This article is about the Hindu goddess Kali. For other uses of the word, see Kali (disambiguation). [image] Kali is a destructive and creative aspect of God as the Divine Mother in Hinduism. Kali is the fierce aspect of Devi, God's energy, i.e., Shakti or God as the Divine Mother, who is fundamental to all other Hindu deities.
Kali is considered to be the destroyer of evil spirits and the preserver of devotees. She is the consort of Shiva. Her name seems to be a female version of the word 'kala' (Sanskrit for 'dark' or 'time'- time in this form being a euphemism for death); it also means Black Female, in contrast to her consort, Shiva, who is white; and Kali is the common name for Energy in her form as Shiva's wife, or Shakti. Many people also believe her to be the same as Durga, even though this is not true as Durga is the terrible aspect of Devi, not the Shakti of Shiva. Other names are: Bhowani Devi, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati, Chinnamastika, Kamakshi, Uma, Menakshi, Himavati, Kumari. These names, if repeated, are believed to give special power to the worshipper.
Some of her greatest 'Bhaktas' (loving devotees) are to be found in the West Bengal, South India and Kashmir traditions. Best known is the saint Shri Ramakrishna. A vast poetic tradition evolved around Kali as a loving albeit often unpredictable mother, of infinite tenderness to her devotees. Among these greats of the Bengali literature on Kali are Ramprasad Sen.
Some of her biggest temples are to be found in the North-East of India, in particular in Kolkata, West Bengal: Kalighat and Dakshineshwar, and in the equally famed Kamakhya in Assam.
Her poor reputation in the West came from the cult of the Thuggee, Hindus and Muslims who took the goddess Kali as their deity. They robbed and murdered travellers as sacrifices to Kali and were broken up by the British. The common English word Thug is derived from this.
For her Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death.
| Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa | [image] |
|---|---|
| Male Deities: Brahma | Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Indra | Lakshman | Hanuman | |
| Female Deities: Gayatri | Lakshmi | Sarasvati | Durga | Devi | Sita | Radha | Kali | Parvati | Shakti | |
| Texts: Vedas | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata |