{"id":4211,"date":"2026-04-27T10:35:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/kali\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:24:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:24:57","slug":"kali","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/kali\/","title":{"rendered":"Kali"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"4211\" class=\"elementor elementor-4211 elementor-1996 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10fdade e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"10fdade\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herohlft0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herohlft0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c3ceb64 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c3ceb64\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96ae5e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96ae5e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Kali, goddess of the Hindu tradition<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e45238a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e45238a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali is a goddess of the Hindu <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>.<\/p><p>The black goddess of time and destruction, protector and liberator. Kali is one of the most powerful figures in Hinduism, fierce, relentless, and at the same time the object of the deepest <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A brief, personal or communal religious contemplation.\" tabindex=\"0\">devotion<\/span>.<\/p><p>With black skin, a blood-red tongue hanging from her open mouth, a sword, and a bowl filled with <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent effects are attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demon<\/span> skulls, she embodies the destructive energy needed to annihilate evil. She is Shiva&#8217;s terrifying form, the consort of the destroyer, and for some devotees the highest goddess herself, the *Shakti*, the cosmic force.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klsbdg01 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"klsbdg01\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klshtm01 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"klshtm01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"God \/ Goddess: Personified highest power in the pantheon of a culture, with clear domains, forces of nature, fate, war, fertility. Worshipped through cults, offerings, and temple institutions.\">Goddess<\/span><a href=\"\/en\/hinduism\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Hindu gods, asuras, and protective worlds, from Vedic to Tantric.\">Hinduism<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f74855 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f74855\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c30362 elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"1c30362\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herorght0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herorght0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-heroimg00 iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"heroimg00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_hinduismus_kali-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4212\" alt=\"Kali - gods from the Hindu tradition, historical-illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_hinduismus_kali-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_hinduismus_kali-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_hinduismus_kali-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_hinduismus_kali.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32917199 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"32917199\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26e916cb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"26e916cb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-253a40d4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"253a40d4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1200c304 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1200c304\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Kali<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-159dcf9a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"159dcf9a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48cee66f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"48cee66f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">At a glance: Kali<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f50d82c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f50d82c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Type:<\/strong> Hindu principal goddess, wrathful manifestation of the Devi mother, destroyer of evil<br><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the gods of a religion or culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">Pantheon<\/span>: Hinduism (especially Shaktism, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"A religious-ritual tradition in Hinduism and Buddhism with a doctrine of energy polarities.\">Tantra<\/span>), Buddhism (in Tibetan Tantric adaptation)<br>Function: Destruction of the ego, protection from demonic powers, death and rebirth<br>Main attributes: Sword, severed skull, necklace of 51 skulls, skirt of severed arms, protruding red tongue<br>Main <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> sites: Kalighat (Kolkata), Dakshineswar (West Bengal), Kamakhya (Assam), Mt. Kailash<br>Aspect of: Parvati, Durga, Mahakali (cosmic form)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18613602 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"18613602\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-262b8a9f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"262b8a9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Historical Context<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46dcb7d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"46dcb7d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61d3ab3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"61d3ab3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-117c166 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"117c166\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Period of the Texts<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-73997a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"73997a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali has been attested since the <em>Devi-Mahatmyam<\/em> (5th\/6th century CE, part of the Markandeya Pur\u0101\u1e47a) as a wrathful manifestation of the Devi. In the central <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A handed-down narrative about gods, origins, and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> she emerges from the wrathful brow of Durga in the battle against the demon Raktabija.