Kali | Hindu goddess | Britannica.com Hindu goddess Shiva Kali, ( Sanskrit: “She Who Is Black” or “She Who Is Death”) in Hinduism , goddess of time, doomsday, and death , or the black goddess (the feminine form of Sanskrit kala, “time-doomsday-death” or “black”). Kali’s origins can be traced to the deities of the village, tribal, and mountain cultures of South Asia who were gradually appropriated and transformed, if never quite tamed, by the Sanskritic traditions. She makes her first major appearance in Sanskrit culture in the Devi Mahatmya (“The Glorifications of the Goddess,” c. 6th century ce). Kali’s iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her not only with death but also with sexuality , violence, and, paradoxically, in some later traditions, with motherly love.

Kali, sandstone relief from Bheraghat, near Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh state, India, 10th century … Pramod Chandra Although depicted in many forms throughout South Asia (and now much of the world), Kali is most often characterized as black or blue, partially or completely naked, with a long lolling tongue, multiple arms, a skirt or girdle of human arms, a necklace of decapitated heads, and a decapitated head in one of her hands. She is often portrayed standing or dancing on her husband, the god Shiva , who lies prostrate beneath her. Many of those portrayals depict her sticking out her tongue, which is sometimes said to indicate her surprise and embarrassment at discovering that she is trampling on her husband. Yet the association of Kali with an extended tongue has early roots. A precursor of Kali is the ogress Long Tongue, who licks up oblations in the ancient Sanskrit texts known as the Brahmanas . The Devi Mahatmya tells of Kali springing from the anger of the goddess Durga to slay the demon Raktabija (“Blood-Seed”).

During the struggle a new demon emerges from each drop of Raktabija’s blood as it hits the ground; to prevent this, Kali laps up the blood before it can reach the ground. She is also said to have been born when the goddess Parvati shed her dark skin; the sheath became Kali—who is also called Kaushika, “The Sheath”—leaving Parvati in the form of Gauri (“The Fair One”). Similar Topics Kali is the Dark Mother Goddess in Hinduism Kali is the Dark Mother Goddess in Hinduism Kali is the Dark Mother Goddess in Hinduism Fearful goddess with a heart of a mother Goddess Kali. ExoticIndianArt.com By Subhamoy Das Updated November 28, 2016. The love between the Divine Mother and her human children is a unique relationship. Kali, the Dark Mother is one such deity with whom devotees have a very loving and intimate bond, in spite of her fearful appearance. In this relationship, the worshipper becomes a child and Kali assumes the form of the ever-caring mother.

"O Mother, even a dullard becomes a poet who meditates upon thee raimented with space, three-eyed, creatrix of the three worlds, whose waist is beautiful with a girdle made of numbers of dead men's arms..." (From a Karpuradistotra hymn, translated from Sanskrit by Sir John Woodroffe) Who is Kali? Kali is the fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess. She assumed the form of a powerful goddess and became popular with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya, a text of the 5th - 6th century AD. Here she is depicted as having born from the brow of Goddess Durga during one of her battles with the evil forces. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved in the killing spree that she got carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common image of Kali shows her in her mêlée mood, standing with one foot on Shiva's chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out.

The Fearful Symmetry Kali is represented with perhaps the fiercest features amongst all the world's deities. She has four arms, with a sword in one hand and the head of a demon in another. The other two hands bless her worshippers, and say, "fear not"! She has two dead heads for her earrings, a string of skulls as a necklace, and a girdle made of human hands as her clothing. Her tongue protrudes from her mouth, her eyes are red, and her face and breasts are sullied with blood. She stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the chest of her husband, Shiva. Awesome Symbols Kali's fierce form is strewed with awesome symbols. Her black complexion symbolizes her all-embracing and transcendental nature. Says the Mahanirvana Tantra: "Just as all colors disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her". Her nudity is primeval, fundamental, and transparent like Nature — the earth, sea, and sky.

Kali is free from the illusory covering, for she is beyond all maya or "false consciousness." Kali's garland of fifty human heads that stands for the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes infinite knowledge. Her girdle of severed human hands signifies work and liberation from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth show her inner purity, and her red lolling tongue indicates her omnivorous nature — "her indiscriminate enjoyment of all the world's 'flavors'." Her sword is the destroyer of false consciousness and the eight bonds that bind us. Her three eyes represent past, present, and future, — the three modes of time — an attribute that lies in the very name Kali ('Kala' in Sanskrit means time ). The eminent translator of Tantrik texts, Sir John Woodroffe in Garland of Letters, writes, "Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness." Kali's proximity to cremation grounds where the five elements or "Pancha Mahabhuta" come together and all worldly attachments are absolved, again point to the cycle of birth and death.

The reclined Shiva lying prostrate under the feet of Kali suggests that without the power of Kali (Shakti), Shiva is inert. Forms, Temples, and Devotees Kali's guises and names are diverse. Shyama, Adya Ma, Tara Ma and Dakshina Kalika, Chamundi are popular forms. Then there is Bhadra Kali, who is gentle, Shyamashana Kali, who lives only in the cremation ground, and so on. The most notable Kali temples are in Eastern India — Dakshineshwar and Kalighat in Kolkata (Calcutta) and Kamakhya in Assam, a seat of tantric practices. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa , Swami Vivekananda , Vamakhyapa, and Ramprasad are some of the legendary devotees of Kali. One thing was common to these saints — all of them loved the goddess as intimately as they loved their own mother. "My child, you need not know much in order to please Me. Only Love Me dearly.

Speak to me, as you would talk to your mother, if she had taken you in her arms." Kali the Goddess: Gentle Mother, Fierce Warrior Kali the Goddess: Gentle Mother, Fierce Warrior O Kali, my mother full of bliss! Enchantress of the almighty Shiva ! In Thy delirious joy Thou dancest, clapping Thy hands together! Thou art the Mover of all that move, and we are but Thy helpless toys. -- Ramakrishna Paramhans KALI IN THE CREMATION GROUNDS Courtesy Exotic India Kali is one of the most well known and worshipped Hindu Goddesses. The name Kali is derived from the Hindu word that means "time", and that also means " black ". Kali in Hinduism, is a manifestation of the Divine Mother, which represents the female principle. Frequently, those not comprehending her many roles in life call Kali the goddess of destruction. She destroys only to recreate, and what she destroys is sin, ignorance and decay. She is equated with the eternal night, is the transcendent power of time, and is the consort of the god Shiva.

It is believed that its Shiva who destroys the world, and Kali is the power or energy with which Shiva acts. Therefore, Kali is Shiva's shakti , without which Shiva could not act. Kali receives her name because she devours kala (Time) and then resumes her own dark formlessness. This transformative effect can be metaphorically illustrated in the West as a black hole in space. Kali as such is pure and primary reality (the "enfolded order" in modern physics); formless void yet full of potential. The Matsyapurana states that Kali began as a tribal Goddess of the high mountain region of Mount Kalanjara, which is in north-central India and east of the Indus Valley. However, because of the relatively recent origin of the Matsyapurana we cannot be certain when or where the worship of Kali actually began. We do know however, that she was mentioned in the Upanishads, which were written a thousand years before the Matsyapurana. In the Vedas the name is associated with fire god Agni, the god of fire, who had seven flickering tongues of flame, of which Kali was the black, horrible tongue.

