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.
The figure lying prostrate under Goddess Kali is that of her husband 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.
She is wearing a garland of fifty human heads, each of which represents one of the fifty alphabets of the Sanskrit language. Around her waist is a skirt made up of severed human hands.
Broadly speaking folk art may be defined as the art created among groups that exist within the framework of existing society, but for geographical and cultural reasons, are largely separated from the sophisticated developments of their time. As a result, they produce distinctive styles and objects for local needs and tastes. The output of such art represents a unique complex of primitive impulses and traditional survivals. It is an art motivated by not only utilitarian and ritualistic features but also by individual and recreational impulses.
Hindu women who live in villages near the market town of Madhubani in northern India maintain old traditions and teach them to their daughters. Painting is one of the traditional skills that is passed down from generation to generation in the families of some of the women. They paint figures from nature and myth on household and village walls to mark the seasonal festivals of the religious year, for special events of the life-cycle, and when marriages are being arranged they prepare intricately designed wedding proposals. The artist many a times are simple housewives, who have never been to any school to learn the art of painting. Hence the spontaneity in their art.
The painters do not seek to place objects or figures in a natural relation to each other. The figures may float in a tranquil aquarium or fragile angels against an aery background, creating an aura of fantastic strangeness.
It is the colors that create the mood, determine the pulse and tempo, divide the space and provide the background.
The artist starts with a rigorously selected subject-matter, without any attempt to transpose a literal scene or create a photographic semblance of an ordinary situation. Simplification leads to added intensity. The aim is towards a general radiance.
The paper itself is handmade and treated with cowdung and the colours used are extracted from vegetables. People of Madhubani have their own language and a sense of regional identity that goes back more than 2500 years. Among the most celebrated figures believed to have been born in the region are Mahavira (a great spiritual hero of the Jain religion), Siddhartha Gautama (better known to the world as the Buddha), and Sita (the legendary wife of Prince Rama and herself a central figure in the world's epic the Ramayana).
Of Related Interest:
Mother Goddess as Kali - The Feminine Force in Indian Art (Article)
Kali The Mother (Book)
Kali (Silver Pendant)
Kali in the Birth-Giving Posture (Miniature Painting on Paper)
Goddess Kali (Folk Painting from Orissa)
Kali the Terrible (Folk Painting from Bihar)
The Goddess Kali (Batik Painting On Cotton)
Shyama-Kali Yantra (Tantra Painting)
Jai Mata Di (Prayer Shawl)
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