Kali

Fearsome and terrible to look upon, the goddess Kali, smeared with blood, wears jewelry of freshly cut arms and heads.

Kali is a war goddess, one aspect of Durga the mother goddess and the wife of Shiva with the power to dance until she destroys the world.

Prior to the British, Kali was worshipped by the Thuggee cult who sacrificed to their goddess by strangling travelers. The British put an end to the practice, but not an end to the cult. Modern descendants of the Thuggee still travel and prey on travelers. One common scam is to befriend foreigners on trains and offer them drugged food.

Remember kiddies - don't take food from strangers.

The largest Kali temple is the Kalighat temple in Kolkata. Animal sacrifices are regularly made and tourist complain at that the remains are left in the temple courtyard. Hinduism treats blood and butchery as contaminating. These tasks typically can only be performed by the lower castes. Certainly not the priestly Brahmin. Why would Hinduism promote bloody animal sacrifice to this goddess, what is the priest's role and who does the dirty deed?

My Kali sits above our fireplace and every now and then she sends me nightmares.