THE NATIVE INDIANS Courtesy Exotic India Kali is usually depicted as naked, blood-thirsty, and wild-haired. Records of Kali's worship date back less than 2,000 years and it is widely assumed by scholars that she represents a survival of a Dravidian (pre-Aryan) goddess and is thought of as the great creatrix of the ancient Indian pantheon as she is well over 2000 years old. Kali is thought to be a pre-Aryan goddess, belonging to the civilization of the Indus Valley, because there is no evidence that Aryan people ever raised a female deity to the rank that she held in the Indus and currently maintains in Hinduism. Her dark skin evidences the fact that she predated the lighter-skinned Aryan invasion of the darker-skinned inhabitants of the Indian sub-continent. This conflict became the subject of many myths handed down about Kali's fierce passion in defending her people against the invaders. Kali's passion and fierceness are due both to her ties to the pre-Aryan Great Mother Goddess, as well as her place at Shiva's side as his consort, which gives her the power of the Shakti, or female energy.

However the Aryan Invasion Theory of India's origins is currently in dispute amongst historians. The Aryan invaders introduced into India's culture the patriarchal gods that they had brought with them, but various matriarchal tribes, such as the Shabara of Orissa , continues worshipping Kali. She was probably an aboriginal deity of vegetation and agriculture; but evidence that animal and human sacrifices were offered to her suggests that Kali became a fertility deity. Animal sacrifices are still made to her, notably in temples such as the one at Kalighat in Calcutta, where a goat is immolated in her honor every day. On her feast in the fall, goats and buffalos are the usual victims, along with certain types of vegetation. Although human sacrifices have been banned, there are occasional reports of alleged sacrifices to authorities from remote areas. SIDDHA LAKSHMI WITH KALI Courtesy Exotic India Kali was first manifested when the Goddess Parvati knitted her brows in fury when the demon, Daruka, threatened the Gods. It was then that the three-eyed Kali first sprang forth from Parvati, fully armed, and immediately putting an end to Daruka.

It is for this reason that Kali is considered an aspect of Parvati. Other stories tell of how Kali fought and killed two demons. It was then, celebrating Her victory, that She drained the blood from their bodies and, drunk from the slaughter, She began to dance. Kali became overjoyed with the feel of their dead flesh under Her feet, and She continued to keep dancing, more and more wildly, until She finally realized that Her husband, Shiva, was underneath Her, and that She was dancing him to death. Realizing this, Kali's wildness did slow down, but only for a short while; it is believed that She will eventually continue Her dance and that when she does, it will bring an end to the world. Yet, her followers still believe that once faced and understood, Kali has the ability to free Her worshippers from all their fears. Once this occurs, then Kali metamorphasizes into another aspect, that of a loving and comforting Mother. KALI KILLING EVIL DEMONS Courtesy Exotic India There is yet another version of Kali's manifestation. The Gods were not able to kill the demon, Raktabija.

Each drop of his blood that touched the ground turned into another Raktabija. Thus, every time he was struck, millions of his duplicates appeared all over the battlefield. At this point the Gods were totally desperate, and they then turned to Shiva for help. Shiva, though, was so deep in meditation that he could not be reached. The Gods then turned to Shiva's consort Parvati for help. The Goddess Parvati immediately set out to do battle with the demon, and it was then that She took the form of Kali. Kali then appeared, with Her red eyes, dark complexion, gaunt features, hair unbound, and Her teeth as sharp as fangs. She rode into the midst of the battle on a lion, and it was only then that the demon Raktabija first began to experience fear. Kali then ordered the Gods to attack Raktabija, while She spread Her tongue over the battlefield, covering it completely, and preventing even one drop of the demon's blood from falling. In doing this, Kali prevented Raktabija from reproducing himself again, and the Gods were then victorious.

KALI ATOP LORD SHIVA Courtesy Exotic India Kali is the ferocious aspect of Devi Durga perfectly personified. According to the Purana, this image of Durga as Kali, so widely worshipped in eastern parts of India, owes its origin to the battle of Durga with Shumbha and Nishumbha. She after her victory over these demons was so overjoyed that she started the dance of death. In her great ecstasy Kali continued the destruction. As the prayers of all gods could not calm her, Lord Shiva had to intervene. Seeing no other way of dissuading her, the God threw himself amongst the bodies of slain demons. When Kali saw that she was dancing over the body of her husband, she put her tongue out of her mouth in sorrow and surprise. She remained stunned in this posture and this is how Kali is shown in images with the red tongue protruding from her mouth. The manifestation of the goddess as Kali is the most shocking appearance. She is depicted standing on the prostrate body of Shiva, who is lying on a lotus bed. She has absorbed the inexorability of Rudra and Shiva as Bhairava.

Yet there is both life and death in this form of the Divine Mother. The name Kali comes from the word "kala," or time. She is the power of time which devours all. She has a power that destroys and should be depicted in awe-inspiring terror. Kali is found in the cremation ground amid dead bodies. She is standing in a challenging posture on the prostrate body of her husband Shiva. Kali cannot exist without him, and Shiva can't reveal himself without her. She is the manifestation of Shiva's power and energy. While Shiva's complexion is pure white, Kali is the color of the darkest night-a deep bluish black. As the limitless Void, Kali has swallowed up everything without a trace. Hence, she is black. Kali's luxuriant hair is disheveled and, thereby, symbolizes Kali's boundless freedom. Another interpretation says that each hair is a jiva (individual soul), and all souls have their roots in Kali. Kali has three eyes; the third one stands for wisdom. Kali's tongue is protruding, a gesture of coyness-because she unwittingly stepped on the body of her husband Shiva.

A more philosophical interpretation of Kali's tongue is that it symbolizes Rajas (the color red, activity) and that it is held by her teeth, symbolizing sattva (the color white, spirituality). KALI AND LORD SHIVA Courtesy Exotic India Kali has four arms. The posture of her right arms promises fearlessness and boons while her left arms hold a bloody sword and a freshly severed human head. Looking at Kali's right, we see good, and looking at her left, we see bad. Kali is portrayed as naked except for a girdle of human arms cut off at the elbow and a garland of fifty skulls. The arms represent the capacity for work, and Kali wears all work (action), potential work, and the results thereof around her waist. The fifty skulls represent the fifty letters of the Hindu alphabet, the manifest state of sound from which all creation evolved. Kali's nudity has a similar meaning. In many instances she is described as garbed in space or sky clad. In her absolute, primordial nakedness she is free from all covering of illusion. She is Nature (Prakriti in Sanskrit), stripped of 'clothes'.

It symbolizes that she is completely beyond name and form, completely beyond the effects of maya (illusion). Her nudity is said to represent totally illumined consciousness, unaffected by maya. Kali is the bright fire of truth, which cannot be hidden by the clothes of ignorance. Such truth simply burns them away. Despite Kali's origins in battle, she evolved to a full-fledged symbol of Mother Nature in her creative, nurturing and devouring aspects. Some groups of people, unfamiliar with the precepts of Hinduism, see Kali as a satanic demon probably because of tales of her being worshipped by dacoits and other such people indulging evil acts. KALI THE BLACK GODDESS Courtesy Exotic India The Goddess Kali is represented as black in color. Black in the ancient Hindu language of Sanskrit is kaala. The feminine form is kali. So she is Kali, the black one. Black is a symbol of The Infinite and the seed stage of all colors. The Goddess Kali remains in a state of inconceivable darkness that transcends words and mind. Within her blackness is the dazzling brilliance of illumination.

