Krodha Kali Vajravarahi, better known as the Goddess Kali, is considered the "Mother Goddess" to Hindus, but she is often depicted as one of the most powerful and terrifying deities in works of art. Originally sprung from the brow of the Goddess Durga during a battle with evil forces, the powerful Kali became popular with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya, a Hindu text of the 5th century (Dalmiya, 2001, p. 126). During this battle Kali became ferocious, killing everything in sight. Her husband Shiva threw himself under her feet to stop her rampage, and most images of Kali present a fierce, post-battle Kali naked and intoxicated by bloodshed.
Fierce images of Kali may depict her as a dark and powerful force, but she is seen as a nurturing and loving mother to her children of India and other nations in Asia. As David R. Kinsley (1988) notes, in Hindu Goddesses: "Kali's dramatic, often offensive, always shocking appearance is not necessarily to be taken literally. Her real meaning is not obvious to the uninitiated: it reveals itself only to imaginative and spiritually sensitive interpretation" (p. 91). Nevertheless, Kali remains a fearful and ferocious form of the Mother Goddess in many images, including the one depicted in the pigment painted cotton below:
Wrathful Black Varahi (Tibet 1600-1699)
The Mother Goddess image of the feminine viewed above is powerful and terrifying. In a post-battle ecstasy of bloodshed, Kali triumphantly dances on the prone body of her husband Shiva. Typically seen with swords in hand and remnants of skulls adorning her, one can see how superficial impressions of Kali do not seem immediately feminine or motherly despite impressions of her by worshippers. This analysis will provide a discussion of the significance of Krodha Kali Vajravarahi to worshippers across Asia and elsewhere, including an iconographic and stylistic interpretation of various images depicting...