Kali Mata Mandir Shivaji Park

Kali Mata Mandir Shivaji Park

Kali (Sanskrit: काली, Bengali: কালী, both Kālī), also known as Kalika (Bengali: কালিকা, Kālikā), is a Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy. The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time (kala)". Despite her negative connotations, she is today considered the goddess of time and change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation still has some influence. More complex Tantric beliefs sometimes extend her role so far as to be the "ultimate reality" or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatarini (literally "redeemer of the universe"). Comparatively recent devotional movements largely conceive Kali as a benevolent mother goddess.

Kali is represented as the consort of god Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing. She is associated with many other Hindu goddesses like Durga, Bhadrakali, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati and Chamunda. She is the foremost among the Dasa-Mahavidyas, ten fierce Tantric goddesses.

Kālī is the feminine of kāla "black, dark coloured" (per Panini 4.1.42). In the Mundaka Upanishad Kali is mentioned as one of the seven tongues of Agni, the Rigvedic God of Fire (Mundaka Upanishad 2:4), thus giving rise to Kali's tongue, seen in images. It appears as the name of a form of Durga in the Mahabharata 4.195, and as the name of an evil female spirit in Harivamsa 11552.