Kali's blackness symbolizes her all-embracing, comprehensive nature, because black is the color in which all the colors merge; black absorbs and dissolves them. "Just as all colours disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her" -- Mahanirvana Tantra On the other hand, black is said to represent the total absence of color, again signifying the nature of Kali as ultimate reality. This in Sanskrit, the color black is named as nirguna (beyond all quality and form). Either way, kali's black colour symbolizes her transcendence of all form. "Is Kali, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion? She appears black because She is viewed from a distance But when intimately known She is no longer so The sky appears blue at a distance, but look at it close by And you will find that it has no colour The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance But when you go near and take it on your hand, you find that it is colourless". -- Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1836-86) Kali is a great and powerful black earth Mother Goddess capable of terrible destruction and represents the most powerful form of the female forces in the Universe.

Worship of the Goddess Kali is largely an attempt to appease her and avert her wrath. The Goddess Kali constantly drinks blood. She has an insatiable thirst for blood. As mistress of blood, she presides over the mysteries of both life and death. Kali intends her bloody deeds for the protection of the good. She may get carried away by her gruesome acts but she is not evil. Kali's destructive energies on the highest level are seen as a vehicle of salvation and ultimate transformation. KALI - BLACK MOTHER EARTH Courtesy Exotic India Kali is the central deity of Time. She created the world and destroys it. She is beyond time and space. After the destruction of the Universe, at the end of the great cycle, she collects the seeds of the next creation. She destroys the finite to reveal the Infinite. This Black Goddess is death, but to the wise she is also the death of death. This can only be revealed through the worship of Kali, and meditation on her mysteries. To her worshippers in both Hinduism and Tantra she represents a multi-faceted Great Goddess responsible for all of life from conception to death.

Her worship, therefore, consists of fertility festivals as well as sacrifices (animal and human); and her initiations expand one's consciousness by many means, including fear, ritual sexuality and intoxication with a variety of drugs. Her three forms are manifested in many ways: in the three divisions of the year, the three phases of the moon, the three sections of the cosmos (heaven, earth, and the underworld), the three stages of life, the three trimesters of pregnancy, and so on. Women represent her spirit in mortal flesh. "The Divine Mother first appears in and as her worshipper's earthly mother, then as his wife; thirdly as Kalika, she reveals herself in old age, disease and death." Three kinds of priestesses tend her shrines: Yoginis or Shaktis, the "Maidens"; Matri, the "Mothers"; and Dakinis, the "Skywalkers". These priestesses attend the dying, govern funerary rites and act as angels of death. All have their counterparts in the spirit world. To this day, Tantric Buddhism relates the three mortal forms of woman to the divine female trinity called Three Most Precious Ones.

Kali's three forms appear in the sacred colors known as "Gunas": white for the Virgin, red for the Mother, black for the Crone, the three together symbolizing birth, life, death. Black is Kali's fundamental color as the Destroyer, for it means the formless condition she assumes between creations, when all the elements are dissolved in her primordial substance. SNAKE PENDANT Courtesy Exotic India As Kundalini the Female Serpent, she resembles the archaic Egyptian serpent-mother said to have created the world. It was said of Kundalini that at the beginning of the universe, she starts to uncoil in "a spiral line movement, which is the movement of creation." This spiral line was vitally important in late Paleolithic and Neolithic religious symbolism, representing death and rebirth as movement into the disappearing-point of formlessness, and out of it again, to a new world of form. Spirals therefore appeared on tombs, as one of the world's first mystical symbols.

Kali is considered to be the most fully realized of all the Dark Goddesses, but even though Kali was originally worshipped as a warrior goddess, and her followers gave her offerings of blood and flesh, her followers still found her greatest strength to be that of a protector. Kali is not always thought of as a Dark Goddess; rather, she is also referred to as a great and loving primordial Mother Goddess in the Hindu tantric tradition. In this aspect, as Mother Goddess, she is referred to as Kali Ma, meaning Kali Mother, and millions of Hindus revere her as such. Kali is also associated with intense sexuality. Myths tell of the Yoni (vagina) of Kali (when she existed as Sati - wife of Lord Shiva) falling down to the Earth on the sacred hill near Gauhati in Assam (India), the same place where the Temple of Kamakhya is now located. The temple's outer walls are highly decorated with carvings showing Kali as a Triple Goddess: squatting, and exposing her Yoni (vagina); as a mother suckling Her child; and as a warrior woman drawing back Her bow.

While these carvings show Kali as a sexual being, they also show her as a protective and motherly woman, full of compassion. Courtesy Exotic India Known as the "Dark Mother," the Hindu Triple Goddess of creation, protection, and destruction, now most commonly known in her Destroyer aspect, is very often depicted as squatting over her dead consort Shiva and devouring his entrails, while her yoni sexually devours his lingam. Kali is: "The hungry earth, which devours its own children and fattens on their corpses ... It is in India that the experience of the Terrible Mother has been given its most grandiose form as Kali. But all this and it should not be forgotten an image not only of the Feminine but particularly and specifically of the Maternal. For in a profound way life and birth are always bound up with death and destruction." -- Erich Neumann from "The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype" Kali's paramount place of worship is in the cremation ground, preferably at the dead of night, on a suitable day of the waning Moon. Here, her nature becomes clear and apparent.

For an adept in the worship, the whole world is a cremation ground, and She, the true form of time, who by herself creates and destroys all, is personified as the pyre. There, after life, all mortals and their wishes, dreams and reflections come to their fruition, a pile of worthless ashes. Kali's dwelling place, the cremation ground denotes a place where the pancha mahabhuta (five elements) are dissolved. Kali dwells where this dissolution takes place. In terms of devotion and worship, this denotes the dissolving of attachments, anger, lust and other binding emotions, feelings and ideas. The heart of devotee is where this burning takes place, and it is in the heart that Kali dwells. The devotee makes her image in his heart and under her influence burns away all limitations and ignorance in the cremation fires. This inner cremation fire in the heart is the gyanagni (fire of knowledge), which kali bestows. SNAKE PENDANT Courtesy Exotic India Kali is the universal mother. It is believed that she goes into the darkness with us, and for us, to swallow our sins, worries and concerns.

She can show us how to radically transform our lives by embracing our own darkness, rather than fearing and fleeing from that which haunts us. She can spiritually hack away at the handcuffs that keep us shackled to the hungry ghosts of the past. There comes a point in the process when you must surrender fully to her healing powers, and let her bring you back cleansed, transformed, whole. Kali is the powerful Hindu Goddess who is in charge of darkness, death and regeneration. Many people fear her because she is so awesome looking, but Hindus love and adore her as their great goddess and they see her as a manifestation of power that is fierce and potent. She is shakti (female energy) incarnate and the manifestation of primordial power. While she is the consort of the great Lord Shiva, she is also seen dancing wildly, with his form beneath her feet. They are partners in darkness, and in dancing the dance of death and regeneration. She brings life and death. She is regeneration and rebirth. In many ways she is the consummate representation of the classic power of the Divine Female - the power to give birth, to bring death to the old and to regenerate.

