Victory To Mother Kali

The most fearsome of the Hindu devis, Devi Kali is a wrathful female. She has no tolerance for adharma: in fact, the ill-fated head of a detractor of adharma dangles by the hair from the clutches of Her hand (the posterior left one). The blood that drops from the slayline on its neck, She gathers in a vessel that She holds beneath it with another hand (anterior left). She is chaturbhujadharini, the one possessed of (‘dharini’) four (‘chatur’) arms (‘bhuja’).

In fact, it is not only chaturbhujadhari aspect of Her that likens Her to the typical Hindu devi iconography. Behind the ferociously unconventional exterior is remarkable beauty of form and a maternal demeanour. The most striking aspect of Her chhavi (image) in this sculpture is Her great mass of hair. A luxuriant mass that cascades all the way down Her back, so thick that it clothes Her nakedness. Zoom in on the picture of the back of this murti in order to appreciate the lifelike detail with which this part of Her divine anatomy has been executed.

Entwined with the fresh flowers and gold necklaces layered over Her torso is a garland of severed heads. It reaches all the way down to Her knees and is one of the signature elements of the Mother Kali iconography. Her feet press down upon the supine body of Lord Shiva, in whose divine association She wields a trishoola (trident) in Her right anterior hand. The engraving on the pedestal, right below the rudimentary Kirtimukham, translates to ‘victory to Mother Kali’, interspersed with syllable aum before Her name.