KALI

(Sanskrit: Black), in Hinduism, a devouring, destructive goddess. In accordance with the Indian predilection for bringing together seemingly contradictory aspects of life, Kali is a fierce, terrifying aspect of Devi (the supreme goddess), who in other forms is represented as tranquil and pacific. Kali is depicted as a hideous, black-faced hag smeared with blood, with bared teeth and protruding tongue. Her four hands hold, variously, a sword, a shield, the severed hand of a giant, or a strangling noose, or they are stretched in a gesture of assurance. Kali is naked, except for her ornaments, consisting of a garland of skulls and a girdle of severed hands. In painting and in sculpture, she is often shown dancing on the inert body of her consort, Siva. Kali is said to have developed a taste for blood when she was called upon to kill the demon Raktavija, who produced 1,000 more like himself each time a drop of his blood fell on the Earth. In order to vanquish him, she pierced him with a spear and, holding him high, drank his blood before it reached the ground. Goats are sacrificed to her daily at her temples, such as the well-known Kalighat, in Calcutta. The thugs, assassins who operated in India until the 19th century, were worshipers of Kali and made ritual offerings of their victims to her. Kali is associated with the goddess Durga (also a fierce aspect of the Dev i), with whom she is often identified.