<\/p><p>The main flourishing of the Tantric Kali tradition (Vamacara) falls in the 8th to 12th centuries CE. In modern Hinduism she is especially popular in Bengal, and the great <em>Kali Puja<\/em> festival (October\/November, coinciding with Diwali) is one of the most important regional Hindu festivals.<\/p><p>In the 19th century she became more widely known internationally through Sri Ramakrishna (priest at the Dakshineswar Kali <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span>) and the Ramakrishna Mission. In Western <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religious studies<\/span> she has often been received since the 1960s as a feminist <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands for an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d47b156 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d47b156\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff38c2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ff38c2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Area of Distribution<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e49fcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e49fcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Main cult sites: <strong>Kalighat<\/strong> (Kolkata, West Bengal, one of the 51 <em>Shakti Pithas<\/em>, where the fallen toe of Sati is said to have landed), <strong>Dakshineswar Kali <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span><\/strong> (north of Kolkata, globally known through Sri Ramakrishna), <strong>Kamakhya<\/strong> (Assam, main cult site of menstrual Devi worship), <strong>Tarapith<\/strong> (West Bengal, Tantric <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred site dedicated to the worship of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span>), <strong>Vaitarna<\/strong> (Maharashtra).<\/p><p><span data-nosnippet>Internationally: in every larger Indian diaspora community, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. Since 1971 in every ISKCON <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> with a Devi pavilion.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db03c39 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"db03c39\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-229a87b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"229a87b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f471fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1f471fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Source Situation<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36b1201 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"36b1201\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Central sources: <em>Devi-Mahatmyam<\/em> (main source, in the Markandeya Pur\u0101\u1e47a), <em>Kalika Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, <em>Mahabhagavata Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, Tantric texts (<em>Mah\u0101nirv\u0101\u1e47a Tantra<\/em>, <em>Karpur\u0101di Stotra<\/em>). Bengali Kali bhakti poetry of the 18th century (Ramprasad Sen).<\/p><p>Sri Ramakrishna&#8217;s accounts of the Dakshineswar Kali experience (in Mahendra Gupta&#8217;s <em>Kathamrita<\/em>). Secondary literature: McDermott, <em>Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams<\/em>; McDaniel, <em><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The concrete object or food offered to a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">Offering<\/span> Flowers, Feeding Skulls<\/em>; Kinsley, <em>The Sword and the Flute<\/em>; Michaels, <em>Der Hinduismus<\/em>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ae0637c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3ae0637c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31d07739 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"31d07739\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Name and Variants<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7642947 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b7642947\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a086266 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a086266\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali is black as the night, her skin a dark, absolute colour. Her tongue, bright red as blood, hangs from her open mouth. She wears a garland of the severed heads of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demons<\/span> and a skirt of severed arms.<\/p><p>In one hand she wields a sword, in another a bowl that catches blood. A tiger or lion is often her companion. Despite this terrifying depiction, around her neck Kali sometimes bears a tender caressing gesture of Shiva, her true consort.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-709a44a8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"709a44a8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f585873 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2f585873\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Description<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70621c12 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"70621c12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4296eb49 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4296eb49\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali is the goddess who destroys in order to purify. She slays the demonic inclinations in the heart; the blood-drinking aspect is to be understood metaphysically, she drinks impurity.<\/p><p>The worshippers of Kali are not sadistic but see in her the unrelenting love that destroys old structures in order to make new ones possible. The nocturnal Kali Puja brings devotees to the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> to plead for liberation (<em>Moksha<\/em>). In Tantric practices Kali is venerated as the highest <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being worshipped as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44e71476 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"44e71476\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c1fc3f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3c1fc3f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Profile: Kali<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84f33b8e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"84f33b8e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-hqkdc67p elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"hqkdc67p\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important aspects of K\u0101l\u012b at a glance. The following fields summarise origin, function, appearance, worship, symbols, and cultural parallels.