Her haunts are the cremation grounds, where she takes life, and then recycles it into new life. Her symbol for cutting away at evil and darkness is to behead humans, but what that image really represents is the cutting away of the human ego and all the problems it causes. She eats pain, and swallows despair, and the secret shadows of our lives. Kali is a goddess who acts in violent, gruesome, fearsome ways, killing as her main function, yet she is not evil. She is a representation of negative forces in the universe. Yet even then, she is a manifest form of godhead, a part of the divine whole. Kali in one aspect is still the mother of all. According to devotional literature she is revered as a terrible fearsome goddess, but also as one who must be accepted and loved. Kali represents in a way the kinks in the Hindu system of dharma. A system that is based upon structure and purity, that ritualizes and prepares for the occurrences of death and other disorder. Yet there are things that are unexpected, impure and chaotic. Kali is the representation of what is outside the order.

The Hindu goddess Kali deals with the horrible aspects of life that most people will not think about. Embodying horror, rage, unkempt fury and chaos, Kali is worshiped as a goddess and not mistaken for a demon. Chaos must exist in compliment to order in the creation and maintenance of balance in the universe. The dark side of the divine exists in contrast to the bright and the beautiful. In Hinduism, the polarity of good and evil are blurred. The demons may perform austerities to be granted boons, just as the gods may go awry and threaten the stability of the cosmos. No female deity embodies the duality of light and dark in a complimentary existence as well as Kali. MAHAKALI Courtesy Exotic India Kali is the full picture of the Universal Power. She is Mother, the Benign; and Mother, the Terrible. She creates and nourishes and she skills and destroys. By Her magic we see good and bad, but in reality there is neither. The whole world and all we see is the play of Maya, the veiling power of the Divine Mother. God is neither good nor bad, nor both. God is beyond the pair of opposites that constitute this relative existence.

The Tantras mention over thirty forms of Kali. Sri Ramakrishna often spoke about the different forms of Kali. The Divine Mother is known as Kali-Ma, Maha Kali, Nitya Kali, Shamshana Kali, Raksha Kali, Shyama Kali, Kalikamata, and Kalaratri. Among the Tamils she is known as Kottavei. Maha Kali and Nitya Kali are mentioned in the Tantra Philosophy. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun , the moon, the planets, and the earth, when the darkness was enveloped in darkness, then the Mother, the Formless One, Maha Kali, the Power, was one with the Maha Kala, the Absolute. As Mahakali she is the timeless, immortal, formless power indistinguishable from the transcendent one or Absolute Power. Buy this sculpture SHYAMA KALI Shyama Kali has a somewhat tender aspect and is worshipped in Hindu households. She is the dispenser of boons and the dispeller of fear.

People worship Raksha Kali, the Protectress, in times of epidemic, famine, earthquake, drought, and flood. Shamshan Kali is the embodiment of the power of destruction. She resides in the cremation ground, surrounded by corpses, jackals and terrible female spirits. From her mouth flows a stream of blood, from her neck hangs a garland of human heads, and around her waist is a girdle made of human arms. Tantrics worship Siddha Kali to attain perfection. Phalaharini Kali to destroy the results of their actions; Nitya Kali, the eternal Kali, to take away their disease, grief, and suffering and to give them perfection and illumination. Robbers and thieves have their own kali. Not so many years ago, robbers lived in Indian woods and had the habit of worshipping Dakait Kali before they want to rob people on highways and in villages. Some of these old Kali images have survived time and are still being worshipped, though for reasons other than originally intended. In Kolkata she is worshipped as Bhavtarini, the redeemer of all creation, the most beautiful one.

The beauty of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata is far removed from the dreary sight of an active cremation ground. And, although the Goddess in this temple is the same Ma Kali as the feared one in the cremation ground, she is regarded as benign-a protrectress rather than a destroyer. While someone unfamiliar with the Shakti worship may perceive Kali's images as equally terrible without making the slightest distinction between them, the Hindu distinguishes a benign Kali (dakshina) from a fearful Kali (shamshan) by the position of her feet. If Kali steps out with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is a Dakshina Kali. If she steps out with her left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible of the Mother, the Shamshan Kali of the cremation ground. Courtesy Exotic India Of the many other aspects of Kali, the two best known are Mahakali and Bhairavi. In the aspect of Bhairavi, Kali is the counterpart to Shiva, taking pleasure in destruction, and the ultimate dissolution of the universe.

Kali is also thought to be an aspect of the Devi or Mahadevi or Mahakali, who was the most powerful and complex of all the great Goddesses. When She is in the aspect of Mahakali, Kali uses Her very appearance to terrify the various entities, demons, and devils who represent the sinister forces. It is in this aspect, as Mahadevi, that Kali is depicted with black skin and a hideous tusked face and claws; Her forehead bearing a third eye like Shiva's. Here, Kali is shown with four arms, the upper two holding a bloody sword and severed head, while Her two lower hands are held out in welcome, as She grants favors to Her devout followers. THE SEVEN MATRIKAS Courtesy Exotic India Western scholars erroneously viewed the various manifestations and incarnations of Kali as many different Goddesses, particularly isolating those primitve mother-goddesses ("matrikadevis") grouped together as "Dravidian she-ogres." Yet Kali's worshippers plainly stated that she had hundreds of different names, but they were all the same Goddess. Some of Kali's older names found their way into the Bible.

As Tara , the earth, she became Terah, mother of the Hebrew ancestral spirits called "teraphim". The same Tara became the Celts' Tara, Gauls' Turan, and the Latin Terra, meaning "Mother Earth," said to be interchangeable with Venus. The name of Eve, may have originated with Kali's Ieva or Jiva, the primordial female principle of manifestation; she gave birth to her "first manifested form" and called him Idam (Adam). She also bore the same title given to Eve in the Old Testament: Mother of All Living (Jaganmata). Variations of Kali's basic name occurred throughout the ancient world. The Greeks had a word Kalli, meaning "beautiful," but applied the name to things that were not particularly beautiful such as the demonic centaurs called kallikantzari, relatives of Kali's Asvins. Their city of Kallipolis, the modern-day Gallipoli, was centered in Amazon country formerly ruled by Artemis Kalliste.

The annual birth festival at Eleusis was Kalligeneia, translateable as "coming forth from the Beautiful One," or "coming forth from Kali." The temple of the Great Mother of the Gods at Pergamum stood on Mount Mamurt-Kaleh, easily transposed into Mount Mother-Kali. Lunar priests of Sinai, formerly priestesses of the Moon-goddess, called themselves kalu. Similar priestesses of prehistoric Ireland were kelles, origin of the name Kelly, which meant a hierophantic clan devoted to "the Goddess Kele". This was cognate with the Saxon Kale, or Gale, whose lunar calendar or kalends included the spring month of Sproutkale, when Mother Earth (Kale) put forth new shoots. In antiquity the Phoenicians referred to the strait of Gibraltar as Calpe, because it was considered the passage to the western paradise of the Mother. The Black Goddess was known in Finland as Kalma (Kali Ma), a haunter of tombs and an eater of the dead.

