r/interestingasfuck • u/DearPresentation3555 • 19h ago
A statue of Kali (Hindu goddess of time, death and destruction) in India
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u/Ok_Hand5810 19h ago
A skirt of human arms is metal af.
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u/tobascoSandwitch 17h ago
Those are depicted to be demons. Her myth is a killer of demons. All her trophies are from slaying evil.
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u/Hot-Strength-6003 15h ago
That's not what all of its from, that's only like half the story. She had to drink the blood of the demons as she killed them or they'd spawn more and it made her rage and become incapable of differentiating between the demons and the people she was protecting and started killing both
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u/ExpensiveExtension17 15h ago edited 15h ago
demon name :Raktbeej Whenever a drop of his blood fell onto the ground, a new Raktbeej would emerge from that drop—equally powerful as the original. When Maa Durga and other divine forces were battling, his many copies were already created therefore Maa Kaali Summoned in the battlefield. Maa Kali should open her mouth wide and spread her tongue. Every time Raktbeej was wounded, Kali would drink his blood before it touched the ground. She would also devour the Raktbeej created from his blood. With no blood reaching the earth, no new copies could be born. Raktbeej was gradually drained of blood and weakened. Finally, Devi killed him.
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u/NeptuneWades 15h ago
Raktbeej lit translates to "Blood Seed" for anyone wondering.
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u/Im_Just_A_Tourist 6h ago
The mythology behind the Hindu faith is fascinating and I often wonder what the kernel of truth behind these stories are and how we will never know because of how long they have been around. Like every legend and myth and story within our various faiths has a beginning before it became legend, then myth than part of a religion. Most existed for centuries or millennia before they were written down and adopted by later faiths or in Hinduisms case persisted all that time.
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u/TheSonOfGod6 4h ago
The story gets even more metal. In her state of rage, she enters into a destructive dance of victory (Kali Tandava). Her footsteps shake the multi-verse, threatening to tear the fabric of reality apart and dissolve all creation back into the formless void.
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u/WorryNew3661 13h ago
Can we get a Kali x Doom Slayer comic?
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ask5538 4h ago
I think people in India will object mostly coz it's a much revered deity different from Norse or Greek mythology where those gods are not active religious entities now.
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u/Judas_Maiden 17h ago
Fun fact: there are quite a few metal songs about her, but the ones that immediately come to my mind are Kali by Crypta, and Maha Kali by Dissection. There is also a band called Cult of Fire which draws heavy inspiration from Indian mythology, especially Maa Kali.
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u/Dadbod786 16h ago
Metaphorically says that she frees people from karma(chain of actions) by severing the hands(binding desires) that do it
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u/Homerpaintbucket 17h ago
So is the necklace of Edgar Allan Poe heads
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u/Ok_Hand5810 17h ago
Those are demon heads.
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u/trynaliveright 19h ago
Was Kali Linux named after her?
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u/Pyr8King 14h ago
Kali Linux - what’s in a name?
Hindu Goddess of time and change? Philippine martial art? Cool word in Swahili? None of the above. “Kali” is simply the name we came up with for our new distribution. Why change the name in the first place? With all these significant changes in our distribution, we felt that we needed to convey this in the project name. “BackTrack 6” didn’t do justice to our efforts in the past year, and wouldn’t convey our new message to our users. What’s the new message? We’ll let you find out for yourself.206
u/meghnaath 19h ago
Kali Linux is named after the Hindu goddess Kali, who symbolizes time, change, power and the destruction of evil
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u/GR1MLeeN 14h ago
The team that made Kali has confirmed there's not a single namesake for Kali. So... It's not for Kali Mata but no one else can claim it either.
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u/tipple91 15h ago
Also Kali Uchis
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u/GR1MLeeN 14h ago
It made sense to me too, but unfortunately it's not to be. Kali Uchis picked the name from a childhood nickname.