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-qh9oavvu iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"qh9oavvu\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-awzx8k2k elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"awzx8k2k\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Origin<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-x6rowhv0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"x6rowhv0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali emerges in the <em>Devi-Mahatmyam<\/em> from the wrathful brow of Durga in the battle against the demon <em>Raktabija<\/em> (&#8220;blood seed&#8221;), from each drop of whose blood a new demon arises; only Kali&#8217;s enormous tongue, which catches every drop before it touches the ground, can defeat the demon.<\/p><p>In <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the doctrines of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theological<\/span> consolidation Kali is regarded as the <em>wrathful aspect of Parvati<\/em>, and thus as the consort of Shiva.<\/p><p>In the Tantric scheme she is the highest form of the female creative energy (<em>Mahashakti<\/em>); in Kashmir Shaivism, the <em>Spanda<\/em> movement itself. Kali is one of the ten <em>Mahavidyas<\/em> (great wisdom goddesses) and their first.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e3o4kxs iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8e3o4kxs\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08rkdgov elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"08rkdgov\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Kali's Target Group<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-uwjelx8s elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"uwjelx8s\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Destroyer of all that is false, all that is demonically uncontrolled; in tradition, destroyer of egocentrism. In Tantric practice she is a tool of self-liberation through radical confrontation with the terrible (Kali as the wrathful aspect who shows the initiate his own mortality and limitation directly).<\/p><p>Patroness of the Vamacara Tantrikas (left path, extreme Tantric practice). Protection against demonic attacks and the effects of black <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that aim to intervene in the course of things through particular acts or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">magic<\/span>. In the Bengali bhakti tradition (Ramprasad, Ramakrishna) she is also a gentle mother goddess despite her terrifying <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The study of pictorial content and its meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">iconography<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-jm2n74ec iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"jm2n74ec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8vufse4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8vufse4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Form<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-mwb9u015 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"mwb9u015\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A terrifying, dark-blue or black (<em>k\u0101l\u012b<\/em> = &#8220;the black one&#8221;) female figure, naked or wearing only a tiger-skin loincloth. Three eyes (the third on her forehead).<\/p><p>Four or more arms: in the hands a <em>sword<\/em> (often a curved khadga), a <em>severed skull<\/em> (usually of the demon general), one hand in <em>varada-<span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A ritual gesture made with the hands that embodies particular forms of energy in tantric and Buddhist practices.\" tabindex=\"0\">mudra<\/span><\/em> (gesture of granting), one in <em>abhaya-mudra<\/em> (gesture dispelling fear).<\/p><p>A necklace of <em>51 skulls<\/em> (corresponding to the 51 Sanskrit letters), a skirt of <em>severed arms<\/em>. <em>Protruding red tongue<\/em> (the most famous detail). Long, dishevelled hair.<\/p><p>She stands or dances upon the unconscious <em>Shiva<\/em> lying beneath her (in one tradition: noticing her husband under her feet, she bites her tongue in shame, hence the protruding tongue). Accompanied by skulls and demonic beings.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37ss2yr6 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"37ss2yr6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3v0wp3wx elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3v0wp3wx\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Function<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-w3247g2m elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"w3247g2m\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Sphere of effect:<\/strong> Kali is <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or invoking address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invoked<\/span> in acute protective emergencies, against illness, hexing, and black <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that aim to intervene in the course of things through particular acts or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">magic<\/span>. In the Bengali tradition she is a central family <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being worshipped as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> (<em>Kuldevi<\/em>). Main festival: <em>Kali Puja<\/em> (October\/November, in Bengal as large as Diwali in North India).<\/p><p>Daily pujas in thousands of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A structure that serves the veneration of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temples<\/span>. Tantric practitioners conduct nocturnal rites at cremation grounds (<em>shmashana <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Spiritual practice of exercise in Hinduism and Buddhism with mantra, visualization and rite.\" tabindex=\"0\">sadhana<\/span><\/em>). In modern ISKCON and yogic traditions she is often invoked as &#8220;Universal Mother&#8221;. In Western feminist receptions she serves as a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands for an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of female power.