European "witches" worshipped her in the same funereal places, for the same reasons, that Tantric yogis and dakinis worshipped her in cremation grounds, as Smashana-Kali, Lady of the Dead." Their ceremonies were held in the places of ghosts where ordinary folk feared to go. So were the ceremonies of western "witches" - that is, pagans. They adored the Black Mother Earth in cemeteries, where Roman tombstones invoked her with the phrase Mater genuit, Mater recepit - "the Mother bore me, the Mother took me back". Kurukulla is a fierce Nepalese and Tibetan goddess much like Kali. Kali's title Devi (Goddess) was similarly widespread in Indo-European languages. She was the Latin diva (Goddess) and Minoan diwi or Diwija, the Goddess associated with Zeus at Knossos. Dia, Dea, and Diana were alternate forms of the same title.

Though called "the One," Kali was always a trinity: the same Virgin-Mother-Crone triad established perhaps nine or ten millenia ago, giving the Celts their triple Morrigan; the Greeks their triple Moerae and all other manifestations of the Threefold Goddess; the Norsemen their triple Norns; the Romans their triple Fates and triadic Uni (Juno); the Egyptians their triple Mut; the Arabs their triple Moon-goddess - she was the same everywhere. Even Christians modeled their threefold God on her archetypal trinity. Indo-European languages branched from the root of Sanskrit, said to be Kali's invention. She created the magic letters of the Sanskrit alphabet and inscribed them on the rosary of skulls around her neck. DEITY AT KALIGHAT Although Kali is worshipped throughout India and Nepal, and even in Indonesia, she is most popular in the state West Bengal in India, where one also finds Kalighat, her most famous temple just outside Kolkata (capital of West Bengal). Considering that Calcutta is simply an Anglicized form of kaligata, the city received its very name from the goddess.

Each district, town and village in Bengal seems to have its very own Kali famous for a particular miracle or incident. The Hindus of Bengal have always taken a fancy towards the Goddess Kali and have worshipped her both as a mother and as a daughter. The concept of Kali as being both mother and daughter is enhanced by the various hymns composed by the great Begali devotees, Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Ramaprasad. Kali is "the divine Shakti representing both the creative and destructive aspects of nature", and as such she is a goddess who both gives life and brings death. Clothed only with the veil of space, her blue-black nakedness symbolizes the eternal night of non-existence, a night that is free of any illusion and distinction. Kali as such is pure and primary reality, the enfolded order, formless void yet full of potential. Kali represents the entire physical plane. She is the drama, tragedy, humor, and sorrow of life. She is the brother, father, sister, mother, lover, and friend. She is the fiend, monster, beast, and brute. She is the sun and the ocean. She is the grass and the dew.

She is our sense of accomplishment and our sense of doing worthwhile. Our thrill of discovery is a pendant on her bracelet. Our gratification is a spot of color on her cheek. Our sense of importance is the bell on her ankle. The full and seductive, terrible and wonderful earth mother always has something to offer. One shouldn't jump to the conclusion that Kali represents only the destructive aspect of God's power. What exists when time is transcended, the eternal night of limitless peace and joy, is also called Kali (Maharatri). And it is she who prods Shiva Mahadeva into the next cycle of creation. In short, she is the power of God in all His aspects. A very apt and poetic description of the Great Mother Kali has been given by Pirsig, who wrote, "Kali, the Divine Mother, is the symbol for the infinite diversity of experience." Knowest not, Mind, to farm? In the untilled field Would golden harvest wave, so thou hadst sown. Make of her name a fence, that so the yield Be not destroyed. Not Death himself, O Mind, Dare come nigh Kali of the tresses free.

When forfeiture will come is all unknown - To-day, or after many a century. Lo, to thy hand the present time, O Mind Haste thou, and harvest. What they gave to thee, The seed thy teachers gave, scatter it now; With water of love it sprinkle. If alone, O Mind, thou canst not this accomplish, thou Alone, take Ramprasad to be with thee. -- Ramprasad Kali - Hindu Goddess who liberates souls An explanation of Mother Kali's picture Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time. In Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala. Mother Kali is the most misunderstood of the Hindu goddesses. The Encyclopedia Britannica is grossly mistaken in the following quote, "Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love." It is partly correct to say Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality.

Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death). It is true that both Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. This is not to worship death but rather it is to overcome the I-am-the-body idea by reinforcing the awareness that the body is a temporary condition. Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the eternal I AM and not the body. This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds. Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality. The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise.

A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children. Ma Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms because the ego arises out of identification with the body. In truth we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only proceed when our attachment to the body ends. Thus the garland and skirt are trophies worn by Her to symbolize having liberated Her children from attachment to the limited body. She holds a sword and a freshly severed head dripping blood. As the story goes, this represents a great battle in which she destroyed the demon Raktabija. Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum unmanifest from which all of creation arises and into which all of creation will eventually dissolve. She is depicted as standing on Shiva who lays beneath Her with white skin (in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin). He has a blissful detached look.

Shiva represents pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) while She represents "form" eternally supported by the substratum of pure awareness. By not understanding the story behind Mother Kali it is easy to misinterpret Her iconography. In the same way one could say that Christianity is a religion of death, destruction and cannibalism in which the practitioners drink the blood of Jesus and eat his flesh. Of course, we know this is not the proper understanding of the communion ritual. Attaching the idea of sexuality to Mother Kali has no basis in Her at all. There is nothing that associates Her with sexuality in the Hindu stories. In fact it is just the opposite. She is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate practicing austerity and renunciation! The notion that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply utter nonsense. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna or the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers), or listen to the traditional Hindu devotional songs to Kali, there is no hint of this death-sex-violence notion.

This can also be confirmed by going to any of the Hindu websites such as and reading about Mother Kali. Also recommended is the book Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding. Also there is a beautiful and genuine Kali temple in Laguna Beach, California and it may be visited on-line at . Kali is the goddess of enlightenment or liberation. Kali Yantra Kali, Hindu Goddess of Life, Death, and Rebirth | Goddess A Day October 30th, 2007 by sabrina One more day! And I even managed to find a scary Goddess with a ton of names! Kali is the Hindu Goddess of life, death, and rebirth. She is the Dark Mother who creates and destroys. Several stories tell of her origin--she is usually the dark part of another Goddess (such as Parvati or Durga ), separated out in order to fulfill her task of killing demons. In her most popular myth, Kali slaughtered the demons, enemies of the Gods, and then danced on the battleground, drunk with blood. Her dancing grew to be so frenzied that the Gods were afraid.

Lord Shiva, the only one who could control her, lay down on the battlefield himself to get her attention. When Kali stepped on him, she realized what she was doing and stuck out her tongue in dismay. It is in this pose that she is most well-known, with her blue-black skin, wearing a necklace of human heads and a skirt of human arms. In this depiction, Kali has four arms: they hold a sword, a trident, a severed head, and a cup to catch the blood from the head. Her right foot is on Shiva's chest. Kali's name is from the Sanskrit word kala, meaning either "black" or "time", depending on the context.

