Chandi

Chandi (Sanskrit: Caṇḍī) or Chandika (Caṇḍīka) is a Hindu goddess.

Etymology

Caṇḍī or Caṇḍīika is the name by which the Supreme Goddess is referred to in Devi Mahatmya. Bhaskararaya, a leading authority on matters concerning Devi worship, defines Chandi as 'the angry, terrible or passionate one'. According to Coburn, "Caṇḍīika is "the violent and impetuous one". In the light of the primacy of this designation of the goddess, it is striking that the word Caṇḍīka has virtually no earlier history in Sanskrit. There are no instances of its occurrence in the Vedic literature we have surveyed. The epics are similarly barren: neither the Ramayana nor the Mahabharata give evidence of the epithet, although in one of the hymns inserted in the latter Caṇḍa and Caṇḍī are applied to the deity they praised."

The designation of Chandi or Chandika is used twenty-nine times in the Devi Mahatmya, which is agreed by many scholars to have had originated in Bengal, the primary seat of the Shakta or Goddess tradition and tantric sadhana since ancient times. It is the most common epithet used for the Goddess. In Devi Mahatmya, Chandi, Chandika, Ambika and Durga have been used synonymously.