The Hindu goddess Kali, whose name can be interpreted as either the Black One or the Power of Time, is a terrific manifestation of Durga, embodying her divine wrath. As recounted in the Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), a devotional text dating to circa 550 CE, when Durga battled the demons Shumba and Nishumba Kali emanated to help defeat the legions of chaos. Kali’s haunt is the cremation ground, and in paintings she is thus often shown sitting on corpses.
In north India, Kali is typically depicted with a garland of skulls, snakes, sword, lolling tongue dripping blood, and tiger skin skirt. Here, however, in accordance with a south Indian iconographic tradition, she is depicted in a more pacific form in the guise of a beautiful woman with her only fierce attributes being fangs and flaming hair that forms a nimbus. Small holes in her hair above her ears suggest she may have once had separate earrings attached. She has a third eye in her forehead and her hair is adorned with a serpent and crescent moon, all of which are attributes associated with the god Shiva. She wears heavy earrings, one of which is in the form of a mythical aquatic creature (makara kundala). She sits on a double lotus base in a relaxed posture (lalita asana) with her right leg pendant. The goddesses four arms. In her upper right hand, she holds a drum. Her lower right hand carries a now-broken trident. In her upper left hand, she holds a noose. Her lower left hand carries a skull cup. The presence of lugs on the side of the tiered pedestal indicates the bronze originally had a large aureole (prabhavali). The two holes above the lotus border of the pedestal were used to tie the bronze onto poles for parading during festival processions.
