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Kali was the Shakti of Khalsas, the Shiv Sena, who killed those who
went against the Will of Raam or Allah.
So, the time of Kali is near now as the people who have amassed
wealth by cheating the poor shall be dealt with the sword of Kali.
Rajinder Nijjhar.
> In article <ghenE5HBKA.54M@netcom.com>,
> Heidi Pickman <hap117@ucla.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Hi, does anyone know anything about the goddess Kali? basics and
> > references would be great
> >
> > thanks
> >
> 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
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mail posts to: ghen@netcom.com : http://www.hindunet.org/srh_home/
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