrī, Mahāgaurī, and Siddhidātrī. Alongside these, Durgā herself, with her fierce forms such as Caṇḍī, Bhadrakālī, Cāmuṇḍā, and Mahākālī, represents the Mother as the destroyer of evil and protector of the righteous. These forms dramatize the Divine Mother’s role as warrior and guardian, emphasizing that the same compassionate source can appear as terrible to forces of ignorance and oppression. Such imagery invites contemplation of how grace sometimes arrives in the guise of challenge and upheaval.

The Divine Mother is also worshiped as the Śakti of the major deities: Sarasvatī as the power of knowledge and art, Lakṣmī as the power of prosperity and well-being, and Pārvatī as the power of love, ascetic strength, and motherhood, who further manifests as Durgā, Kālī, Satī, and Annapūrṇā. In more inward practice, she is honored as Kuṇḍalinī Śakti, the latent spiritual energy at the base of the spine, and as Śrī Lalitā Tripurasundarī, approached through the Śrīcakra in Śrī Vidyā worship. Beyond these classical forms, she is present as countless local and regional mother goddesses—village deities, river and nature goddesses, and renowned forms such as Kāmākhyā, Vaiṣṇo Devī, and Mīnākṣī—each rooted in a particular landscape and community.

Finally, Shaktism recognizes collective manifestations of the Mother in groups such as the Mātṛkās and Yoginīs, including the Sapta Mātṛkās (Brahmāṇī, Vaiṣṇavī, Māheśvarī, Indrāṇī, Kaumārī, Vārāhī, and Cāmuṇḍā) and extended groupings like the Aṣṭa Mātṛkās. These ensembles of goddesses symbolize the many streams of divine power that support and govern the cosmos. Whether envisioned as a serene bestower of wisdom and abundance, a fierce protector, an inner current of awakening, or a village guardian, all these forms are understood as facets of one indivisible Divine Mother, whose presence permeates both the visible world and the depths of spiritual experience.