Why is the Hindu Goddess Kali often placed in a cemetary?

Question

I;m curious...has it got any symbolic significance?

ok i've always been interested in Kali...think she's pretty awesome..but i just wanna why she's placed on a crematorium ground. Of all Gods,why Kali? CHristian Fundamentalists need not reply.

Answer 1

that's my dogs name Kali.. lol... and she is what she was named after ....the goddess of destruction!

Answer 2

Kali's proximity to cremation grounds where the five elements or "Pancha Mahabhuta" come together, and all worldly attachments are absolved, again point to the cycle of birth and death. The reclined Shiva lying prostrate under the feet of Kali suggests that without the power of Kali (Shakti), Shiva is inert

Answer 3

She is considered in the Hindu faith to be the Goddess of Death and Destruction- but don't take this wrong way!

Through Destruction (Volcanoes erupting, earthquakes, major rain storms) new things are created. New land is exposed, and on a cosmic level, new stars and star systems can be created. Destruction isn 't always a negative force- in fact, it is most often a positive force.

And to the Hindus, when a person died, that wasn't the end of it. They believe in Rebirth- Kali is there to direct them, for guidance. Even if you put your faith in reincarnation, death can be confusing, I am sure. Having statues at the burial site, I am sure, symbolizes her presence in that area.

Answer 4

cemetary? And who does that? Hindus do not bury their dead but crement it. Anyway..

Shakti is the divine feminine power found in everything. India and Hinduism is a culture whose only words for strength and power are feminine -- ``shakti'' means ``power'' and ``strength.'' All male power comes from the feminine. And Shakti is the fundamental strength of the feminine that infuses all life and is viewed as a goddess. And one of the forms of that goddess is Kali.

Kali is the personification of the most dynamic aspect of feminine strength: We often see her in the horrific form that she assumes to destroy evil and to rescue the universe from destruction. In this photograph, Kali is destroying evil shown in the guise of beauty. Beauty is often beguiling. Kali is often depicted in a form as conqueror, which to many might appear horrific. But to her devotees, she is considered beautiful, maternal and kind.

Answer 5

Haven't you ever seen Indiand Jones and the Temple of Doom? Kali Ma...KALI MA!

Answer 6

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Symbolism_in_Hinduism.htm

Shakti, the divine source from which all arises, is thought of as the ' wife' of Shiva. She has many mythological forms. Often she is simply Devi, ' the Goddess ', or Mahadevi, ' the Great Goddess'. She is also Jagad Mata, 'World Mother'; Ambika, 'Gauri' ' Mother'; Uma, who nourishes the world; Parvati, the dutiful wife of Shiva, who seated high in the Himalayas by the side of her Lord represents the stability and continuity of life; the smiling and auspicious Lalita, especially worshipped in South India; the ceaselessly warring Durga; and Kali, the destroyer.

Parvati, which means "she who dwells in the mountains" or "she who is of the mountains" She is the mother of Karttikeya and Ganesha.

Durga -renowned slayer of demons, wife of Shiva personifying Shakti or divine energy.

It is Durga that the Goddess is most widely worshipped and it is she who most fully expresses the energy and complexity of Shakti. Her great festival, Durga Puja or Dussera, lasting for ten days, is an event of great importance. A Distinct group - that of the Shaktas, or worshippers of Shakti - center on her, is especially strong in Bengal. For them, the Goddess is the supreme deity, Bramh itself in feminine form. It is the third most popular group within Hinduism, giving place only to the worship of Vishnu and Shiva in importance. The name Durga indicates one who is 'hard to approach' and Durga is represented with a stern expression, suitable to the unswerving force which drives the universe. At once supremely beautiful and fierce, Durga rides upon a lion. She may be pictured with four, eight, ten or twenty arms, and in these she brandishes an impressive array of instruments and weapons - conch, discus, trident, bow, arrow, sword, dagger, serpent, mace and other objects. Each has its specific meaning, and taken together they express the ceaseless activity and complexity of Shakti.

She is first and foremost a slayer of demons. She is the goddess of warfare, and in medieval India military campaigns were commenced on the last day of her festival. In Bengal and some other areas blood sacrifices are made to Durga and to Kali, although, as the only blood sacrifices to survive in Hinduism, they are regarded with distaste by the majority of Hindus. Yet at the same time Durga is the all-merciful Mother who nourishes the universe and bestows both material and spiritual wealth. Full of tenderness to those who turn to her, she is greatly beloved by her devotees.

Kali is said to have come forth from the forehead of Durga. If Durga is the fierce side of the Mahadevi, Kail is her terrible aspect: She is represented with a hideous and terrible countenance, dripping with blood, encircled with snakes, bung round with skulls and human heads, and in all respects resembling a fury rather than a goddess.

Explanations are offered for the image, black color refers to her ultimate nature, which lies beyond manifestation and is therefore unknowable, the cremation ground on whihc she is often shown dancing is where all worldly desires are burnt away, the necklace of severed heads is the universe of names and forms which she, as Shiva's power, creates and destroys; she is, as the name Kali suggests, the destructive aspect of time.

Kali is life, seen with all its dangers, bloodshed, suffering, fierce, competition, and inevitable destruction

Answer 7

Uhhh....could it be because she's a goddess of DEATH and DESTRUCTION?!??!

Just spitballin', here....

Answer 8

its a demon... and they love death and destruction... and you can't get anymore dead than a cemetery... lol