Maha Kali : Kali is the goddess of dissolution and destruction. She is known for destroying ignorance, and she helps those who strive for knowledge of God. Her name means "The Black One" and the city of Calcutta is named in her honor. Kali is fearsome in appearance. She has wild eyes, a protruding tongue, and she wields a bloody sword. Kali also holds the severed head of a demon, and she wears a belt of severed heads.
In Hindu mythology, the gods could not kill the demon Raktabija. Every drop of his blood that touched the ground transformed itself into another demon. Within a few minutes of attacking this Asura with their weapons, the gods would find the entire battlefield covered with millions of demon clones.
In despair, the gods turned to Shiva. But Shiva was lost in meditation, so they turned to his consort Parvati. The goddess immediately set out to do battle with this dreaded demon in the form of Kali.
She rode into the battleground on her lion, and Raktabija experienced fear for the first time in his demonic heart. Kali ordered the gods to attack Raktabija. Kali then spread her tongue to cover the battlefield preventing even a single drop of Raktabija's blood from falling on the group. Thus preventing Raktabija from reproducing himself.
Drunk on Raktabija's blood, Kali ran across the cosmos killing anyone who dared cross her path. She adorned herself with the heads, limbs and entrails of her victims. To pacify her, Shiva threw himself under her feet. This stopped the goddess. She calmed down, embraced her husband, and shed her ferocious form.
- Believed to be a malevolent form of Parvati
- Believed that humans lived forever before she was created
- Kali's name is also a form of the Sanskrit work "kala," which means "time"
- Probably the most widely recognized Hindu goddess
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