Kali is the Guardian. The Protectress. The Mother. Kali is Dharma and Eternal Time. Kali shines with the brilliance of a Million Black Fires of Dissolution and Her body is bathed in vibuthi (sacred ash). Shiva is under Her Feet and the Great Devotee, Ramprasad, envisioned Kali as stepping upon a demon that was transformed, by Kali's touch, into Lord Shiva Himself!

Kali is thought to have originated as a tribal goddess indigenous to one of India's inaccessible mountainous regions. The Matsyapurana gives her place of origin as Mount Kalanjara in north central India, east of the Indus Valley floodplain. But owing to the late date of the Puranas' composition, this evidence regarding Kali's place of origin cannot be taken as particularly reliable.

Kali first appears unequivocally as a goddess in the Kathaka Grihyasutra, a ritualistic text that names her in a list of Vedic deities to be invoked with offerings of perfume during the marriage ceremony. Unfortunately, the text reveals nothing more about her.

Listen to Jai Shree Kali Mata Chalisa