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Here's what I know. Lots of the descriptions are typical of Tamil Nadu
which is in the south-eastern part of India.
Kali, also known as Kousigi, was created by Goddess Parvathi in her
incarnation as Mahishasuramardini (Mahisha - Asura - Mardini, the goddess
who slew the buffalo-headed Asura (bad guy, of course) ). Her skin was
black in color, hence the other name Kousigi.
She is usually portrayed as a fierce, many-handed warring goddess, with
her long hair spread all around her shoulders, baring a fanged mouth and
carrying weapons. Typically the diety is depicted with four or six hands.
Weapons are usually trident, dagger, shield and, sometimes a whip and axe.
More fierce depictions include a severed head in one of the hands.
In Tamil Nadu, at the South Eastern part of India, Kali is popular as
"Kaaval Deivam" (Protecting Diety) or "Ellai Amman" (Border Goddess), the
deity that protects the entire village. In the ancient cities, we can
almost always find a Kali temple at the fringes of the city.
People make promises to the divinity to undertake various rituals at
important temples during particular festival days such as Pongal day (the
festival of harvest) and "Panguni Uthiram" which marks the last month of
the Tamil calendar. Typical rituals include carrying a pot full of
burning coals ("Thee Chatti", fire pot), making a complete round of the
temple by first prostrating on the floor and rolling over and over
("Angapradakshanam"), dressing in yellow and carrying a D-shaped wooden
frame "Kaavadi" (decorated with bulrushes, yellow flowers, bunches of neem
leaves and tiny pots of milk, etc). Some people undertake to walk all the
way to famous temples that are at a few days' walking distance from their
village.
The people undertaking such rituals are usually accompanied by people
playing loud drums which increase in tempo as they near the temple. Most
people become engulfed in a hysteric trance, which is marked by a wild
rush towards the temple and the diety. It is not unusual for such people
to dance wildly before fainting. It is believed that the goddess takes
control over them for that brief period of time.
When Shiva, the cosmic dancer, was dancing the "Thandavam" dance, lore has
it that Kali tried to compete with him (follow his movements probably),
but could not follow certain movements and that was when the dance reached
its climax. I am not sure about this, but I have seen some sculptures and
this is my guess - Shiva raised his foot above his head but Kali could not
duplicate that because it was (then :) considered unlady-like.
Due to the fierce nature of the goddess, she is not a "household" diety
like Ganesha (the elephant-headed son of Shiva). People go to their local
temples to worship the diety. There might be exceptions to this attitude
in different states.
Kalidasa, one of the famous ancient poets in Indian history, was
originally a goat-herd who was granted divine knowledge by Kali (hence the
name Kali-Dasa, slave of Kali).
Tenali Rama, a famous jester in the court of Krishnadevaraya, is reputed
to have been destined to become a jester because he tried to jest with
Kali herself.
Skanda
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