| Mohini | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Beauty, Seduction, Eroticism and Illusion | |
 Mohini on a swing by Raja Ravi Varma | |
| Devanagari | मोहिनी |
| Sanskrit transliteration | Mohinī |
| Affiliation | Avatar of Vishnu |
| Weapons | Mohini-Astra (Seduction), Sudarshana Chakra |
| Gender | Female |
| Genealogy | |
| Consort | Shiva |
| Children | Shasta |
Mohini (Sanskrit: मोहिनी, Mohinī) is the Hindu goddess of enchantment. She is the only female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a femme fatale, an enchantress, who maddens lovers and demons, sometimes leading them to their doom. Mohini is introduced into Hinduism in the narrative epic of the Mahabharata. Here, she appears as a form of Vishnu following the Churning of the Ocean, a mesmerising beauty who distributes the amrita (the elixir of immortality) to the weakened devas (gods) and depriving it to the dominant asuras (demons), allowing the former to defeat the latter with their newfound immortality.
Many different legends tell of her various exploits and marriages, including her union with the god Shiva. These tales relate, among other things, the birth of the god Shasta and the destruction of Bhasmasura, the ash-demon. Mohini's main modus operandi is to trick or beguile those she encounters. She is worshipped throughout Indian culture, but mainly in Western India, where temples are devoted to her depicted as Mahalasa, the consort of Khandoba, a regional avatar of Shiva.