She is naked, has long, dishevelled hair, and wears a girdle of severed arms and a necklace of severed heads. The skulls around Kali's neck stands for the cycle of life and death. She is seen here with a lolling tongue, red with blood. Some devotees describe kali is act of biting her large protruding tongue as an expression of the control of senses. The eyes are wide open, in fact staring. In one hand she holds a sharp chopper stained with blood. In the other hand she hold the beheaded head of a sacrificial victim. The draining blood is dripping in a bowl held in one of Kali's hand. Despite her fearful form her one hand shows a gesture of fearlessness. She wears a gem studded crown and other ornaments.
Although Kali is regarded as an independent deity, she is sometimes associated with Shiva, hence a snake around her torso. The upper background is an orange sky turning gradually into the dark night. The lower foreground is also orange, the fire of the cremation grounds. The two similar colours are divided aesthetically by the flowing black hair of the goddess.
This description by Kiranjyot.
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