Maa Kali

01In the Upanishad and the Saptashati

The Mundaka Upanishad (1.2.4) names Kali first among the seven flickering tongues of the yajna fire. In the Devi Mahatmya (chapter 7), when Chanda and Munda advanced on the Devi, her face darkened with anger and from her brow sprang Kali, gaunt and terrible, who swept through the asura army and brought back both heads. The Devi named her Chamunda. In the next battle, every drop of Raktabija’s blood that touched the ground became another demon, so Kali spread her tongue and drank it before it fell.

02Kali Puja in Bengal

On the new-moon night of Kartik, while the rest of India worships Lakshmi, Bengal, Assam and Odisha worship Kali. The puja runs through the night with hibiscus garlands, lamps and the chanting of Ramprasad Sen’s songs, written in the eighteenth century, in which a son argues with and teases his dark mother. Sri Ramakrishna served her as priest at Dakshineswar and spoke of her only as Ma. Tantric worship of Kali, as one of the ten Mahavidyas, follows its own Agamas under a guru.

03Kalighat, Dakshineswar and beyond

Kalighat in Kolkata is a Shakti Peetha where, by its tradition, a toe of Sati fell; the city may take its name from it. Rani Rashmoni built the Bhavatarini temple at Dakshineswar on the Ganga in 1855. Kalkaji in Delhi, Mahakali of Ujjain, worshipped also at Secunderabad, Bhadrakali at Warangal and Dhari Devi on the Alaknanda are among her other seats, and in Kerala countless Bhagavathi shrines worship her as Bhadrakali, born from Shiva’s third eye to destroy Daruka.

In the texts

• Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.4
• Devi Mahatmya, chapters 7–8
• Kalika Purana
• Songs of Ramprasad Sen

Utsav: festivals