Encountering Kālī

Abstract

Abstract This book explores one of the most remarkable divinities the world has seen—the Hindu goddess Kālī. She is simultaneously understood as a blood-thirsty warrior, a goddess of ritual possession, a Tantric sexual partner, and an all-loving, compassionate Mother. Popular and scholarly interest in her has been on the rise in the West in recent years. Responding to this phenomenon, this book focuses on the complexities involved in interpreting Kālī in both her indigenous South Asian settings and her more recent Western incarnations. Using scriptural history, temple architecture, political violence, feminist and psychoanalytic criticism, autobiographical reflection, and the goddess's recent guises on the Internet, the chapters pose questions relevant to our understanding of Kālī, as they illuminate the problems and promises inherent in every act of cross-cultural interpretation.

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