Kali - The Goddess of Time and Change. Of Annihilation. The Redeemer of the Universe. Shakti. Fundamental Power. Having a form yet is formlessness. Creatrix. Protectress. Destructress. Mother of Language.
One must destroy all wantoness of earthly desire to attain Consciousness in the lap of this Ultimate Mother. Her skin is blue-black. Her eyes are red with intoxication and in absolute rage. Her hair disheveled, mouth open with small fangs and her tongue lolling and crimson. She is in a skirt of human arms and a garland of 108 heads. Her multiple arms are holding a sword which signifies Divine Knowledge and the decapitated head which signifies the human Ego that has been cut by this sword to procure Moksha or Liberation. The other two hands are in mudra positions of Abaya(fearlessness) and Varada(blessings). She is a force to be reckoned with and she requires all of her devotees to maintain a true heart. In return she will be their guide in the Hereafter. She will continue to exist when the universe ends. She is the pure unmanifested energy, the Adi Shakti.
"Shiva without Shakti is Shava(corpse)."
Kali stands on Shiva, her husband.
There are two ways of perceiving the same absolute reality.The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here there is no matter, no universe - here only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat- Chit- Anand(Existence, Knowledge, Bliss). The second is an active plane, an imminent plane, the plane of Matter of Maya, the Illusion of space and time where the actual universe exists. This form of reality is Kali(Shakti) and again is Sat- Chit- Anand.
With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. Their interdependence is essential to the vitality of their Union.
Kali's Temple is located at Kalighat in south Calcutta. The surroundings of her temple manifests in a theatrical mythology of the world's stage: a small redlight district that comes alive as the sun sets, the never ending throng of pilgrims and devotees, feasting sacrificial goats tethered to the last days of their existence, religious iconography merchants with all the glitz and sparkle a Goddess could demand, sellers of tilak(red pigmnet worn by married women on the part of their hair) covered in their red powder, strolling priests beckoning everyone into her inner sanctum, wedding parties circling the outer grounds with banging drums and dancing family members and passerbys and lunatics following behind, immaculately dressed women, screeching, crows, hibiscus and marigold sellers, prasad wallahs rolling out the dough, the destitute and the dying lying about in the dust, the mad wandering freely, tatooed orphans laughing crying, mangy dogs searching for scraps at the feet of tea drinkers, card players on mats in the middle of the road slapping down their hands in glee or dismay, curious white folk meandering, neighborhoods and markets spilling out from narrow passages in and around the peripheries of the temple. The microcosm of it all.
This last picture shows one of my LAUNDRY(Dorii) LINES installed just beyond the inner gates of the temple.
"YOUR BODY IS YOUR TEMPLE" its reads
From the Red series - Rainbow Hobo realized in Kolkata at Kalighat
