Clay Images of West Bengal

The ritual of Kali puja (October-November)

Kali puja is held at the dead of night on the new moon of Karttika in October-November, otherwise known as Dipanvita or Diwali the festival of lights (dipa). Puja to the ancestors (shraddha) is celebrated during the day and Kali puja by night. The festive worship of Kali is performed on many occasions such as Ratanti chaturdashi day (the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Magha in January-February) and Phalaharini puja (the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Jyaistha in May-June). With the outbreak of epidemics in villages there is public worship of Rakha Kali or Smashana Kali. Special worship is done on new moon nights which are regarded as sacred to Kali along with Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Calcutta notes on Kali puja in Krishnanagar

During Kali puja the worshipper sits on a seat and does Vedic achamana (sipping water). With a mantra the seat is sprinkled with water and purified. The hands and feet are washed and mantras are recited for the removal of sins. With the mantra 'hung' the worshipper looks at the place of worship and then writes the mantra 'kling' on the ground to remove sins. 'Hung' and 'kling' are the so-called seed (bija) mantras of Kali. The worshipper ties a scarf around himself as a mark of humility. Remembering his teacher, flowers and perfume are given to Shiva and the other gods and the invocation and samkalpa vows are made. The ghat is established, the tirthas (holy places of pilgrimage) are invoked, the ghat is bathed and the worshipper does achamana. The ordinary arghya is established and the door deities are worshipped. A right handed swastika is usually drawn near the place of worship for this purpose. Then comes the 'removal of obstacles', the purification of the place of worship (the asana and the mandapa) with the mul mantra and the panchagavya.

The puja articles are placed to the right and the ghee lamps lit as puja take place at night. The worshipper then purifies his body with the special mantra, taking sandalwood and red flowers, rubs them in the palm of his hands, smells them and with the snapping of the fingers, wards off evil spirits in all directions. Then placing his hand over his heart he does atmapranpratistha, then pranayama followed by prayer to the sages or rishis. Various parts of the body are touched withe mudras or special gestures and the worshipper meditates on Devi, the goddess. After meditation there is puja with mental offerings, the showing of various mudras and the special arghya. Then the Kali yantra is drawn. The mystic syllables 'kring' and 'hring' are drawn within the triangle surrounded by a circle, eight lotus petals, another circle and then a square. This Kali yantra is taken from the Tantrasara of Krishnananda.

Welcoming is done and the consecration of the image with the chakur dan and pranpratistha takes place. Devi's puja with the sixteen upacharas follows. The eight Saktis (Astanayikas) are worshipped. This is followed by puja to Shiva and then sacrifice. Animal sacrifice is done according to the tantric rules with sacrifice of goats followed by tantric homa or fire sacrifice then japa and then the conclusion of ceremonies with a benediction, the tialaka mark, gifts and payments to Brahmins and bisarjan. A hymn is sung and clay images belonging to families or individuals are immersed before dawn the following day. Kali images may be left in puja pandals by sarvajanin committees much longer than this however.

In traditional stories, Kali is a demon slayer who is described as being of terrible appearance with the severed limbs of demons around her neck and waist. She kills the demons Chanda and Munda before killing the demon Raktabija whose blood creates hundreds of other demons if it touches the ground. Kali opens her mouth wide and devours all the demons, stretching out her tongue to catch the drops of blood from the wounded demon until he is completely drained. Only Shiva lying beneath her stops her bloodthirsty rampage and restores equilibrium to the world.

According to tantric tradition, Kali places her right foot on Shiva's chest because dakshina has favourable connotations and because the chest is the location of the twelve petalled lotus heart which is regarded as the place of worship for the ishtadevata or personal deity. Shiva meditates on the favourable, auspicious foot of kali which is why he is shown with half-closed eyes and serene expression.

Kali is also associated with Vishnu and there are Shyama-Kali images which show Kirhsna with protruding tongue and garland of heads. The story connected with this relates how one day Krishna was with Radha and the other gopis when Radha's husband, Abhimanyu, was informed of her misconduct by Radha's mother-in-law, Jatila and her sister-in-law, Kutila. The infuriated husband, accompanied by his mother, sister and neighbours, went to the Vrinda groves with drawn sword to punish his wife. Radha found out about the danger and prayed to Krishna to devise a means of escaping. Krishna assumed the form of Kali and Radha fell at her feet in an attitude of worship. When Abhimanyu saw this he was pleased because he was a worshipper of Kali.

Calcutta notes notes about tantric puja in Kalighat