Perhaps one of the most talked about Goddesses of the Hindu Mythology, Maa Kali might have been a subject of curiosity, awe, fear and quite schockingly shameful to a few as well. The reason for associating so many emotions to the same figure makes it controversial enough to be sacrosanct. She is the darker side of the Mother godess and is a Deity very unique in it's appeal, for nowhere else can you find such a volatile combination of love and hatred imbibed in a single entity.
It might always be interesting to the readers to get a background check on the concept so as to ensure that we all are in the same platform in terms of the previous knowledge as the lack of it might result in a skewed perception if not a wrong one. Especially to them for whom this goddess reminds a puzzling portrayal of a naked woman wearing dead body parts always showing her blood drenched tongue, I am atleast happy that the mention of the name rings a bell.
As the legend goes, somewhere in the very old ages one demon named "Rakhtabeej" which literally translates to 'Rakta== Blood' and 'Beej==Seed'. Well to dig further to the nomenclature it says that he was able to use his blood as a seed to recreate himself. It is thus horrifying to comprehend that the mere bloodshed of that person will instead of weakening him result in the rise of an army born out of each of his blood drops, making him more stronger than ever. Even though he is not an immortal but never before could anyone use death to such an advantage. The mutiplicative effect of that or rather the geometric expansion of his numbers that results when some one even attempts to kill him is by far the most dreadful imaginations ever possible. A salute to the person who thought it, if we believe that Mythology is derived from myth, if not than you better watch out if such a thing really still exists. Going with the hindu philosophy or rather the understanding of the Sanatan Dharma everything exists in pairs, so there had to be an equally powerful person on the other side of the stick to balance it. Yes we all are right here, "Kali" is the one.
"Kali" the word itself titilates the dreadful bone in me and it translates to two different meaning in English viz. endless (beyond Kal or time) and Darkness (Kali==Black). People might point fingers and laugh at me at my attempt to translate it to two seemingly unrelated words, but are they actually unrelated ? If I might draw your attention to the concept which baffles many top scientist's of my time, haven't they found correlation with darkness and timelessness. Think for a minute and you will surely be with me on this, yes,I am talking about the "Black Hole". How such a concept was incorporated in our language which orally dates back furthermore than any documented human civilization ? Were they able to comprehend it at that time what we still find a tough nut to crack ?
Well darkness here is the lack of knowledge and the sources of energy which are unknown to the common man. I know my words would make
you think of the infamous order of Sadhus called the 'Aghoris' who worship death. They are sometimes perceived as the naked,crazy necrophiliacs who spend their lives in the 'Shamshan' or the burning place of dead bodies. The belief is, that death is the ultimate truth and purest form attainable. I guess even today the Tantrics and their kinds have borne that infamous compliment but still they are an inseparable part of the truth. If life exists so does death, well than if life is something that we can worship than why not death? I am not trying to evoke a general sentiment to that way of life but I am agreeing that good and bad are the sides of the same coin and none is bigger than the other, so if we appreciate the goodness of this universe we need to be careful of the opposite as well. Out of these thoughts had the worship of Maa Kali derived it's uniqueness. There has been a genre of music known as 'Shyama Sangeet ' with it's charm and attractiveness that has appealed deeply even with it's mere simplicity. Although Ramprasad is considered to be one of the forerunners of that but do we still remember that many of them were written by Kazi Nazrul Islam. As to those who might not know the personality he is a famous poet of the then Bengal Province with talent and potential sometimes compared to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. He being a Muslim restates the fact that this kind of devotion had an appeal that was beyond religion.
Well I might have gone too back in history where people might not be able to relate to, so lets get back to more recent happenings.
Well hope everybody remembers the 11th day of September in the year 1893 at the Parliament of the World's Religion in Chicago where Hinduism " --the mother of all religions--" is said to have been born, well at least in the eyes of the Western World. The historical speech delivered by "Swami Vivekanda" had after ages tried to portray what the order stood for and dug out the basic principles of religion which due to the long period of upheavals and downfalls in time was lost somewhere. The basic philosophy was greatly derived from the person of whom he became the most famous disciple. Yes 'Gadadhar'or 'Gadai' who later became the 'Ramakrishna Paramhansa', the eccentric devotee in the Kali Temple of Dakshineshwar. A bright personality in his prime, Mr. Narendranath Dutta( Swami Vivekanda) was moved by the mere simplicity of the man's devotion and built upon it today what we know as the Ramakrishna Math.
It is sometimes sad that the Global viewers remembers Kali with animal and human sacrifices as portrayed in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" or Kali portrayed as the naked goddess with sensual connotation as we can see in "Das Wilde Leben". Well I suggest, keep exploring, you will surely be surprised at each point of your attempt.
It might always be interesting to the readers to get a background check on the concept so as to ensure that we all are in the same platform in terms of the previous knowledge as the lack of it might result in a skewed perception if not a wrong one. Especially to them for whom this goddess reminds a puzzling portrayal of a naked woman wearing dead body parts always showing her blood drenched tongue, I am atleast happy that the mention of the name rings a bell.
As the legend goes, somewhere in the very old ages one demon named "Rakhtabeej" which literally translates to 'Rakta== Blood' and 'Beej==Seed'. Well to dig further to the nomenclature it says that he was able to use his blood as a seed to recreate himself. It is thus horrifying to comprehend that the mere bloodshed of that person will instead of weakening him result in the rise of an army born out of each of his blood drops, making him more stronger than ever. Even though he is not an immortal but never before could anyone use death to such an advantage. The mutiplicative effect of that or rather the geometric expansion of his numbers that results when some one even attempts to kill him is by far the most dreadful imaginations ever possible. A salute to the person who thought it, if we believe that Mythology is derived from myth, if not than you better watch out if such a thing really still exists. Going with the hindu philosophy or rather the understanding of the Sanatan Dharma everything exists in pairs, so there had to be an equally powerful person on the other side of the stick to balance it. Yes we all are right here, "Kali" is the one.
"Kali" the word itself titilates the dreadful bone in me and it translates to two different meaning in English viz. endless (beyond Kal or time) and Darkness (Kali==Black). People might point fingers and laugh at me at my attempt to translate it to two seemingly unrelated words, but are they actually unrelated ? If I might draw your attention to the concept which baffles many top scientist's of my time, haven't they found correlation with darkness and timelessness. Think for a minute and you will surely be with me on this, yes,I am talking about the "Black Hole". How such a concept was incorporated in our language which orally dates back furthermore than any documented human civilization ? Were they able to comprehend it at that time what we still find a tough nut to crack ?
Well darkness here is the lack of knowledge and the sources of energy which are unknown to the common man. I know my words would make
you think of the infamous order of Sadhus called the 'Aghoris' who worship death. They are sometimes perceived as the naked,crazy necrophiliacs who spend their lives in the 'Shamshan' or the burning place of dead bodies. The belief is, that death is the ultimate truth and purest form attainable. I guess even today the Tantrics and their kinds have borne that infamous compliment but still they are an inseparable part of the truth. If life exists so does death, well than if life is something that we can worship than why not death? I am not trying to evoke a general sentiment to that way of life but I am agreeing that good and bad are the sides of the same coin and none is bigger than the other, so if we appreciate the goodness of this universe we need to be careful of the opposite as well. Out of these thoughts had the worship of Maa Kali derived it's uniqueness. There has been a genre of music known as 'Shyama Sangeet ' with it's charm and attractiveness that has appealed deeply even with it's mere simplicity. Although Ramprasad is considered to be one of the forerunners of that but do we still remember that many of them were written by Kazi Nazrul Islam. As to those who might not know the personality he is a famous poet of the then Bengal Province with talent and potential sometimes compared to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. He being a Muslim restates the fact that this kind of devotion had an appeal that was beyond religion.
Well I might have gone too back in history where people might not be able to relate to, so lets get back to more recent happenings.
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