The
image of Kali usually shows her foot on Lord Shiva’s
chest, a severed head in one hand, her sword in the
other, and wearing a garland of skulls. Kali is
worshipped as the Mother Goddess who protects from evil.
She also epitomizes strength or ‘Shakti’ and the darker
side of life. The actual puja takes place at midnight on
the day of the new moon.
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The national festival of the Bengalis, The Durga
Puja ends with a somber tone. But soon, this
melancholy slowly disappears with the arrival of
Lakshmi Puja in between to finally the tri-festival
of the Bengalis - Kali Puja, Diwali and last but not
the least the ‘Bhai Phota’. Kali Puja coincides with
Diwali, the North Indian New Year, the festivals of
lights.
Every households clean their houses and light up
candles all over their houses. Children and adults
set off firecrackers all night. No one sleeps on
that night. Take a look at
Overseas Kali Mandir / Hindu Mandir. |
The Mythology of
Kali Puja:
Goddess Kali has always
enjoyed a significant presence in our culture. She appears
in various forms as an embodiment of Shakti, the eternal
energy and cosmic power. She is also believed to be the
eternal cosmic strength that destroys all existence. Her
facial expressions depict the extent of her powers of
destruction. The heads she holds in her hand instantly
arouses mortal-fear in everybody and her protruding tongue
symbolizes the mockery of human ignorance. She is also the
Goddess of Tantrism or the Indian Black Magic. Beneath
Goddess Kali’s feet one can figure Shiva. Mythology says
that Shiva and Kali are the originating couple of the
universe but Kali even mocks Shiva, as if she herself is
the unique source of everything. There are several other
Avtars of Kali also. One such is a striking contrast is
Kali represented as the Benevolent Mother where she is the
personification of Eternal Night of Peace. From the canons
of orthodox Hinduism Kali, Durga, Parvati, Lakshmi and
Saraswati are all different forms of the Ultimate Power
that are revered on different occasions. Kali represents
the crude powers to fight the evil, the core strengths
required to battle your enemies. According to the Hindu
tradition, we are living in the Kali Age; the time of a
resurgence of the divine feminine spirit. Using the
powerful imagery of paintings, sculptures, and writings,
the celebration of Kali Puja explores and illumines the
rich meanings of feminine divinity.
The blood-smeared
image of Kali is after she killed the demon Raktavera.
According to Hindu Mythology, Lord Brahma granted the
boon to Raktavera that for every drop of his blood that
fell on ground hundreds of demons like him would be
produced. Thus the only way of slaying Raktavera was by
not allowing even a drop of his blood to fall on the
ground. Thereby Kali pierced him with a spear and drank
all his blood as it gushed out. Kali once gave free rein
to her blind lust for destruction. To stop the world
from being destroyed Lord Shiva brought himself to the
feet of Kali. On sensing her husband beneath her feet
she stopped and thus the world was saved. She acquired
her name Kali meaning ‘conqueror of time’ as she subdued
her husband Lord Shiva by trampling over him. This way
Devi the symbol of fertility conquered Shiva, the
inexorable destroyer, who was equated with time. Aspects
of Kali are Chandi, the fierce and Bhairavi, the
terrible in which she is the counterpart to Shiva’s
aspect of Bhairava, when he takes pleasure in
destruction. Another name of this form is Chamunda. Kali
Puja is performed on a new moon night. As Kali is
associated with dark rites and devil worship, the
rituals performed are austere and offered with great
devotion. In the Hindu religious texts, different
representations of Goddess Kali are available viz.
Siddha Kali, Bhadra Kali, Raksha Kali, Shwashan Kali and
Maha Kali.
History of Kali Puja:
The Puja is held on the
night of the New Moon in the Bengali month of Kartik,
this occasion brings in a tidal wave of festive zeal
amongst the various cross sections of society. It is
said that Maharaja Krishnan Chandra of Nawadweep gave an
order that everyone, in his domain should worship Kali.
