Bhedaghat Yogini Temple is located on the banks of Narmada
River at Bhedaghat in Madhya Pradesh. The shrine is dedicated to yoginis and is
around 5 km from Jabalpur. There are usually 64 yoginis but at Bhedaghat there
are 81 Yoginis. This is the largest known Yogini Temple in the world. The
concept of 81 Yoginis is based Mattottara Tantra – a medieval tantric text from
Nepal.
The temple is in a dilapidated condition. The original
murtis of yoginis belonged to the 10th century AD. They were mostly seated on
animal mounts placed over inscribed pedestals and were heavily bejeweled.
Of the nine main matrikas, seven can be identified (Brahmi,
Maheshwari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Chandika ; two are missing (Chamunda
and Mahalakshmi) and Kaumari of this group is traced to a nearby place called
Mandla.
Among the 81 Matrikas only 49 have been identified. Notable
among them are Mahishasuramardini, Kamada and Sarvatomukhi.