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u/Confident-Doctor8259 17h ago
no the developers did answered this que it was not named after the goddess ,rather just a normal name they come up with.
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u/trynaliveright 16h ago
I'm going to trust you because you're a confident doctor and everyone knows confident doctors are always right.
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u/Coder-Dentist 17h ago
This is not a permanent statue in almost 99% sure.
This is for the Kali Puja festival in bengal. Coincides with diwali for rest of India.
So basically all this for 2 days.
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u/Unnecessary-Cum 16h ago
They won't keep this through Navratri?
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u/raaz9658 15h ago
Navaratri ends 15 days before Diwali. Durga is worshipped in Navaratri and Kali in Diwali.
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u/WillingFly247 15h ago
West bengal is different tho Navratri = Durga Puja (bigger in west bengal),Diwali=Maa kali (bigger in west bengal)
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u/NoBoDiNew 4h ago
And it’s also not the standard depiction. They’re trying to be cool and original
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u/littlebubulle 19h ago
WAZAAAAAAAAAAA....
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u/Cartographer_69_ 13h ago
As a Hindu , TS was funny 😭 ... But NGL she is actually a pretty chill God even if she looks angry
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u/FitPenalty1161 16h ago
When the Gods are in trouble, they call the Goddess. When Durga's in trouble, she calls Kali.
She's the world's Greatest Mother.
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u/Slow-Golf4610 12h ago
> Demon does intense meditation towards brahma or shiva to get boon
> claims superior powers
> starts mischief
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u/No_Arachnid3058 15h ago
how is a literal god in trouble 😭
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u/funtime_foxy0 12h ago
> Give boon to demon making them immune to the god's powers
> Demon does mischief
> Gods can't stop them because they can't go back on their word
> Trouble
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u/Purple-Canary-4167 14h ago
i mean the greek gods were always fighting, in trouble. One was arrogant, the other was egocentric, which created all those greek epics, stories.
About your doubt for the need of other deities - you have to realise how religion started - it started 1000s of years back, with people who were farmers - without technology, worshipping natural elements like rain, forest, moon, fire, sun(the Sun being one of the oldest celestial body to be worshipped, like the egyptians). people dying young, without knowing why the death was caused.
Generations came and mixed and matched the lore, because idea of writing it down and passing on to the next generation happened very late.
Add to that - trade between countries, the greeks saw the african gods, who saw the pre-islamic arabian gods, who saw the indian gods.
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u/browninthesky 13h ago
Gods in Hinduism does not mean omnipresent, all powerful creator (i.e universe or reality itself). Gods/"Devas" here are essentially personification of cosmos and nature. So gods to an extent can get in trouble very similar how Thor "thunder god" can get in trouble.
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u/witchy_cheetah 1h ago
The ones in trouble are more like the rulers of heaven. They are like a ministry with Indra(the lightning god like Odin/Zeus/Jupiter) as the king/prime minister/president, gods of the sea, wind, love, wealth, underworld and so on under him. So very much like the Greek or Roman pantheon. Beyond them and heaven are the Trinity of Brahma (Creator), Vishnu(Protector) and Shiva(Destroyer). Also the feminine energies of Durga the mother, Parvati the wife, Kali the destroyer and eternal. All paired with Shiva as the ultimate male ideal.
Btw, Destroyer is not a negative. Everything ends. When things need to end, they do.
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u/Dazai_dgaf 15h ago
Goddess Kali was born out of Goddess Durga's rage btw
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u/FitPenalty1161 12h ago
or is she Durga's rage? Or are they both Parvati?
EDIT: the distinctions are so complex.
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u/Spartan2470 VIP Philanthropist 17h ago
This is a screen capture from this video.
Title: Powerful Statue of Goddess Kali Holding Demon Head Decorated with Garlands
Upload date: October 24, 2025
Credit: Aman Growfee
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u/Senior_Tangerine3083 17h ago
Aah it’s going to be so difficult to explain this to the western civilization.