Her various other names reflect her different forms: Attahasayuta (laughing loudly) Balidanapriya (fond of animal sacrifice) Bhadra Kali (adamantine) Bhadrakali Vilakshi Kamadatri (giving desires) Bhairavabhavini Bhavananta Sarasvataprada (bestower of eloquence) Bhavani Bhavatarini (redeemer of the universe) Bhayanaka (giving fear) Bhima Chandi Bhimanadini (sounding terrifying) Bhurbhuvasvahsvarupini (true form of Bhurbhuvahsvar) Cchinnajata Jatajutavilasini Sarvarajayutabhima Sarvarajoparisthata Shmashanstha (dwelling in the cremation ground) Chamunda Chaturvargaprada (giver of the four aims) Daksina Kali (remover of the fear of death) Danavendraprapujita (worshipped by Danavas) Devi Khadgahasta (holding a cleaver) Dukhadaridyanashini (destroyer of unhappiness and poverty) Garbha (the womb)

 Gauri (golden one) Gayatri Savitri Mahanilasarasvati Lakshmirlakshanasamyukta (showing all the signs of Lakshmi ) Guhya Kali (secret) Jagadamba (world mother) Jagadanandakarini (cause of bliss in the world) Jagadvighnasini (destroyer of world obstacles) Jaganmata (mother of the world) Jaganmayi (consisting of the world) Jagatsara (essence of the world) Kadamba-pushpamalini (wearing a garland of kadamba flowers) Kadamba-pushpasantosa (taking delight in the kadamba flowers) Kadambari-panarata (who drinks the kadamba flower wine) Kadambari-priya (excited and pleased with the kadamba wine) Kadamba-vanasamcara (wanderer in the kadamba forest) Kadamba-vanavasini (who lives in the kadamba forest) Kadambini (dark as a bank of rain-clouds) Kaladhara (bearer of the crescent moon and all female energy) Kalahamsa-gati (moving and swaying as a swan) Kal

akantaka-ghatini (destructress of the fear of death) Kalakanthi (with a soft and deep-throated voice) Kalakarshini (conqueror and/or destroyer of time) Kalamanjira-carana (whose toe-bells sound sweet melodies) Kalamata (mother and destructress of time) Kalanada-ninadini (sweet as the chakravaka bird) Kalanala-samadyuti (brilliant as the fires of the final dissolution) Kalaratri (black night) Kalatmika (self of kalas) Kalavati (possessor of all the arts) Kali Kalaratrisvarupini (true form of the night of time) Kali Ma (mother of karma) Kali Mahamaya (the great sorceress) Kali Nath Kalidarpaghni (destructress of pride) Kalika (devourer of him who devours [Shiva]) Kalikalmasa-nasini (destructress of Evil) Kalikamata (black earth-mother) Kalpalata (creeper who provides every desire) Kalyani (bestower of peace and happiness) Kamabija-japananda

 (excited to hear 'klim' [mantra of sexual union]) Kamabija-svarupini (embodiment of the mantra 'klim') Kamala (who enjoys and is herself enjoyed) Kamalalaya-madhyastha (abiding in the center of the lotus) Kamalamoda-modini (pleased and intoxicated by the scent of lotus) Kamalasana-santushta (lover of the lotus flower) Kamalasana-vasini (delighted to be seated within the lotus) Kamaniya (beautiful one) Kamaniya-gunaradhya (adorable image of all tenderness) Kamaniya-vibhushana (beauty is thy ornament) Kamapasa-vimocini (liberator from the bonds of desire) Kamapitha-vilasini (playing at the Kamakhya Pitha) Kamarupa (in the form of desire) Kamarupa-kritavasa (who lives in the place of sexual desire) Kamarupini (assuming any form she desires) Kamkalamalya-dharini (wearing a garland of bones) Kancanacala-kaumudi (shining moon

-beam on the mountain of gold) Kancanadri-kritagara (residing in the golden mountain [Meru]) Kantukini (joyous one) Kapalapatra-nirata (drinking from a skull-cup) Kapali (wearer of skulls) Kapalini Kurukulla Viprachitta Kantachitta Madonmada (drunk with desire) Kapardini (lover of him with the matted hair [Shiva]) Kapardisha-kripanvita (kind and devoted to him with the matted hair [Shiva]) Kapila (tawny-colored one) Karalasya (thou of formidable countenance with teeth like fangs) Karali (frightening) Karanamrita-santosha (pleased with the nectar of purified wine) Karanananda-japeshta (deity of those who worship with wine) Karanananda-siddhida (giver of success to those who enjoy wine) Karanarcana-harshita (glad to be worshipped with purified wine) Karanarnava-sammagma (immersed in an ocean of wine) Karanavrata-palini (protecting those who perform

 ritual with wine) Karpura-candanakshita (body painted with camphor and sandal paste) Karpura-karanahlada (pleased with purified wine flavored with camphor) Karpura-malabharana (adorned with garlands of camphor) Karpuramoda-modita (whom the scent of camphor gladdens) Karpuramrita-payini (drinker of nectar flavored with camphor) Karpura-sagaralaya (at home in the ocean of camphor) Karpura-sagarasnata (bathing in the ocean of camphor) Karunamrita-sagara (ocean of the nectar of compassion) Kashtahartri (allayer of all suffering) Kasishvara-dayini (giver of blessings to the Lord of Varanasi [Shiva]) Kasishvara-kritamoda (giver of pleasures to the Lord of Varanasi) Kasishvara-manorama (beloved of Shiva who overwhelms his mind) Kasishvari (Queen of the Sacred City [Varanasi]) Kasturi-bhojanaprita (who is pleased to eat musk of the

 musk deer) Kasturi-dahajanani (mother of those who burn musk as incense) Kasturim-rigatoshini (who is fond of the musk deer) Kasturi-pujakapriya (loving those who worship her with musk) Kasturi-pujanarata (excited by worship with musk) Kasturi-saurabhamoda (gladdened by the scent of musk) Kasturi-tilakojjvala (luminous one with a mark of musk on her forehead) Kaulika-priyakarini (benefactress of the Kula) Kaulika-radhya (adored by Kula Tantrics) Kausiki Kishori (thou who art ever youthful) Klaibyanasini (destroying all fears) Komalamgi (delicate and tender-bodied) Kottavei Kripadhara (vessel of compassion) Kripagama (attainable only by her compassion) Kripamayi (truly merciful) Kripapara (whose mercy is without limit) Krishanu (thou art fire) Krishna (black of hue

 as is Krishna) Krishnananda-vivardhini (who increases joy and bliss of Krishna) Krishodari (slender of waist) Kulacara (observant of the Kulacara) Kulakamini (Lady of the Kula) Kulamarga-pradarshini (revealing the Kula-Path to seekers) Kulina (embodiment of the Kula teachings) Kulinarti-nasini (destructress of the Kula's afflictions) Kumari-bhojanananda (pleased by the feasts and gifts to the virgins) Kumari-pujakalaya (refuge of all virgin worshippers) Kumari-pujanaprita (pleased by the worship of virgin girls) Kumari-rupadharini (who is in the form of a virgin) Kumatighni (destructress of all evil inclinations) Kurchabija-japaprita (pleased by worship with the mantra 'hum') Kurchajapa-parayayana (threatening and conquering demons with 'hum') Kvanatkanci-vibhusana (whose girdle-bells tinkle ever so sweet) Madanaprita Madaghurnitalochana (

