Matrikas (Sanskrit: मातृका (singular), IAST: mātṛkā, lit. "mothers") also called Mataras or Matri, are a group of mother goddesses in Hinduism. The Matrikas are often depicted in a group of seven, the Saptamatrika(s) (Seven Mothers). However, they are also depicted as a group of eight, the Ashtamatrika(s). They are associated with these gods as their energies (Shaktis). Brahmani emerged from Brahma, Vaishnavi from Vishnu, Maheshvari from Shiva, Indrani from Indra, Kaumari from Kartikeya, Varahi from Varaha and Chamunda from Chandi. And additionals are Narasimhi from Narasimha and Vinayaki from Ganesha.

Originally the seven goddesses of the seven stars of the star cluster of the Pleiades, they became quite popular by the seventh century CE and a standard feature of the Hindu goddesses's temples from the ninth century CE onwards. In South India, Saptamatrikas worship is prevalent whereas the Ashtamatrikas are venerated in Nepal, among other places.

The Matrikas assume paramount significance in the goddesses-oriented sect of Hinduism, Tantrism. In Shaktism, they are described as assisting the Durga in her fight with demons and demonesses and killing all of them. Other scholars say that they are Shaiva goddesses. They are also connected with the worship of warrior god Kartikeya. In most early references, the Matrikas are associated with the conception, birth, diseases, protection of children. They were seen as inauspicious, as the goddeses of perils, propitiated in order to avoid those ills, that killed off so many children before they reached adulthood. They come to play a protective role in later mythology, although some of their early inauspicious and wild characteristics continue in these legends. Thus, they represent the prodigiously fecund aspect of nature as well as its destructively killing aspect.

According to Jagdish Narain Tiwari and Dilip Chakravati, the Matrikas were existent as early as the Vedic period and the Indus Valley civilization. Seals with rows of seven feminine deities are cited as evidence for the theory. The Rigveda (IX 102.4) speaks of a group of seven Mothers who control the preparation of Soma, but the earliest clear description appears in select chapters of the epic Mahabharata dated to 1st century CE. Madhu Wangu believes that Matrika description in Mahabharata is rooted in the group of seven females depicted on Indus valley seals.

By the fifth century CE, all these goddesses were incorporated in mainstream orthodox Hinduism as Tantric deities. David Kinsley proposes that the Matrikas may be local village goddesses, who were being assimilated in the mainstream. He cites two reasons for his assertion: their description in Mahabharata as dark in colour, speaking foreign languages and living in peripheral areas and their association with god Skanda and his father and mother, Shiva and Parvati, whose forms were the Matrikas and Bhairavas had Vedic attributes. Sara L. Schastok suggests that the Matrikas maybe inspired by the concept of Yakshas, who are associated with Kartikeya and Kubera – both are often portrayed with the Matrikas. In contrast to the Indus Valley origins theory, Bhattacharyya notes:

The cult of the Female Principle was a major aspect of Dravidian religion, The concept of Shakti was an integral part of their religion. The cult of the Sapta Matrikas, or Seven Divine Mothers, which is an integral part of the Shakta religion, may be of Dravidian inspiration.

— Bhattacharyya, Bhattacharyya, Bhattacharyya

The Sapta-Matrikas were earlier connected with Kartikeya and in later times, associated with the Shaiva sect of Shiva himself. During the Kushana period (1st century CE to 3rd century CE), the sculptural images of the Matrikas first appear in stone. The Kushana images merged from the belief in Balagrahas (lit "destroyers of children") worship related to conception, birth, diseases, protection of children. The Balagraha tradition included the worship of the infant Kartikeya with the Matrikas. The goddesses were considered as personifications of perils, related to children and thus, were pacified by worship. The Kushana images emphasize the maternal as well as destructive characteristics of the Matrikas through their emblems and weapons. They appear to be an undifferentiated sculptural group but develop in standard and complex iconographic representation during the following Gupta period.