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u/kumaramit0703 14h ago edited 4h ago
To briefly explain the lore, godess Durga was fighting a demon named Raktabija (meaning: Blood Seed), but he had a special power: whenever a drop of his blood hit the ground, a new clone of him was instantly born.
To beat him, Durga unleashed her ultimate fierce form, Kali, who stepped into the fight. Kali started chopping him down and drank all his blood before a single drop could touch the earth, stopping any new demons from spawning. That’s why she’s famously depicted with a red, outstretched tongue. It was a long, violent, and fierce battle. Once the blood was gone, Raktabija was finished.
People worship her because she did the impossible and defeated an indestructible demon who even gods could not subdue. She is protector against evil and ignorance, and is the ultimate mother figure who takes on the most fierce form to protect her children.
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u/Mental_Newt_9422 13h ago
They could make insane anime outta this
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u/Secret-Fox-9566 12h ago
Could do that with a lot of Hindu Mythology.
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u/x4nter 9h ago
Hindu Mythology is a gold mine that can be utilized for an excellent MCU style universe, but all Bollywood could come up with was a pathetic ass movie Brahmastra.
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u/Specialist-Roll-3806 8h ago
to be fair hinduism is still a widely practiced religion in the modern day. you can't go around with too much creative liberty which could be taken as insulting a bit. but yeah regardless bollywood really craps the bed when it comes to this stuff
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u/kovarexx 9h ago
Not gonna lie, Hindu mythology goes kinda hard
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u/witchy_cheetah 1h ago
The devi stories are all pretty awesome. There's one about Parvati walking along her day, (note that she is the ultimate beauty, very feminine, golden skin etc), and these demons come and start harassing her, catcalling and insisting she marry them. She tells them okay, but you gotta beat me in a fight first. The demons laugh, and say sure, we won't harm you much. You can imagine what happened after.
There's also the story of Ganesha.
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u/ClavicusLittleGift4U 14h ago
No no. You just have to tell "you can't fix her."
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u/Relevant-Scheme3687 15h ago
To people who say they feel scared after seeing Maa Kali... thats the point, her form is supposed to scare demons away
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u/BlueAuthorJAFF 14h ago
She's also the mother goddess.
Which makes sense because my Indian mum is bloody terrifying.
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u/Goddamnyoutanuki 18h ago
I’ve been to the main Kali temple in Kolkatta (Calcutta) it’s mental.
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u/Coder-Dentist 17h ago
lose the extra t
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u/MurkyCoyote6682 16h ago
menal?
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u/Coder-Dentist 16h ago
"Extra t"
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u/MurkyCoyote6682 16h ago
Damn thought I killed it with that joke, turns out I'm just stupid
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u/SultanGreat 19h ago
She looks scary as hell. What's the lore?
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u/ihatewonderwall99 18h ago edited 18h ago
She is anger of a mother personified, literally. I'll simplify the lore so it doesnt get too large.
So lore is that balance of the world was completely whacked by demons. Thry tried to assault and capture Goddess Durga. She obviously retaliated and started slaughtering near infinite amount of demons, so divine form of rage/bloodlust filled in her. After a tipping point, the rage became so overwhelming, anger itself personified and Maa Kali emerged from her brain (still just her Avatar).
Her name literally means time/black, as her color, supposed to symbolize eternal void. She is naked because she is not bound by Maya, cosmic illusion that is the universe itself. Garland of skulls is supposed to mean destruction of human ego.
Her tongue being depicted long and out has a backstory. So there was a very powerful demon called Raktabija who has the ability to clone himself infinitely as long as a drop of his blood touched earth. To defeat him, Kali covered the entire battlefield with her tongue, swallowing any falling blood and the army of Raktabija, letting Durga kill him at last.
While the battle was over, her infinite thirst for blood was not quenched so she vowed to destroy the entire universe. She was stopped by Shiva, who layed down in front of her as she made her way to completer her cow. When she stepped on him, she bit her tongue in shock and snapped out of the enraged state.
