Kali has multiple arms, carries single and multi pointed weapons, has dishevelled hair, sometimes fangs, and her tongue is lolling. She might wear a garland and be accompanied by serpents. This goddess concentrates one of the biggest collection of catastrophic attributes.
From Wikipedia:
Kālī (/ˈkɑːli/; Sanskrit: काली & Bengali: কালী; IPA: [kɑːliː]), also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, or shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga.[1] The name of Kali means black one and force of time;[2] she is therefore called the Goddess of Time, Change, Power, Creation, Preservation and Destruction.[3] Her earliest appearance is that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman; and recent devotional movements re-imagine Kāli as a benevolent mother goddess.[4] She is often portrayed standing or dancing on her husband, the god Shiva, who lies calm and prostrate beneath her. Worshipped throughout India but particularly South India, Bengal, and Assam, Kali is both geographically and culturally marginal.[5]
- Encyclopedia International, by Grolier Incorporated Copyright in Canada 1974. AE5.E447 1974 031 73-11206 ISBN 0-7172-0705-6 page 95
- “Kali – Meaning of Kali, What does Kali mean?”. www.babynamespedia.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
- “Kali Ma”. www.themystica.com. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
- “In veneration of Nallur’s Vira Ma Kali”. Sri Lanka Guardian. 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
- “Kali”. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
