Kali/Tara

The Mahavidyas are tantric manifestations of the great goddess (mahadevi), analogous to the ten avatars of Vishnu, and are personifications of Shakti, Shiva’s energy. Two scenes occupy the sheet, on the left the fearful four-armed Kali, wearing a skirt of severed arms and garlanded with severed heads, standing astride two appearances of Shiva, one brown-skinned corpse-like and the second, white skinned, with whom she appears to be in sexual union. Within the Mahavidya tantric tradition, Kali is the “Devourer of Time”. The right side of the composition is occupied by Tara and appears much like Kali, with a diadem and garland of skulls and Shiva’s tiger skin worn around her waist. She also tramples a prone Shiva, here lying amidst a charnel ground with blazing pyres. Within the Mahavidya tantric tradition Tara is a guide and protector who offers the ultimate knowledge and hence salvation. Both wield bloody cleavers and hold a severed head and skull respectively. The Mahavidyas are particularly venerated in Bengal.