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0qpjal9w iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0qpjal9w\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ndoih0o elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6ndoih0o\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Means of Protection<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6684tyh9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6684tyh9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Sword (khadga), severed skull, necklace of 51 skulls, skirt of severed arms, protruding red tongue, tiger skin, third eye, long dishevelled hair, skull-cup (kapala), trishula. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Belonging to the divine and thereby withdrawn from everyday use.\" tabindex=\"0\">Sacred<\/span> plant: hibiscus (red, her favourite flower). Sacred animals: jackal, crow (at cremation grounds). Sacred colours: black, blood red.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3lfi7x32 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3lfi7x32\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0kg99ga1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0kg99ga1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Comparable Figures<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-n0fum6kp elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"n0fum6kp\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>Durga<\/em> (Hinduism, herself as her elder &#8220;mother&#8221;), <em>Parvati<\/em> (gentler form), <em>Bhairava<\/em> (Hinduism, male wrathful parallel), <em>Mahakala<\/em> and <em>Yamantaka<\/em> (Buddhism, Tantric male adaptations), <em>Sekhmet<\/em> (Egypt, blood-drunk lion goddess), <em>Ereshkigal<\/em> (Mesopotamia, underworld goddess), <em>Hecate<\/em> (Greece, crossroads, death, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that aim to intervene in the course of things through particular acts or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">magic<\/span>), <em>Hel<\/em> (Germanic, half-dead ruler of the underworld).<\/p><p>Functionally unique in world <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the handed-down narratives of gods within a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>: a female terrifying-and-maternal <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being worshipped as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> in one person.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7533bc7a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7533bc7a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2447d18d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2447d18d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Practical Defence<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5d0260c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d5d0260c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-341be2ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"341be2ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Rituals of veneration<\/strong><\/p><p>Kali (Sanskrit &#8220;the black one&#8221;) is the awe-inspiring form of the Devi\/Mahadevi. Her main cult site is the Kalighat <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> in Kolkata (one of the 51 Shakti Pithas).<\/p><p>The annual Kali Puja (month of Kartik, October\/November, in Bengal) regionally surpasses even Diwali in importance. Tantric worship historically involved animal <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express gratitude, petition, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacrifices<\/span> (goat or water buffalo), today often replaced symbolically by pumpkin (cf. Kinsley, <em>Hindu Goddesses<\/em>).<\/p><p><strong>Mantras and invocations<\/strong><\/p><p>The Kali bija <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred syllable or formula repeated in Hinduism and Buddhism.\" tabindex=\"0\">mantra<\/span> &#8220;Kr\u012bm&#8221; and the longer &#8220;Om Kr\u012bm K\u0101lik\u0101yai Nama\u1e25&#8221; are central Tantric formulas. The <em>Devi-Mahatmya<\/em> (in the Markandeya Purana, c. 6th century), especially chapters 7-8 (Kali&#8217;s emergence from Durga&#8217;s brow, victory over Raktabija), is recited at Navaratri. Ramprasad&#8217;s Bengali devotional songs (18th century) are part of the popular standard repertoire.<\/p><p><strong><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, misfortune-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Amulets<\/span> and protective symbols<\/strong><\/p><p>Black onyx or black carnelian as the Kali stone. The Trikona <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"In Hinduism and Buddhism, a geometric diagram for ritual use.\" tabindex=\"0\">yantra<\/span> (inverted triangle with bindu) as a geometric protective symbol on copper plates. Skull garlands (mundamala, often interpreted symbolically as the 50 Sanskrit letters) as pendants. Red hibiscus (japa) is her sacred flower, offered in pujas.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a584676 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a584676\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d0757bf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6d0757bf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Kali, parallels in other cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60563f68 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"60563f68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a93fdd6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a93fdd6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<footer class=\"iwg-literatur\"><p>Kali&#8217;s fierce power resembles Hecate of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> Greece or the Morr\u00edgan of Celtic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the handed-down narratives of gods within a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>, goddesses of battle and transition. In European occult thought Kali is sometimes compared with Lilith or with dark Marian figures.<\/p><p>Her relentlessness recalls Medusa or the Furies, female power that cannot be tamed. She is, however, not an evil being but the just wrath of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The conception of the structure and order of the world within a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">cosmology<\/span> itself.