From: monaghan@carson.u.washington.edu (Tracy Monaghan)
Newsgroups: alt.mythology
Subject: Re: Kali (Durga)
Date: 21 Jul 92 16:32:22 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

We have available Grolier's online encyclopedia, so I thought this might
add to the confusion :)

Tracy
*****

ARTICLE
        Kali
TEXT
        {kah'-lee}

        Among the many metamorphoses of the wife of the Hindu god SHIVA
        is that of Kali (the Black One). She represents one facet of
        SHAKTI, the divine creative power or mother goddess, but also
        the power of destruction. The rituals of her cult, which is
        particularly strong among the lower castes in India, focus both
        on sensual pleasure and on fertility. Her most famous legend
        concerns her struggle with Raktavija, head of an army of
        demons. Failing to wound him mortally with any of her weapons,
        Kali finally overcame him by drinking all his blood.
SEEALSO
        See also: THUGS.

Copyright notice:
        Copyright by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

                   ---- End of Article ----

ARTICLE
        Durga
TEXT
        {dur'-gah}

        In Hinduism, Durga is one form of the mother-goddess Devi, the
        consort of SHIVA. According to Hindu lore, the gods begged her
        to find and destroy Mahisasura, a demon who had dethroned them.
        Mounted on a lion, Durga battled the demon and at last thrust
        her lance through his heart. In art, she is depicted riding a
        lion or a tiger.
SEEALSO
        See also: KALI; SHAKTI.

Copyright notice:
        Copyright by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

                   ---- End of Article ----

ARTICLE
        Thugs
TEXT
        {thuhgz}

        The Thugs (from Sanskrit, "to conceal") were organized gangs of
        murderers who for more than 600 years wandered India robbing
        and killing wayfarers by ritual methods (strangling with
        scarves) and with sacrificial rites accompanying the burial.
        Devoted to Kali, the terrible form of Shiva's consort, the
        Thugs had their own jargon and signs of recognition and
        functioned as a subcaste within the Indian social structure
        (they were so reported in surveys during the 19th century). In
        the 1830s the British administration, in cooperation with some
        of the princely states, rounded up most of the Thugs. After
        1840 the gangs disappeared. KARL H. POTTER

        Bibliography: Bruce, George L., The Stranglers: The Cult of
        Thuggee and Its Overthrow in British India (1968).

Copyright notice:
        Copyright by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

                   ---- End of Article ----


ARTICLE
        Shiva
TEXT
        {shi'-va}

        One of the two principal Hindu gods (the other being VISHNU),
        Shiva is frequently viewed as the destroyer of the world prior
        to each period of dissolution. He is depicted in both terrible
        and graceful forms, the latter including the dancing Shiva, or
        Nataraja. He consorts with a mother goddess, Ambika, known by
        various other names such as Parvati, Uma, Durga, or Kali (see
        also SHAKTI), and his presence is iconographically suggested by
        the image of his vehicle, a bull (Nandi), or by the
        pillar-shaped lingam, a phallic image.

        Hindus who view Shiva as the supreme deity are known as
        Shaivites. Among the various localized sects of Shaivism are
        Kashmir Shaivism, Virashaivism, and Shaiva Siddhanta. KARL H.
        POTTER

Copyright notice:
        Copyright by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

                   ---- End of Article ----