Mother Goddess as Kali - The Feminine Force in Indian Art

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This article by Nitin Kumar

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Table of Content

  •  Introduction

  • The Appearance of God Kali

  • Symbolic references

  • Weapons of Kali

  • Maa Kali and Lord Shiva

  • Conclusion

Kali God - The Feminine Force in Indian Art

The worship of a kali goddess as the source of life and fertility has prehistoric roots, but the transformation of that deity into a Great goddess of cosmic powers was achieved with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the goddess), a text of the fifth to sixth century, when worship of the female principle took on dramatic new dimensions. The goddess is not only the mysterious source of life, she is the very soil, all-creating and all consuming.

Maa Kali makes her 'official' debut in the Devi-Mahatmya, where she is said to have emanated from the brow of Goddess Durga (slayer of demons) during one of the battles between the divine and anti-divine forces. Etymologically Durga's name means "Beyond Reach". She is thus an echo of the woman warrior's fierce virginal autonomy. In this context Kali is considered the 'forceful' form of the great goddess Durga.


Kali- Strangler of Evil

The Appearance of God Kali

Kali god is represented as a Black woman with four arms; in one hand she has a sword, in another the head of the demon she has slain, with the other two she is encouraging her worshippers. For earrings she has two dead bodies and wears a necklace of skulls ; her only clothing is a girdle made of dead men's hands, and her tongue protrudes from her mouth. Her eyes are red, and her face and chests are besmeared with blood. She stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the chest of her husband.

God Kali's fierce appearances have been the subject of extensive descriptions in several earlier and modern works. Though her fierce form is filled with awe- inspiring symbols, their real meaning is not what it first appears- they have equivocal significance:

Goddess Kali's blackness symbolizes her all-embracing, comprehensive nature, because black is the color in which all other colors merge; black absorbs and dissolves them. 'Just as all colors disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her' (Mahanirvana Tantra). Or black is said to represent the total absence of color, again signifying the nature of Kali as ultimate reality. This in Sanskrit is named as nirguna (beyond all quality and form). Either way, Kali's black color symbolizes her transcendence of all form.

Symbolic references

A devotee poet says:

"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 in your hand,

you find that it is colourless."

... Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1836-86)


Standing Eight Armed Goddess Kali Brass Statue

In many instances she is described as garbed in space or sky clad. In her absolute, primordial form she is free from all covering of illusion. She is Nature (Prakriti in Sanskrit). It symbolizes that she is completely beyond name and form, completely beyond the illusory effects of maya (false consciousness). She 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.

Kali god’s motherhood is a ceaseless creation. Her disheveled hair forms a curtain of illusion, the fabric of space - time which organizes matter out of the chaotic sea of quantum-foam. Her garland of fifty human heads, each representing one of the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes the repository of knowledge and wisdom. She wears a girdle of severed human hands- hands that are the principal instruments of work and so signify the action of karma. Thus the binding effects of this karma have been overcome, severed, as it were, by devotion to Kali. She has blessed the devotee by cutting him free from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth are symbolic of purity (Sans. Sattva), and her lolling tongue which is red dramatically depicts the fact that she consumes all things and denotes the act of tasting or enjoying what society regards as forbidden, i.e. her indiscriminate enjoyment of all the world's "flavors".

Goddess Kali's four arms represent the complete circle of creation and destruction, which is contained within her. She represents the inherent creative and destructive rhythms of the cosmos. Her right hands, making the mudras of "fear not" and conferring boons, represent the creative aspect of Kali, while the left hands, holding a bloodied sword and a severed head represent her destructive aspect. The bloodied sword and severed head symbolize the destruction of ignorance and the dawning of knowledge. The sword is the sword of knowledge, that cuts the knots of ignorance and destroys false consciousness (the severed head). God Kali opens the gates of freedom with this sword, having cut the eight bonds that bind human beings. Finally her three eyes represent the sun, moon, and fire, with which she is able to observe the three modes of time: past, present and future. This attribute is also the origin of the name goddess Kali, which is the feminine form of 'Kala', the Sanskrit term for Time.


Devi Mahakali Wields Multiple Weapons

Weapons of Kali

Another symbolic but controversial aspect of god Kali is her proximity to the cremation ground:

O Kali, Thou art fond of cremation grounds;

so I have turned my heart into one

That thou, a resident of cremation grounds,

may dance there unceasingly.

O Mother! I have no other fond desire in my heart;

fire of a funeral pyre is burning there;

O Mother! I have preserved the ashes of dead bodies all around

that Thou may come.

O Mother! Keeping Shiva, conqueror of Death, under Thy feet,

Come, dancing to the tune of music;

Prasada waits With his eyes closed

... Ramprasad (1718-75) 

Kali's dwelling place, the cremation ground denotes a place where the five elements (Sanskrit: pancha mahabhuta) are dissolved. Kali dwells where 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 the 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 fire of knowledge, (Sanskrit: gyanagni), which Kali bestows.