<\/p><div data-nosnippet=\"true\" class=\"iwg-litliste\"><\/div><\/footer>\n<p class=\"iwg-bib-more\"><span data-nosnippet>Further standard works in the <a href=\"\/en\/literature\/\">literature index<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpad78138 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpad78138\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpaec404b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpaec404b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Myth of Kali and the Demon Raktabija<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp91585cf e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp91585cf\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpcd54d0e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cpcd54d0e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important mythological source for Kali is the <em>Devi Mahatmya<\/em>, a text from the milieu of the <em>Markandeya Purana<\/em>, composed around the 6th century CE and regarded as a foundational scripture of goddess worship.<\/p><p>In it Kali appears in the battle of the goddess against the demonic armies. The decisive episode concerns the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent influence is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demon<\/span> Raktabija.<\/p><p>Raktabija possessed the gift that from every drop of his blood that touched the earth a new <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent influence is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demon<\/span> of his kind arose. In the battle against the goddess Durga and her helpers he therefore multiplied endlessly: every wound inflicted on him produced new adversaries.<\/p><p>The battlefield filled with countless Raktabijas. In this hopeless situation Kali steps forward, who according to one version emerges from the wrathfully furrowed brow of Durga.<\/p><p>Kali solves the problem in the only effective way: she catches the blood of Raktabija with her outstretched tongue and devours the demons arising from the blood before they can multiply. In this way the actual Raktabija can be killed without new demons growing back.<\/p><p>This narrative explains several iconographic features of Kali, above all the protruding tongue. It also shows the theological function of the figure: Kali is the power that intervenes where ordered means fail. She does not act through measure but through a radicality that removes the problem at its root.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp7989371 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp7989371\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpf7fc47f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpf7fc47f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Iconography of Kali and Its Interpretation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp1aa7ece e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp1aa7ece\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp3d87502 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp3d87502\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali possesses one of the most distinctive and most precisely interpreted iconographies of Hinduism. She is depicted with dark, often black or deep-blue skin, from which her name derives, connected to the Sanskrit word <em>kala<\/em>, which can mean both &#8220;black&#8221; and &#8220;time&#8221;.<\/p><p>She is mostly naked or clothed only in a skirt of severed arms and wears a chain of severed heads. In her four arms she typically holds a sword and a severed head, while the other two hands show gestures of fearlessness and the granting of gifts.<\/p><p>The best-known pictorial motif shows Kali standing or dancing upon the outstretched body of the god Shiva, her tongue protruding. This <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring thematic element in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> is explained differently in the tradition.<\/p><p>A widespread interpretation reports that Kali could not halt in her battle frenzy and threatened the entire universe. Shiva thereupon lay down beneath her feet, and when Kali stepped on her husband she froze in shame and stuck out her tongue.<\/p><p>In the philosophical interpretation of the Tantric tradition the image takes on a different meaning. Kali stands for active energy, <em>shakti<\/em>, Shiva for resting, pure consciousness. Their conjunction shows that both are real only together: consciousness without energy is inactive, energy without consciousness is blind frenzy.<\/p><p>The severed heads are interpreted as the discarded egos of the devotees, the sword as the tool that cuts through ignorance. The <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The study of pictorial content and its meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">iconography<\/span> is therefore not a mere image of terror but a dense system of meanings that is expounded in doctrine.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpbc75ca4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpbc75ca4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpe074dbd elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpe074dbd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Kali in Tantra and in the Mother Worship of Bengal<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp997156a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp997156a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpf043442 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cpf043442\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali has two clearly distinct yet interconnected religious contexts. The first is Tantra, an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Collective term for teachings that claim a hidden knowledge accessible only to initiates.\" tabindex=\"0\">esoteric<\/span> current in which Kali ranks among the highest deities. In the Tantric tradition, especially in the school of the ten <em>Mahavidyas<\/em>, the great wisdom goddesses, Kali stands in first place.<\/p><p>Tantric practice seeks the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being worshipped as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> precisely in what ordinary <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The lived religious attitude and practice of a person.\" tabindex=\"0\">piety<\/span> avoids and approaches Kali through rites performed at places such as cremation grounds. This practice depends on <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A ritual transition through which someone is admitted into a new status or community.