The Goddess Kali is fearsome in appearance. She has wild eyes, a protruding tongue, and she wields a bloody sword. Kali also holds the severed head of a demon, and she wears a belt of severed heads. According to one legend, Kali's passion for blood incited her to once kill numerous Buddhist monks, so you will not see murtis of Kali enshrined on the same altar table with Buddha Statues.
In Hinduism, the gods could not kill the demon Raktabija. Every drop of his blood that touched the ground transformed itself into another demon.
Within a few minutes of attacking this Asura with their weapons, the gods would find the entire battlefield covered with millions of demon clones.
In despair, the gods turned to The God Shiva. But Shiva was lost in meditation, so they turned to his consort Parvati. The goddess immediately set out to do battle with this dreaded demon in the form of Kali.
She rode into the battleground on her lion, and Raktabija experienced fear for the first time in his demonic heart. Kali ordered the gods to attack Raktabija.
Kali then spread her tongue to cover the battlefield preventing even a single drop of Raktabija's blood from falling on the group. Thus preventing Raktabija from reproducing himself.
Drunk on Raktabija's blood, the Goddess Kali ran across the cosmos killing anyone who dared cross her path. She adorned herself with the heads, limbs and entrails of her victims.
To pacify her, Shiva threw himself under her feet. This stopped the goddess. She calmed down, embraced her husband, and shed her ferocious form.
- Kali is considered to be a malevolent form of Parvati
- Believed that humans lived forever before she was created
- Kali's name is also a form of the Sanskrit work "kala," which means "time"
- One of the most widely recognized Hindu goddess
- One of the few Hindu deities to whom blood sacrifices are still made
READER COMMENTS ABOUT THIS ARTICLE:
I searched my name and this poped up! so, i read the info above and was just wondering if she was a "bad goddess"? and why she turned out to be "crazy" so to speack! but, i just was wanting to know more info on how she was created and if she an important god and mostly just alot of info about her in more detail!
thank you! ~kali!
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Well, Kali is more known for being a Malevolent Goddess... I guess that would mean bad-ish :) And while Kali is fearsome in appearance, she is still worshiped as The God by millions of Hindus.
It is hard to say because Hindu Gods and Goddesses seem to be both incredibly good and, on occasion, extremely mischievous. Sri Krishna, for example, is lovingly referred to as "The Butter Thief," Lord Brahma has often given magical powers to the demigods that seek to overthrow the gods from heaven.
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On another note, I have meta few women named Mara who did not know that their name is generally meant to mean either the Devil or Deception in Buddhism.
- The Buddha Garden