The Bloodthirsty Dashabhujadhari Devi Kali

Kali and Shiva

The image of a recumbent Shiva lying under the feet of Kali represents Shiva as the passive potential of creation and Kali as his Shakti. The generic term Shakti denotes the Universal feminine creative principle and the energizing force behind all male divinity including Shiva. Shakti is known by the general name Devi, from the root 'div', meaning to shine. She is the Shining One, who is given different names in different places and in different appearances, as the symbol of the life-giving powers of the Universe. It is she that powers him. This Shakti is expressed as the i in Shiva's name. Without this i, Shiva becomes Shva, which in Sanskrit means a corpse. Thus suggesting that without his Shakti, Shiva is powerless or inert.

Kali goddess is a particularly appropriate image for conveying the idea of the world as the play of the gods. The spontaneous, effortless, dizzying creativity of the divine reflex is conveyed in her wild appearance. Insofar as kali is identified with the phenomenal world, she presents a picture of that world that underlies its ephemeral and unpredictable nature. In her mad dancing, disheveled hair, and eerie howl there is made present the hint of a world reeling, careening out of control. The world is created and destroyed in Kali god’s wild dancing, and the truth of redemption lies in man's awareness that he is invited to take part in that dance, to yield to the frenzied beat of the Mother's dance of life and death.

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 Paramhansa

Kali goddess and her attendants dance to rhythms pounded out by Shiva (Lord of destruction) and his animal-headed attendants who dwell in the Himalayas. Associated with chaos and uncontrollable destruction, Kali's own retinue brandishes swords and holds aloft skull cups from which they drink the blood that intoxicates them. Kali, like Shiva, has a third eye, but in all other respects the two are distinguished from one another. In contrast to Shiva's sweet expression, plump body, and ash white complexion, dark kali's emaciated limbs, angular gestures, and fierce grimace convey a wild intensity. Her loose hair, skull garland, and tiger wrap whip around her body as she stomps and claps to the rhythm of the dance.

Many stories describe Kali's dance with Shiva as one that "threatens to destroy the world" by its savage power. Art historian Stella Kramrisch has noted that the image of kali dancing with Shiva follows closely the myth of the demon Daruka. When Shiva asks his wife Parvati to destroy this demon, she enters Shiva's body and transforms herself from the poison that is stored in his throat. She emerges from Shiva as Kali, ferocious in appearance, and with the help of her flesh eating retinue attacks and defeats the demon. Kali however became so intoxicated by the blood lust of battle that her aroused fury and wild hunger threatened to destroy the whole world. She continued her ferocious rampage until Shiva manifested himself as an infant and lay crying in the midst of the corpse-strewn field. Kali, deceived by Shiva's power of illusion, became calm as she suckled the baby. When evening approached, Shiva performed the dance of creation (tandava) to please the goddess. Delighted with the dance, Kali and her attendants joined in.


Hindu Furious Goddess Kali

This terrific and poignant imagery starkly reveals the nature of Kali as the Divine Mother. Ramaprasad expresses his feelings thus:

Behold my Mother playing with Shiva,

lost in an ecstasy of joy!

Drunk with a draught of celestial wine,

She reels, and yet does not fall.

Erect She stands on Shiva's bosom,

and the earth Trembles under Her tread;

She and Her Lord are mad with frenzy,

casting Aside all fear and shame.

... Ramprasad (1718-75)

Kali's human and maternal qualities continue to define the goddess for most of her devotees to this day. In human relationships, the love between mother and child is usually considered the purest and strongest. In the same way, the love between the Mother Goddess and her human children is considered the closest and tenderest relationship with divinity. Accordingly, Kali's devotees form a particularly intimate and loving bond with her. But the devotee never forgets Kali's demonic, frightening aspects. He does not distort Kali's nature and the truths she reveals; he does not refuse to meditate on her terrifying features. He mentions these repeatedly in his songs but is never put off or repelled by them. Kali may be frightening, the mad, forgetful mistress of a world spinning out of control, but she is, after all, the Mother of all. As such, she must be accepted by her children- accepted in wonder and awe, perhaps, but accepted nevertheless. The poet in an intimate and lighter tone addresses the Mother thus:

O Kali! Why dost Thou roam about without clothes?

Art Thou not ashamed, Mother!

Garb and ornaments Thou hast none;

yet Thou Pride in being King's daughter.

O Mother! Is it a virtue of Thy family that Thou

Placest thy feet on Thy husband?

Thou art without clothes; Thy husband is without clothes; you both roam cremation grounds.

O Mother! We are all ashamed of you; do put on thy garb.

Thou hast cast away Thy necklace of jewels, Mother,

And worn a garland of human heads.

Prasada says, "Mother! Thy fierce beauty has frightened

Thy consort.