\" tabindex=\"0\">initiation<\/span> and instruction by a teacher and is not intended for the general public.<\/p><p>The second context is the popular and devotional veneration, especially in Bengal, Assam, and eastern India. Here Kali is invoked as <em>Ma Kali<\/em>, as Mother Kali. This current gained particular expression through the poet and singer Ramprasad Sen in the 18th century.<\/p><p>His songs address Kali in a tone that does not deny the terrifying aspect but places the loving, motherly devotion in the foreground. In the 19th century the mystic Ramakrishna, a priest at the Kali <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> of Dakshineswar near Kolkata, decisively shaped this <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The lived religious attitude and practice of a person.\" tabindex=\"0\">piety<\/span>.<\/p><p>The high point of the Bengali Kali cult is the festival <em>Kali Puja<\/em>, celebrated on the new-moon night of the month of Kartik, often close in time to the festival of lights. Famous cult sites include the Kalighat <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> in Kolkata and the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A building dedicated to the worship of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> of Dakshineswar.<\/p><p>That the same goddess is venerated both as a fearsome Tantric power and as a tenderly invoked mother is not a contradiction but an expression of the conviction that ultimate reality encompasses both sides.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp812a6de e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp812a6de\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpdfb273f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpdfb273f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Time, Death, and Liberation: The Theology of Kali<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp07c4971 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp07c4971\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpd63a1fa elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cpd63a1fa\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Kali is theologically closely connected with the conception of time. The word <em>kala<\/em>, from which her name is derived, means time, and Kali is regarded as the power that also consumes everything that arises in time.<\/p><p>In this interpretation she is less a being among others than a foundational reality: the force that determines coming-to-be and passing-away. Her dark colour is interpreted accordingly, for just as all colours dissolve into black, so everything created dissolves into Kali.<\/p><p>This connection with time and death explains why Kali is not to be understood as a mere figure of terror. In Hindu teaching, clinging to the transient, to the self, and to the world of appearances is the root of suffering.<\/p><p>Kali, who dissolves everything, is therefore in theological interpretation at the same time the liberator: she does not destroy out of malice but liberates from what binds the human being. Her appearance is meant to confront the devotee with the fact of transience rather than to suppress it.<\/p><p>The connection with the cremation ground, which is her dwelling place in many depictions, belongs to the same context. The place where bodies burn is the place where the truth about transience becomes directly visible. Tantric practice seeks Kali precisely there, because there the ordinary certainties collapse.<\/p><p>From the perspective of religious studies, Kali is thus a striking example of how a figure that at first sight embodies only terror has, within her theological system, a precisely determined and positively turned function. Fear is not the goal but the passage to insight.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp445c0e5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp445c0e5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp51c9530 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp51c9530\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Kali in Western Reception and Research<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp09884b7 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp09884b7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp7411ede elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp7411ede\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Scarcely any Hindu <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being worshipped as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> has been so well known in the West and at the same time so often misunderstood as Kali.<\/p><p>The colonial perception of the 19th century often reduced her to an embodiment of terror and placed her in a sensationally portrayed connection with so-called Thuggee criminality, a connection that later research has recognised as strongly exaggerated and ideologically coloured. This distorted view long shaped the Kali image of Western popular culture.<\/p><p>Scholarly engagement set in above all in the second half of the 20th century. Religious scholars such as David Kinsley produced studies that rendered Kali intelligible within the framework of Hindu goddess <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The scholarly doctrine of God and of the faith of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> rather than treating her as a mere curiosity.<\/p><p>Later works, for instance by Rachel Fell McDermott on Bengali Kali <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The lived religious attitude and practice of a person.\" tabindex=\"0\">piety<\/span> and on Ramprasad Sen, or collected volumes examining Kali from various angles, further refined the picture.<\/p><p>In parallel, since the 1970s a Western appropriation of Kali in spiritual and feminist contexts has emerged, in which she has been interpreted as a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands for an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of female power and as a counter-image to domesticated images of women.<\/p><p>This reception is interesting from the perspective of religious studies but stands in tension with the meaning of Kali within living Hinduism, where she is first and foremost the object of concrete <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> veneration and not an abstract <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands for an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span>.