"Those who have suffered, understand suffering and thereby extend their hand. The storm that brings harm also makes fertile. Blessed is the grass, and herb, and the tree of thorn and light." ~Patti Smith
Kālī (/ˈkɑːli/; Sanskrit: काली), also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is a Hindu goddess. She is the goddess of one of the four subcategories of the Kulamārga, a category of tantric Saivism.
Later she becomes one of the ten Mahavidyas, a list which combines Sakta and Buddhist goddesses. Kali's earliest appearance is that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. She is worshipped by devotional movements and tantric sects variously as the Divine Mother, Mother of the Universe, Adi Shakti, or Adi Parashakti. Shakta Hindu sects and Shākta Tantric beliefs additionally worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. She is also seen as divine protector and the one who bestows moksha, or liberation. Kali is the first of the 10 Mahavidyas, or manifestations of the Great Goddess, or ultimate reality. She is often portrayed standing or dancing on her consort, the Hindu god Shiva, who lies calm and prostrate beneath her. Kali is worshipped by Hindus throughout India but particularly Bengal, Assam, Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, along with Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Etymology
Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured"). Kālī also shares the meaning of "time", "one who is time" or "the fullness of time" with the masculine noun "kāla"—and by extension, time as "that which brings all things to life or an end." Other names include Kālarātri ("the night of death" or "the night of destruction"), and Kālikā ("the black one").
The homonymous kāla, "appointed time", which depending on context can mean "death", is distinct from kāla "black", but became associated through popular etymology. The association is seen in a passage from the Mahābhārata, depicting a female figure who carries away the spirits of slain warriors and animals. She is called kālarātri (which Thomas Coburn, a historian of Sanskrit Goddess literature, translates as "night of death") and also kālī (which, as Coburn notes, can be read here either as a proper name or as a description "the black one"). Kālī is also the feminine form of Kāla, an epithet of Shiva, and thus the consort of Shiva.