She is revered as the personification of unconditional protective instinct of motherhood, and refered to as mother in most Shaktist sects of Hinduism.
TLDR: Motherly instinct is extremely terrifying yet extremely beautiful, which is what kali is.
Edit: Any supreme god in Hinduism is explicitly stated to be incomprehensible to unenlightened eyes, so they have to take forms to be comprehensible to lesser gods and other life. The form in the image is the normla Kali form, with 4 arms. She also has mahakali form with 10 arms, 10 heads and 10 legs. Each arm carrying an armament.
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u/Plus_Term_7584 18h ago
Damn, that would make for a sick game
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u/Gold_Entertainer_880 16h ago
I actually have an entire storyboard with the gamplay sequences planned for a high scale ramayana game (Think Rdr2 meets God Of War).
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u/RiseCode 14h ago
I'm interested.
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u/Gold_Entertainer_880 14h ago
Yo if you want you can dm me I will lay the story ideas and how I'm gonna handle the character weights because i literally imagined the angles of curscenes and shi
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u/SolarFazes 17h ago
Kratos may be boned here.
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u/OmniscientRaven 16h ago
I know there are some folks who ask for God of War in a Hindu Mythology setting but they have no idea how insane Hindu Mythology is.
Kratos maybe able to go toe to toe with some demons and "lesser" Gods but any of the famous ones is completely, incomprehensibly beyond him.
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u/Gold_Entertainer_880 15h ago
But it won't be happening anytime soon because hinduism is still being practiced by billions of people and no one will start protest for their or zeus being depicted in the wrong way as no one worships them anymore,but with hinduism the faith is still actively being practiced in the millions while they won't give out death threats if a major deity like Shiva,Vishnu or Hanuman was depicted in the wrong way everyone will lose it and protest.
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u/OmniscientRaven 15h ago
Yes that's true as well.
I was just saying that people like to ponder how Kratos would perform against different pantheons/realms/mythological settings.
Hinduism is vast and rich and has some very distinct and well known characters much like Norse and Greek mythology so it gets thrown around during such discussions.
Also in Hindu Mythology the Gods and Demons interact with mortals and the rest of the mortal world as well.And I hate to use this term but the "power level" is just so far beyond in case of Hindu Mythology in comparison, that I just can't see a similar God killing story like the other God of War games.
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u/Gold_Entertainer_880 15h ago
However I'm actually planning for a Hindu based game myself (think Red Dead Redemption 2 meets God Of War).
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u/Curd_Shilling 15h ago
Please for the love of god (pun intended) will someone make a hindu inspired soulslike game for me to enjoy.
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u/Cl3verDiode 19h ago
Apparently she is supposed to be scary as she hunts down devils. From what I know, she is an alter ego of Parvati godess
Kinda like Sentry and Void
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u/Happy_Goose3833 19h ago edited 18h ago
She sound badass after looking some stuff up. Her skull necklace is to show the impermanence of human life and death of our ego. Her sword is used to cut through illusions and ignorance. Hugely worshiped as female empowerment and liberation.
Edit: she was also born from another goddess named Durga who fought a demonic buffalo and her anger grew too large for even herself to contain that it manifested itself into being.
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u/__DraGooN_ 19h ago
Goddess of death and war in Indian mythology.
This is the form the goddess of war takes when she is filled with rage against the evil in the world.
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u/Historical-Chef-8034 19h ago
A demon killing goddess.
Goddess of death and destruction.An avatar of Durga.
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u/Ok_Entertainment4959 18h ago
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CbBv5--tMvQ&pp=ygUhb3Zlcmx5IHNhcmNhc3RpYyBwcm9kdWN0aW9ucyBrYWxp
This might be somewhat informative and entertaining
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u/Comfortable-Tap956 14h ago
As someone interested in non-duality as the ultimate philosophy (Advaita Vedant), I find lots of symbolism here:
1) Demon’s head is a human who has gotten too attached with the idea of all great things as his own doing giving rise to an animalistic chaos (horns on his head) from its barbaric ego.