Punishment was given to the defaulters. Thus more than
10,000 images of Kali began to be worshipped in his
domain. Before the present Kali Puja, Ratanti Kali Puja
was celebrated in ancient times. It is believed that the
present form of the image of Kali, is due to a dream
seen by Lord Chaitanya’s contemporary Krishnananda
Agambagish (a distinguished scholar of Indian charms,
incantations black magic and voodoo - ‘Tantra’), author
of Tantric Saar, that he should make her image after the
figure, he saw first in the morning. The image should
then be worshipped. At dawn Krishnanand saw a dark
complexioned housing maid with left hand protruding and
making cow dung cakes with her right hand. Her body was
shining with white dots. While wiping off the sweat from
her forehead with left hand, the vermilion had been
spread in her parted hair. The hair was disarranged. Her
unprecedented coming face-to-face with Krishnananda, an
elderly, made her bit her tongue with shame. This
posture of the housemaid gave vent to his imagination
which he later utilized to envisage the idol of Goddess
Kali. Thus was formed the image of Kali.
Dakshineswar temple:
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In the year 1847, the wealthy widow Rani Rasmani
prepared to go upon a long pilgrimage to the sacred
city of Banaras to express her devotions to the
Divine Mother. In those days there was no railway
line between Calcutta and Banaras and it was more
comfortable for rich persons to make the journey by
boat rather than by road. We are told that the
convoy of Rani Rasmani consisted of twenty four
boats carrying relatives, servants, and supplies.
But the night before the pilgrimage began, the
Divine Mother, in the form of the goddess Kali,
intervened. She appeared to the Rani in a dream and
said, "There is not need to go to Banaras. |
Install my statue in a
beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges river and
arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest
myself in the image and accept worship at that place."
Profoundly affected by the dream, the Rani immediately
looked for and purchased land, and promptly began
construction of the temple. The large temple complex,
built between 1847 and 1855, had as its centerpiece a
shrine of the goddess Kali, but also had temples
dedicated to the deities Shiva and Radha-Krishna. A
scholarly and elderly sage was chosen as the head priest
and the temple was consecrated in 1855. Within the year
this priest died and his responsibility passed to his
younger brother, Ramakrishna, who over the next thirty
years would bring great fame to the Dakshineswar temple.
Kalighat Temple:
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The present temple was built in 1809 on the site of an
ancient temple. It is also known as the Kalighat
temple. It is on the name of this temple that English
gave the place name Calcutta which is anglicized form
of Kalikata. The legend says that a finger of the
Sati, wife of Lord Shiva, fell here. |
Since then it has been
an important pilgrimage site. But the temple is
dedicated to the destructive side of Shiva which takes
the form of Kali. She requires sacrifice daily to
satisfy her blood lust so every morning goats are
sacrifices on the alter of the temple. The temple is
busy through out the year and is surrounded by poor who
come to have free meal. The Hospital for Dying Destitute
by Mother Teresa is near the temple and every one is a
welcome visitor here.
Kamakhya Temple:
The Kamakhya Temple in
Assam is one of the most venerated Shakti shrines in
India, and is regarded as one of the Shakti Peethams
associated with the legend of Shiva and Daksha Yagna.
Kamakhya is located on a hill - Neelachala Parvat or
Kamagiri near the city of Guwahati in Assam. Shakti,
residing on the Kamagiri hill is known as Kamakhya, the
granter of desires. Assam traditionally has been known
as the Kamarupa Desa and has been associated with
Tantric practices and Shakti worship. This temple was
destroyed in early 16th century, and then rebuilt in the
17th century by King Nara Narayana, of Cooch Bihar.
Images of the builder and related inscriptions are seen
in the temple. The Kalika Purana, an ancient work in
Sanskrit describes Kamakhya as the yielder of all
desires, the young bride of Shiva, and the giver of
salvation.
Tarapith Temple:
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Some 300 miles from Calcutta, Tarapith is situated
on the banks of the north flowing Dwarka river, in
Birbhum, in West Bengal. The temple that was built
by Vasistha got buried under the earth with the
passage of time. Tarapith as it stands today, was
built by Joybroto, a merchant, who received
directions from Tara Maa in his sleep to unearth the
'brahmashila', or the sacred stone, to set it up as
a shrine in a proper place. Tara Maa of Tarapith,
another form of Kali, has two hands, is garlanded
with snakes, is adorned in sacred threads, and has
Shiva lying in her left lap sucking her breast.
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