<\/p><p>Research therefore cautions that one should carefully distinguish between the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being worshipped as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> within the Hindu <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of worship for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> and her Western reinterpretations. Whoever wants to understand Kali must begin with the Indian sources, the temples, and the living practice, not with her Western mirroring.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36dd7469 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36dd7469\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13760ab4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"13760ab4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further Links<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28c87796 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"28c87796\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d6538df elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5d6538df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><a href=\"\/en\/durga\/\">Durga, her elder form<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/shiva\/\">Shiva, consort, often lying beneath her feet<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/bhairava\/\">Bhairava, male wrathful parallel<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/mahakala\/\">Mahakala, Tantric male Buddhist adaptation<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/sekhmet\/\">Sekhmet, Egyptian blood-drunk parallel<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/hinduism\/\">Hinduism, pantheon overview<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"\/en\/gods\/\">Gods, class overview<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-grl4kl40 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"grl4kl40\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bzsbfrmh elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bzsbfrmh\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Research Literature<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c13224a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"2c13224a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0eymh9ub elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0eymh9ub\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<footer class=\"iwg-literatur\" data-nosnippet=\"true\"><ul><li><span data-nosnippet>McDermott, Rachel Fell: <em>Mother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams. K\u0101l\u012b and Um\u0101 in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal<\/em>. Oxford 2001.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>McDaniel, June: <em>Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls. Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal<\/em>. Oxford 2004.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Kinsley, David: <em>The Sword and the Flute. K\u0101l\u012b and K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, Dark Visions of the Terrible and the Sublime in Hindu Mythology<\/em>. Berkeley 1975.<\/span><\/li><li>Devi-Mahatmyam (numerous translations).<\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Coburn, Thomas B.: <em>Encountering the Goddess. A Translation of the Dev\u012b-M\u0101h\u0101tmya<\/em>. Albany 1991.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Michaels, Axel: <em>Der Hinduismus<\/em>. Munich 1998.<\/span><\/li><li>Walde, Christine (ed.): <em>Der Neue Pauly<\/em> (entry &#8220;K\u0101l\u012b&#8221;).<\/li><\/ul><\/footer>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7a0d6b7 e-con-boxed e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7a0d6b7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a2e501e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a2e501e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2>Frequently Asked Questions about Kali<\/h2><div class=\"iwg-faq-q\"><h3>Who is the goddess Kali in Hinduism?<\/h3><p>Kali (from kala, time, black) is one of the most powerful goddesses of Hinduism, the terrifying form of the great goddess (Mahadevi).<\/p><p>Iconographically typical: four or more arms, in the hands a sword and the severed head of a demon, a necklace of skulls, a skirt of severed arms, the protruding tongue, black or dark-blue skin. Kali usually stands on Shiva, her consort, who has thrown himself beneath her in order to stop her destructive wrath.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"iwg-faq-q\"><h3>What does the symbolism of Kali&#8217;s terrifying appearance mean?<\/h3><p>The terrifying <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The study of pictorial content and its meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">iconography<\/span> has a spiritual meaning: Kali is the destroyer of illusion (Maya) and of ego attachments. The sword cuts through ignorance, the severed heads are the discarded ego bonds, the skull necklace stands for the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, language as cosmic power.<\/p><p>The protruding tongue is a gesture of shame (she realises that she is standing on Shiva). In Tantra Kali is the liberator: she does not destroy out of malice but out of love for truth.<\/p><\/div><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who is the goddess Kali in Hinduism?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Kali (from kala, time, black) is one of the most powerful goddesses of Hinduism, the terrifying form of the great goddess (Mahadevi). Iconographically typical: four or more arms, in the hands a sword and the severed head of a demon, a necklace of skulls, a skirt of severed arms, the protruding tongue, black or dark-blue skin. 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In Tantra Kali is the liberator: she does not destroy out of malice but out of love for truth.\"}}]}<\/script>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kali, goddess of the Hindu tradition Kali is a goddess of the Hindu tradition. The black goddess of time and destruction, protector and liberator. Kali is one of the most powerful figures in Hinduism, fierce, relentless, and at the same time the object of the deepest devotion. With black skin, a blood-red tongue hanging from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4212,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Kali","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Kali, Goddess of Destruction and Time in Hinduism","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Kali, goddess of destruction and time in Hinduism. 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