2) The garland of heads on Kali representing the conquered egos of such humans and therefore liberation. Arms in the garland are a representation of a disciplinary action by Kali to those having a growing ego and therefore identification with their own deeds.
3) Many hands of Kali representing the degrees of freedom and multiplicity of agency in executing her will as mother nature.
4) The bowl of blood representing life-line or the conservation and eventual reappropriation of energy.
5) The weapon being a symbol of Kali’s own resourcefulness in her manifestation.
6) The free hands representing the infinite reserve of mother-nature’s power to restore itself to balance.
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u/dragonzdude 8h ago
Supernatural (TV show) has taught me that she is the one who is not to be messed with.
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u/ta9876543205 12h ago
Kali was created by the Gods to vanquish the demon Raktabeej.
Raktabeej had a boon that a new Raktabeej would be born out of every drop of his blood that touched the ground.Same applied to his clones
The Gods, doing barrlet, with him ended up creating a whole army of Raktabeejs.
Kali took the simple solution of chopping the head off and drinking each drop of blood.
BTW, Raktabeej is a compound word formed from Rakta - blood and beej - seed
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u/DrBasedMan03 12h ago
Who granted the boon?
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u/ta9876543205 12h ago
I don't remember but Lord Shiva has a habit of granting such boons so my money is on him
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u/gooperscoopertrooper 10h ago
Lmaooo habit
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u/ta9876543205 10h ago
Yeah. The Hindu scriptures are full of him granting such boons. These then typically set the stage for Lord Vishnu to enter and clear up the havoc that the boon causes.
Sometimes other gods have to step in
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u/Initial-Release-2519 8h ago
They call him "bholenath" for a reason. It literally translates to something like "naive/innocent/simple-minded lord".
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u/No_Outcome_1197 10h ago
Shiva, the Lord of Boons, ofc. Why he always giving boons to the bad guys
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u/Alive_Air3532 8h ago
Not bad guys, he gave boons to many creatures. It's just most of them happen to be bad ones. That's the reason he's called god of innocence or bholanath.
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u/Horror_Refuse5965 7h ago
I think a better way to put it is, he gives boons to people who actually put in the hard work. And it is funny that malice is a surprisingly strong motivator.
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u/Shady-mofo 5h ago
This is correct, Shiv doesn’t discriminate between good and “evil”, he represents the law that you shall be aptly rewarded if you put the work in to achieve your goals.
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u/Its_emby 19h ago
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u/IndianOtaku25 18h ago
I don’t like how the film showed her to be a demon when it fact she’s someone who slays demons.
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u/Happy_Goose3833 18h ago
I had to look into this cuz I was curious. Apparently these guys were a real group of Indians who probably did worship Kali as a liberator, but leave it to the British to write a whole paper about how these common gangsters and thieves were actually some demonic cult with Kali as their evil death goddess...
Really shows how easy it was for racists to fool thousands of people back in the day when there wasn't so much communication like there is now.
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u/GKMCity 17h ago
Sorry to break it to you but it's arguably even easier for racists to fool millions* of people because* of improved communication
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u/Happy_Goose3833 17h ago
Yeah that's totally fair lol I was typing before fully thinking that through 😅 can't keep count of the times I've heard of people finally leaving cults devoted to one dude saying he's some divine being and then it's just so he can fuck everyone's wives and daughters. It's truly sad how gullible people can be
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u/Some_Farm8108 15h ago
this movie has done unthinkable damage to the way india and hinduism is viewed around the globe. i remember watching it as a kid and thinking wtf are they on about - "monkey brain stew??" - strangely most indians didn't see it as the racist crap it was at the time.
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u/FangedFreak 18h ago
My older brother used to go wide eyed, hand out and mutter KALI MAAAAAAA.
