“Guhyakali”- the secret Kali is an extremely powerful yet rarely represented form of the great goddess in Tantra traditions of India and Tibetan Buddhism. Worshipped in India under the authority of the Mahakala Samhita, a text of Vamachara (literally “left” the term Vama stands for female or goddess-centric Tantra).
Juxtaposing the Tantric tradition of the Indian subcontinent with the aesthetics of Tibet (visible in the unique aureole and dancing pose of Kali), this bronze becomes a masterpiece, a singular display of the unseen divine being unveiled in art.
Faces of Guhyakali- The goddess has ten faces- her own smiling face in the center surrounded by nine faces, each belonging to a female animal, symbolic of the powers that the goddess possesses. To her left are Garuda (vulture) and Gaja (elephant).
Makara (the mythical aquatic animal) and Haya (horse) are to her right. Above that are Dvipika (a leopard or panther), Vanara (left), and Riksha or Reecha (a wild bear). Stacked upon one another above are the faces of Keshari (a lion) and Nara (a woman).
Pheru, a black-bodied jackal also associated with Guhyakali, is depicted as her mount in this composition. In the rituals mentioned in the Guhyakali Khanda of Mahakala Samhita, the ritualist is directed to worship each face of the goddess separately.
Each animal in Tantric tradition is believed to possess a certain strength (elephant- wisdom, lion- valor, Makara- ability to survive on land and water, horse- speed, and so on). By envisioning Guhyakali with this selection of living beings, Tantra traditions underscore the incomprehensible abilities of this secret aspect of the goddess, who fuses all life forms, making her the supreme, primordial, and omnipresent one.
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