Does Kali Really Trample Upon Her Husband Shiva?

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It's not Shiva
at Mother's feet.
Only liars say that.

Markandeya wrote it clearly:
while killing demons,
saving the gods from their fix,
Ma stepped on a demon child
fallen to the ground.

At the touch of Her feet
the demon boy changed;
suddenly he was Shiva
on the battlefield.

As a good wife
would She ever
put Her feet
on Her husband's chest?
No, She wouldn't.
But a servant is different:
Ramprasad pleads:
"place those fear-dispelling feet
on my lotus heart."

The suggestion being that blessed is the worshipper whom the Great Mother deems fit enough to place her feet upon. Some devotees conjecture that Kali thus trampled on her husband in error and therefore lolls out her tongue in shame and repentance. Others like the poet Kamalakanta Bhattacharya take it upon themselves to point out her folly:

Kali
Is everything you do misleading?

Look, your beloved has thrown Himself,
under your feet! Mother
I beg you with folded hands:
don't dance on top of Shiva

Kind woman, just this once,
stop.
You're the murderer of Your own husband;
You're killing Your lord.
The King of Living Beings
is almost dead.

Mother! The Man you're standing on
is the Three-Eyed One!
Calm down, look at Him;
it's the Naked Lord!

Some others speculate that carried away in the waves of her own wrath, Kali once set out to destroy the world. Nobody dared stop her rampage. However her husband Shiva lay inert in a field, and as soon as Kali, dancing in her fury, stepped over him she realized her folly and calmed down; thus did Shiva save the world from imminent destruction.

Whatever be the reason, it remains a fact that nearly all visual representations of this awesome goddess show her trampling her husband. Here the latter seems to be not the slightly discomfited at his wife's aggression and his own apparent humiliation. In fact, her rather seems to enjoy the proceedings; lying at ease with the right hand supporting his head. His matted coils are held together at the top with a crescent moon and serpent and the tresses neatly fan out at the back, forming comfortable cushion for his repose. His trident stands obliquely in the foreground, encoiled with a snake and the damaru attached at the neck. The sacred water pot (kamandal) also stands in front of the couple. Shiva's body is sturdy and well-formed. Kali is depicted in her traditional iconography with the ubiquitous garland of severed heads and the girdle of human arms. She has conical breasts over which cascade down her numerous necklaces. Three of the hands respectively hold a freshly cut human head a sickle and a bowl of flames. The fourth blesses her devotees.

Of Related Interest:

Books on Kali

Shiva-Shakti

The Tantrik Goddess

A Strange and Rare Image of Kali

Kali, The Terrible

Kali and the Fear of Death

Kali and the Arrested Moment

The Triumph of Kali

Worshipping Kali

Rejoicing Kali's Victory

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How are Nepalese copper statues made?

Nepalese statues and sculptures are best known for their unique small religious figures and ritual paraphernalia for over two thousand years. These are mainly cast in copper alloy. Nepal draws influences from the artistic styles of Buddhism and Hinduism, and therefore the sculptors of the country specialize in making the icons of both these religions. Over the years, Nepalese sculptures evolved into their own distinctive iconography. Some characteristic features of these sculptures that differ from other pieces are exaggerated physical postures, youthful and sensual features, languid eyes, wider faces having serene expressions, and ornate flourishes. The Buddhist deity icons of Nepal have tremendous demand in countries such as China and Tibet for ritual purposes in their temples and monasteries.

Nepalese statues and sculptures have a high copper content and therefore develop a slightly reddish patina on the surface as they age. However, the most unique feature of Nepalese copper statues is their decorative detailing. The pieces are heavily gilded and sometimes inlaid with semi-precious stones. This embellishment protects them from getting tarnished. The traditional lost-wax method for casting Nepalese copper statues remains the most practiced technique in Nepal for many centuries. This process involves many steps and requires skilled artists.

The first step in lost-wax sculpting is to make a wax replica of the desired Buddhist deity to be cast in copper. This replica is created by hand and therefore needs excellent artistic skills otherwise fine features will be lacking.

Once the wax replica is made, it is then coated with a special mixture of clay with a brush. This layer of clay is hardened when left to dry. A small hole is made on the base of the wax mould so that the wax flows away when it is heated.

At this stage, a hollow mould in the shape of the deity is obtained.

This is the time to pour liquid copper into the hollow mould which is then allowed to cool and harden inside a container of cold water. When the liquid metal has hardened, the mould is removed and the statue within is revealed.

The artist works on the details of the statue using various tools. It is then polished to get a shiny and lustrous surface.

Now comes the most important part of Nepalese art which is gold gilding. This is done by the traditional fire gilding method. A mixture of mercury and 18K gold is applied on the surface of the statue and heat is applied using a flame torch. The result is that mercury evaporates along with impurities, leaving a pure 24K gold finish.

The lost-wax method of sculpting is the most preferred technique

for artists to cast a metallic statue having intricate details. Since Nepalese copper sculptures require extraneous effort for giving a majestic look by adding special embellishments, it takes several weeks to complete one masterpiece. A 24K gold gilded copper sculpture retains its brilliant luster for many years and appears as like before. Nepalese sculptures continue to remain one of the finest specimens of the art of the East that have a strong aesthetic appeal that other sculptures cannot match.