... Ramaprasad


Tara the Compassionate Goddess (Mahavidya)

The soul that worships becomes always a little child: the soul that becomes a child finds God oftenest as mother. In a meditation before the Blessed Sacrament, some pen has written the exquisite assurance: "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's boon is won when man confronts or accepts her and the realities she dramatically conveys to him. The image of Kali, in a variety of ways, teaches man that pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction are not to be overcome or conquered by denying them or explaining them away. Pain and sorrow are woven into the texture of man's life so thoroughly that to deny them is ultimately futile. For man to realize the fullness of his being, for man to exploit his potential as a human being, he must finally accept this dimension of existence. Kali's boon is freedom, the freedom of the child to revel in the moment, and it is won only after confrontation or acceptance of death. To ignore death, to pretend that one is physically immortal, to pretend that one's ego is the center of things, is to provoke Kali's mocking laughter. To confront or accept death, on the contrary, is to realize a mode of being that can delight and revel in the play of the gods. To accept one's mortality is to be able to let go, to be able to sing, dance, and shout. Kali is Mother to her devotees not because she protects them from the way things really are but because she reveals to them their mortality and thus releases them to act fully and freely, releases them from the incredible, binding web of "adult" pretense, practicality, and rationality.

FAQs about God Kali

What is Kali the god of?

Kali goddess manifests her name from the Sanskrit term 'Kalika,' which means “she who is black” or “she who is death.” She is an exotic personality, with lustful energy whirling around her, and she annihilates just about anything. In Tantric cults, where she is principally worshipped, eroticism is primarily used to confront one's deepest and darkest desires.

Key Takeaways

  • Kali is one of the most well-known goddesses in Hinduism and is associated with both creation and destruction.

  • She is often depicted with a fierce and terrifying appearance, adorned with skulls and other symbols of death.

  • Kali is considered to be a protector of the universe and is worshipped by many Hindus for her ability to vanquish evil forces and protect the righteous.

  • She is often associated with time and is said to be the ultimate destroyer of all things, including time itself.

  • Kali is also associated with the power of feminine energy, and is seen as a symbol of female strength and power.

  • In Hindu mythology, Kali is believed to have been created from the third eye of Lord Shiva, and is often depicted alongside him in artwork and sculpture.

  • Kali is worshipped during the festival of Kali Puja, which typically takes place in October or November and is celebrated with offerings of flowers, incense, and other items.

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  • Why are we talking about Jesus? The subject was Kali. She is simply time, the destroyer of all of us. No one escapes her and without herd nothing. She is time personified.
    Bruce Louis Dodson July 29, 2017
  • I'm so proud and good to see some script speak good words toward the eliohim of YHWH-Yah of whom is the same as the attribute of Abraham/Brahman/Brahmsa: The FATHER of all fathers'(THE CREATOR!)
    Nabi Amman Kali YisRaEL August 09, 2016
  • I'm proud to be named after a goddess like kali
    Kali April 08, 2014
  • I have a major hearing lost on both my ears. Please help me mother Kali to my left ear. I promise to buy a red sari and red garlands with a full tray to your lotus feet. Please help god.
    Maggie moodley December 22, 2013
  • i like to be like one of you.
    baurice junior forgoh August 17, 2013
  • PRAISE BE TO KALI, my Mother, my Goddess!! JOHN---->GO SUCK A BIG FAT NUT! Don't even get me started here on the 3 words associated with SOME Christians: command, conquer, and criticize. Those are the unfortunate ideals brought about by patriarchal societies/religions. Pray for forgiveness when Kali wipes the demons out of YOU!! All I can say is, to those enlightened...keep walking with Kali!! To all you who have no clue about Kali...find some good books and read them. She is a destroyer of DEMONS and was brought into existence when the gods couldn't even win against them. She frees people from negative influences, obstacles, and anything holding you back from becoming who you are truly meant to be. TO THE MAN FROM MODESTO------>So you received visions in a dream?? Isn't that a form then of witchcraft or divination or being a seer? Guess you better go find a priest to confess to. I'm not trying to be rude but I'm a Spiritual Eclecticist and never had such problems (curses, hexes, victim of bad luck, etc.). World wake up, no single religion is better than the other, they are all paths to YOUR spiritual enlightenment. Stop making demons out of something you cannot understand and don't wish to open your mind too...there is more in the world than just your view!! Namaste!
    Gina March 30, 2012
  • John is correct about not seeking after Kali because it is idol worship. More than this, "Kali" is a true spiritual, sentient being. One that is properly called a demon or a fallen angel. I found this today because I saw in a dream that one of my sisters in law had been cursed by a Kali curse. Someone invoked Kali against her to kill her. After a long conversation with her this morning, we have learned it is true. Someone gave her a gift on her birthday which was actually a cursed item. She even wanted to give it back to him, but he refused (no decent spell caster receives the sent curse/cursed item willingly!) Kali is a demonic force, a force of death. Figure it out, people.
    Man from Modesto March 13, 2012
  • Kali is the goddess whom I worship the most
    Zachary Prentice June 20, 2011
  • "A BEING AS WICKED AND UGLY AS THIS CANNOT BE GOOD" By that logic, any being that is beautiful must be good. Now let me think, who was the most beautiful of the christian god\'s creations? Oh, that\'s right, Lucifer! Based on your own words, John, either Lucifer must be good or you must be mistaken; logically you can\'t have it both ways.
    A Believer February 09, 2011
  • Those who unabashedly love the creator also love all the reflections of his image and shall possess no fear.
    Cliff December 29, 2010