An oral legend tells how the goddess Prachanda Chandika appeared to aid the gods in the god-demon war, when the gods prayed to the Great Goddess Mahashakti. After slaying all demons, the enraged goddess cut off her own head and drank her own blood. The name Prachanda Chandika also appears as a synonym of Chhinnamasta in her hundred-name hymn in the "Shakta Pramoda" (19th century). Another oral legend relates her to the Samudra manthan (Churning of the Ocean) episode, where the gods and demons churned the milk ocean to acquire the "amrita" (the elixir of immortality). Chhinnamasta drank the demons' share of the elixir and then beheaded herself to prevent them from acquiring it.