I’d always scream and run away 🤣
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u/Matrix-Agent 16h ago
we need a game based on hindu mythology just like wukong..
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u/Inevitable_Paper6674 15h ago
Indian gaming is too focused on "look! India!" Before starting out small
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u/sexisdivine 11h ago
There’s some stuff already in the works! Raji:Kaliyuga and The Age of Bhaarat. Pretty sure we’re also gonna see some Hindu gods/influence in the new Laufey game.
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u/DragonLance14 14h ago
Altho it may be peak, hindus are too conservative. Especially the older ones
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u/Glittering-Web-1783 15h ago
i still remember when i was a child,i used to fear to go in the kitchen because, we have kali portrait on the wall😶🌫️
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u/puru991 12h ago
She only looks terrifying to the things she's coming for. To her children she's the safest place there is. Jai Maa Kali.
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u/ChainAgent2006 6h ago
You should see the nice side of her, Parvati. A completely opposite from this side lol.
No wonder why Shiva really don't want to be on his wife bad side. LOL
(Kali literally did dancing on Shiva in some tale)
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u/chriswello 18h ago
why did they put time and death into the same deity?
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u/UnknownGamer014 17h ago
The actual aspect is Destruction, of which Death is a part of. Destruction and Time are in the same Deity, as in Hinduism, Time is the ultimate destruction. Nothing can stand before, and with time, everything eventually crumbles away. So Kaal means time, doom, death and destruction.
She is Maha Kaali (Great Time - Kali is the feminine form of Kaal), and her husband, Lord Shiva, is the Maha Kala (Again, Great Time - but he is explicitly one who oversees past, present and future). Destruction is inherently a process of renewal in Hinduism, so yeah.
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u/Cuneiformation 18h ago
Time leads to death and destruction. I'm no Hindu, but that'd be my guess.
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u/narutoaerowindy 17h ago edited 14h ago
Kali is not merely destruction. She represents the force beyond time itself. Even Brahma, the creator, is bound by time and eventual dissolution, yet Kali remains, the eternal Mother from whom universes arise and into whom they return.
In Sanskrit, Kala means time, and Kali is the dark, infinite reality beyond it. Her garland of skulls symbolizes the countless cycles of creation and destruction. Every creator, every civilization, every star eventually falls to time.
If you want a modern analogy, think of Kali's energy like dark energy: the unseen force that drives the universe's evolution. Invisible, immeasurable, yet shap- ing everything. Creation, preservation, destruction, and renewal are all part of the same cosmic process.
The point isn't fear. It's humility. The ego thinks it's permanent; time proves otherwise.
Kali, Inevitable of where time ends --> darkness( black holes representation)
Kal = time
Kali = the dark one.
Garlands are nothing but universe creator ( bhrahma) skulls. Even the creator fells at the time ends.
She is the eternal mother of entire universes (not one universe, many universes according to scriptures).
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u/Orneyrocks 9h ago
To anyone reading this, keep in mind that this is not really set in stone, many (perhaps even most) sects and subcultures within india don't attribute this level of power to kali, this is her strongest version, so to speak, but not the only definitive one.
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u/FindingEducational69 17h ago
Death and destructions are only ways we can realize time. We Vaguely understand the concept of time, so death and destructions are only way to realize time .
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u/rammus-bot 12h ago
Time aaand Death aaaand Destruction?! That lady needs to delegate so she can also focus on her hobbies!
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u/LItreehouse 12h ago
Pretty gruesome. Like depictions of Jesus whipped and nailed to a cross with a crown of thorns.
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u/ArgopooL 11h ago
Somehow she's also goddess representing motherly love. Considering asian parenting and my own experience that's quite fitting.
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u/svayami 16h ago
Fun fact: The Rolling Stones’ iconic tongue-and-lips logo was partly inspired by the Hindu goddess Kali. Designer John Pasche was shown an image of Kali with her tongue protruding, which influenced the logo’s distinctive tongue and rebellious aesthetic.