V. P. KASHIN Candidate of Historical Sciences goddess of Kali Keywords:, Kolkata, Kali Puja festival Thugs and heroes of Bengal's revolutionary underground persisted in seeking her favor. It terrifies its enemies, but protects those who turn to it in faith for help. The formidable goddess Kali is known as the patroness of Kolkata. Her temple in this city-Kalighat - is one of the centers of mass pilgrimage. KALI Of the dozens of incarnations of Parvati, the wife of the destroyer god Shiva, perhaps the most impressive is Kali (lit. "black"). She is depicted naked, dark-faced,with her hair down. She holds a sword in one hand and a severed head in the other. The goddess's necklace is made from human skulls, and her skirt is made from the severed hands of demons. Kali's long tongue falls out of her mouth and greedily licks her lips, where a trickle of blood runs down. Ferocious and merciless, she embodies the forces of the untamed elements and is ready to destroy entire worlds if her thirst for murder is not satisfied. According to Hindu mythology, once the heavenly kingdom of Indra suffered a great disaster. The Asura brothers * Shumbha and Nishumbha rose immeasurably and managed to defeat the gods in a bloody battle. The gods fled in fear to the north and took refuge in the mountains. Kali came to their rescue. She speared the enemy army and killed many asuras. When Shumbha saw this, he became very angry. He assembled countless armies, placed the mighty demon Raktaviju at the head, and sent them to the foothills of the Himalayas. The celestials unleashed all their weapons on the opponents, but they couldn't defeat Raktawiju in any way. Many wounds had been inflicted on him, but from every drop of his blood a new warrior rose and charged into battle. Then Kali appeared on the battlefield again. She struck down Raktaviju with her sword, drank his blood drop by drop, and devoured the remaining asuras. Then the goddess entered the abode of the wicked brothers. Shumbha and ... Read more