eyes full of desire) Madhya Trivalivalayanchita Gandharvaihsamstutasa (praised by the Gandharvas) Madottirna Kharparasinaramundavilasini Naramundasraja (with a necklace of men's heads) Maha Kali (the great mother) Mahagaurasarvanga (greatly golden in all limbs) Mahakali Jagadhatri (creator of the world) Mahanandistuta (praised by Mahanandi) Mahishasuradhatini Shivapujya (worshipped by Shiva) Matangi (elephant lady) Maya Maya Mahamaya Mahodaya Mohini Muktakeshi (dishevelled of hair) Nanda Siddhacharanasevita (served by Siddhacharas) Nilameghavarna (the colour of a blue rain-cloud) Nilavani (blue Sarasvati ) Nitya Kali (endless time) Padma (lotus) Padmaragopashobhita Karabhayaprada (hand removing fear) Pavitra Parama (supreme) Phalaharini Kali Prakiritia (nature) Purnenduv

adana (with a face like the full moon) Rakshakali (the protectress) Sadhvi (holy) Samdiptalochana Shavasanarata (addicted to the corpse asana) Samhlada Viparitaratatura (addicted to taking the superior sexual role) Sandhya Sarvalakshanalakshita (having every single characteristic) Sarvamangalamangala (greatest fortune of all) Sarvasampatprada (giver of all prosperity) Sarvasarvabhisthaphalaprada (giver of the fruit of every possible desire) Sarvavidyamayi (consisting of all vidya) Savitri (mother of the Vedas) Sharatjyotsna (light of the autumn moon) Sheetla (the goddess of smallpox) Shivaprita (loved by Shiva) Shyama Kali (dispeller of fear) Siddha Kali Sidheshvari Smashana Kali (ever joyous dancer) Sundaripara (supremely beautiful) Svadha Svaha Vashatkara Saradindusamaprabha (as bright as the autumn moon) Ugra Chandi

 Varavarnini Vararoha Shivaruha (riding Shiva) Vidhatri (creatrix) Vidhatrivaradayini (giver of boons in creation) Vindhyavasini Vishvamata (cosmic mother) Vyaghracharmavrita (wearing tiger skin) This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 7:51 pm and is filed under Hindu .

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. 1 response about “Kali” Kali - Ancient History Encyclopedia Kali by Mark Cartwright published on 21 June 2013 Kali is the Hindu goddess (or Devi ) of death, time, and doomsday and is often associated with sexuality and violence but is also considered a strong mother-figure and symbolic of motherly-love. Kali also embodies shakti - feminine energy, creativity and fertility - and is an incarnation of Parvati, wife of the great Hindu god Shiva . She is most often represented in art as a fearful fighting figure with a necklace of heads, skirt of arms, lolling tongue, and brandishing a knife dripping with blood. Name & Worship Kali’s name derives from the Sanskrit meaning ‘she who is black’ or ‘she who is death’, but she is also known as Chaturbhuja Kali, Chinnamastā, or Kaushika.

As an embodiment of time Kali devours all things, she is irresistibly attractive to mortals and gods, and can also represent (particularly in later traditions) the benevolence of a mother goddess. Advertisement Kali’s name derives from the Sanskrit meaning ‘she who is black’ or ‘she who is death’. The goddess is particularly worshipped in eastern and southern India and specifically in Assam, Kerala, Kashmir, Bengal, - where she is now worshipped in the yearly festival of Kali Puja held on the night of a new moon - and in the Kalighat Temple in the city of Calcutta. Kali’s Birth There are several traditions of how Kali came into existence. One version relates when the warrior goddess Durga, who had ten arms each carrying a weapon and who rode a lion or tiger in battle , fought with Mahishasura (or Mahisa), the buffalo demon. Durga became so enraged that her anger burst from her forehead in the form of Kali. Once born, the black goddess went wild and ate all the demons she came across, stringing their heads on a chain which she wore around her neck.

It seemed impossible to calm Kali’s bloody attacks, which now extended to any wrongdoers, and both people and gods were at a loss what to do. Fortunately, the mighty Shiva stopped Kali’s destructive rampage by lying down in her path, and when the goddess realised just who she was standing on, she finally calmed down. From this story is explained Kali’s association with battlegrounds and areas where cremation is carried out. In another version of the goddess’ birth, Kali appeared when Parvati shed her dark skin which then became Kali, hence one of her names is Kaushika (the Sheath), whilst Parvati is left as Gauri (the Fair One). This story emphasises Kali’s blackness which is symbolic of eternal darkness and which has the potential to both destroy and create. Remove Ads Advertisement In a third version, men and gods were being terrorised by Daruka who could only be killed by a woman, and Parvati was asked by the gods to deal with the troublesome demon. She responded by jumping down Shiva’s throat.

This was because many years previously Shiva had swallowed halahala, the poison which had risen from the churning of the ocean during the creation and which had threatened to pollute the world. By combining with the poison still held in Shiva’s throat, Parvati was transformed into Kali. Leaping from Shiva’s throat in her new guise, Kali swiftly despatched Daruka and all was well with the world once more. Kali & Raktabija Finally, in yet another version of Kali’s birth, there is the story of the terrible demon Raktabija (Blood-seed). This demon was, like most demons, causing a great deal of trouble with people and gods alike but even worse was his ability to produce more demons every time a drop of his blood spilt to the ground. Therefore, each time Raktabija was attacked, the only result was more demons to deal with. The gods decided to work together and combine all of their shakti or divine energy and produce one super being that could destroy Raktabija; the result was Kali (in another version only Durga produces Kali).

Given all the divine weapons of the gods, Kali swiftly sought out Raktabija and his demons and proceeded to swallow them all whole so as not to spill anymore blood in the process. Raktabija himself was killed when Kali lopped off his head with a sword and then drank all of his blood, making sure none fell to the ground and thereby ensuring no more demons could menace the world. Goddess Kali, Hindu God Of Death And Destruction Projected on the Empire State Building - 12160 12160 View Blog NEW DELHI: In a breathtaking spectacle, Goddess Kali was projected on the Empire State Building in New York. Artist Andrew Jones designed the portrait of the goddess to make the point that Mother Nature now more than ever needs a fierce avatar to fight the dangers of pollution and extinction, Firstpost.com reported. Earlier images of endangered species, including Cecil the lion, were also projected on the iconic building. ... The Times of India reports today that “In a breathtaking spectacle, Goddess Kali was projected on the Empire State Building in New York.” For those of you not familiar with the Goddess Kali, she is the Hindu god of death and destruction.

The name of Kali means black, time, death, lord of death; she is therefore called the Goddess of Time, Change, Power, and Destruction. She is known as the “Black One”, or the “Dark One”. We wonder if perhaps this is not an Illuminati message of coming events soon to take place? The landmark Empire State Building in New York City, routinely sends political and cultural messages through various lighting schemes on the building. Over time, those schemes have become more and more elaborate. Many will be aware that the top of the building was covered in rainbow lights to celebrate the disastrous Obergefell decision by the US Supreme Court, foisting pseudo-sodo-marriage into law in the 50 states. Even more viciously, however, the great building was recently lit up to display the Hindi “god” Kali, the same pretended god whose worship powered the murderous cult of Thugee that the British spent decades extirpating out of India: New York City, the most pro-abortion city of America, just placed a giant image of Satan on the Empire State Building, in order to convince people to worship and revere “Mother Nature,” which is really just a deceptive way of getting people to worship the devil.

The image is specifically that of the Hindu goddess Kali, who is no different than Satan, for “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God” (1 Corinthians 10:20). Interview with the artist: Artist Android Jones [Nice to meet you. I’m Robotech Roach] designed the fierce portrait of Kali, who is the Goddess of Time, Change, Power and Destruction, to make the point that Mother Nature now more than ever needs a fierce avatar to fight the dangers of pollution and extinction. Kali is a demonic demon, who compels her followers to commit mass murder. Just to demonstrate this to you (especially for those who think that Hinduism is a religion of peace), in 19th century India there was a cult dedicated to the worship of Kali, called the Thugees…….. ….The reality is that there was indeed a Thugee cult in India and they did commit mass human sacrifice by the millions, but not by putting people in lava, rather they would strangle their victims to death. According to the Guinness Book of Records the Thuggee cult was responsible for approximately 2,000,000 deaths. Two million people!

This is a major holocaust and it was done by Hindus for the cause of Kali, the very satanic demon whose face is on the Empire State Building. America is making itself as an offering to the devil, and do not think for a second that God is not angry. KALI - the Indian Goddess of Destruction (Indian mythology) KALI Indian Destruction Goddess Formidable Hindu Mother Goddess of Dark Destruction She is a black, hideous deity into sex, blood and extermination. A bit like a female Hindu dalek without the eye-stalk. KALI has three eyes, four arms, vampire fangs and is bloated with the blood of victims. She is awful, terrible and horrifying. However, as we are constantly reminded by her followers, she does have some good points. In fact, despite all those negative-sounding attributes, KALI is Mrs SHIVA , a stern-but-fair mother figure who maintains order and rewards seekers of the truth. Her destructive tendencies are aimed at the ignorant — she aims to purge stupidity and wipe out godless idiocy. So that’s all right then. No need to worry unless you are an atheist.

Godfact: ‘Kali’ (‘black’) was originally the name of Fire God AGNI ’s charred and burnt tongue. No connection with the mutant Kaled race of Skaro from Dr Who. Unless SHIVA was moonlighting as Davros. KALI FACTS AND FIGURES Cite this Link to this page HTML: To link to this page, just copy and paste the text below into your blog, web page or email. <a href="">Godchecker entry on KALI, the Indian Goddess of Destruction</a> BBCODE: To link to this page in a forum post or comment box, just copy and paste the text below: [url= entry on KALI, the Indian Goddess of Destruction[/url] Cite this article Here's the info you need to cite this page. Just copy the text in the box below. Saunders, Chas, and Peter J. Allen, eds. "KALI - the Indian Goddess of Destruction (Indian mythology)." <em>Godchecker</em>. Godchecker.com / CID, 09 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 January 2017. . 09 February 2013 by the Godchecker Team.

Editors: Peter J Allen, Chas Saunders References: Coming soon. Kali | Megami Tensei Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit A Hindu goddess associated with death and destruction. The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time (kala)". Despite her negative connotations, she is today considered the goddess of time and change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation still has some influence. More complex Tantric beliefs sometimes extend her role so far as to be the "ultimate reality" or Brahman . She is also revered as Bhavatarini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Comparatively recent devotional movements largely conceive Kali as a benevolent mother goddess. Kali is represented as the consort of god Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. She is associated with many other Hindu goddesses like Durga , Bhadrakali, Sati , Rudrani, Parvati and Chamunda. She is the foremost among the Dasa-Mahavidyas, ten fierce Tantric goddesses. Kali is a fierce aspect of Durga .

She and Durga are aspects of the Divine Mother, Shakti. Appearances Edit In MTII, if the player possesses the Heidrun, from trading a Member's Card , and the Fallen Angel Wing, after doing the Jack Frost Jr. trick, the next time the Cathedral of Shadows is entered, Jack Frost Sr. will offer the Hero a Qing Long , Bai Long , and Kali to add to his team, regardless of level. Shin Megami Tensei Edit "Origin: India. Shiva 's consort and a fierce goddess of rage. She is a symbol of rage towards the Asura army. A black Kali is said to appear from the angry face of Durga , Shiva's consort. She massacres all things with her two left arms." —Shin Megami Tensei A-Mode DDS Dictionary Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Edit "A goddess of Indian mythology. She is one of the consorts of Shiva, the god of destruction.

The name "Kali" means "black one" and is derived from the word "kala" (black), but has also come to mean "goddess of time." Her sacred place is Calcutta, where she still retains many followers who worship her as a mother goddess. Kali is identified with Durga, an alternate aspect of Parvati transformed by anger at Asura into a fearsome form. Kali loves blood, wine, slaughter, and battle. She is black from head to toe and has four arms, each of which is always carrying a blood-stained weapon or a severed head. However, her arms are said to have the power to grant blessings to those who believe in her." —Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Compendium Kali can only be acquired through fusion. She appears as an enemy within Nakano Stone Site gold's instance and Ichigaya 's Kagurazaka Zhu Que Caverns gold instance. She also can be spawned as the field boss Merciless Queen Kali by killing mobs on Ueno field at night. Shin Megami Tensei IV Dakini evolves into Kali at level 69.

Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Edit "The Black One, a symbol of death and destruction. She is said to be another face of Parvati , Shiva's consort. Wearing a necklace of human heads, she carries bloody weapons in her four arms. When Durga , another form of Parvati, was fighting the Asuras, she summoned Kali and defeated the Asura army in an instant." —Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers 3DS Compendium Kali is used in the battle with Kyouji Kuzunoha in the Extra Dungeon . Megami Ibunroku Persona Edit Kali appears as the ultimate Persona of the Empress Arcana. In order to create her, the player must fuse the Spell Cards of Dakini and Gdon with the totem Kolkata Souvenir, which is dropped by Miyasudokoro . In Revelations: Persona, she was renamed as Kari. Persona 2 Kali is a Persona of the Empress Arcana .

Fusing her requries the Skull Necklace Material Card (Necklace of Skulls in EP), obtained by Mystic Changing Durga in Innocent Sin, and bought at Mu Continent for 15,000 coins in Eternal Punishment. DemiKids Light & Dark Edit Kali helps lead the Karma Soldiers in their attempt to stop Sera from leaving the airport. She will be accompanied by Dakini upon confronting the party. She primarily attacks with Physical attacks which also induce status effects. Kali repels all elemental attacks, and Dakini attempts to cover the only avenue of inflicting damage with Phys Repel. Taking Bufula to deal with Dakini, a strong single target Physical attack, and Diarama will easily allow them to be defeated. If the party has the Ice Boost and Death Resist skills to boost Ice damage and resist the effects of Blood Curse and Gate of Hell. Devil Survivor 2

Question: Kali is the goddess of death in who's mythology?
Answer: Hindu