|WikiProject Hinduism / Mythology / Swaminarayan / Shaktism||(Rated Start-class, High-importance)|
|WikiProject India||(Rated Start-class, Low-importance)|
Clarifying etymology of her name
The Sanskrit etymology is a folk one, so I'm adding the more common grammatical one. "Bhadra" literally means "Good" in everyday speech, so while the folk etymology of the Sanskrit version is a legitimate religious interpretation in Hinduism, this is the common form of the name in Kerala. The fiercer the deity, the kinder the name--as Bhadrakali is a fierce aspect, she is propitiated by calling her "Good Kali". Snowgrouse (talk) 17:52, 16 November 2013 (UTC)
- Oppose: Kali and Bhadrakali are two different Deities.--Sankarrukku (talk) 15:27, 26 March 2010 (UTC)
- Oppose: Bhadrakali is a distinct enough variation on Kali with her own mythology and rites, which could not possibly be explored in enough detail on another article.--Snowgrouse (talk) 19:31, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
An ancient temple of Bhadrakali is situated in the Bageshwar District of Uttarakhand State. It is about 30 K.M. from District HQ. Bageshwar. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 126.96.36.199 (talk) 09:24, 15 July 2010 (UTC)
Someone keeps changing "horse-sacrifice" into "horse-worship". Yes, modern Hindus frown on animal sacrifice. This is a well-known fact. However, it does not change the fact that the Vedic ritual being referred to was a horse sacrifice. Changing it into "horse-worship" is a bowdlerisation, and I've changed it back to "horse-sacrifice" repeatedly, only for someone to come and change it back to "horse-worship" again. Even when the ritual's own page describes it as "horse-sacrifice". Please, with all due respect, don't try to rewrite historical facts because the current practices are different. It's okay to disapprove of animal sacrifice, but pretending it did not happen in ancient times and that it wasn't described in the Vedas is not NPOV. Let's not confuse opinions with historical facts. Thank you. --Snowgrouse (talk) 21:30, 8 August 2012 (UTC)
Kaali= Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, Mahasarasvati- associated with triple avatar or incarnation of Shakti, more details are available with Sri Ramakrishna teachings, Tantra etc.
There are some Tantras according to which Mother Kaali is the supreme Shakti. Just like how ISKCON, Gaudiya Vaishnavites consider Krishna the supreme, not as an incarnation of Vishnu. For example: Krishna created Vishnu etc..as per Brahma Vaivarta Purana..etc.
Bhadrakali is more Puranic like Krishna, later avatar, but repeatedly manifesting. At least 3 times. The Darika-Bhadrakali battle, and Kerala's Kalarippayattu tradition is a famous one, just like Krishna worship. More puranic, slightly Tantric, highly spiritual, subtle and esoteric also. Ujjain's Vikramaditya, Kalidasa versions are somewhere near this tradition. This is highly devotional and involves oracle tradition also.
The Daksha Yaga version, and the Devi Mahatmya version are also puranic, but, involves more Tantric, and Ten Mahavidya traditions, also Kaula and other forms, and this greatly differs from earlier mentioned highly puranic southern version. However, this also sometimes appears here and there in Kerala, Tamil Nadu also. But, not like in Bengal. Very different, it looks, but the inner philosophy same. Just as different and same at the same time as Krishna worship and Vishnu worship.
Please gather information on 'Bhadrakali' the incarnation(Puranic, Tantric, and Vedic) and traditions from each state in India, in Indian languages and translate them. Internet is more rich with info on Kali, Mahakali etc, not about 'Bhadrakali' and it's a long time expected for original research. Books are available in Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit, not in English, right now. Mostly as local temple traditions and stories, oracles, miracles etc about "Bhadrakali". Highly interesting topic! Research still going through infancy, sorry for any possible mistakes, thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sathyasaagar001 (talk • contribs) 21:23, 10 December 2012 (UTC)
I just did some massive cleanup. I straightened out the English and reorganised the article so the details weren't all over the place (like with the origin myths); I sorted them into their appropriate sections. I also straightened out the summary part, fixed the etymology stuff and so on. I gave up with the temple section because the English was so bad it didn't make any sense and it seems to be degenerating into a list of advertisements for different temples. Might be a good idea to just split the temples list into a separate page because it's really getting out of hand and it makes the article less Wikipedia-y.
Also, I'm not sure if the tiny image in the infobox is as good a depiction of Bhadrakali as the miniature paintings in the article are--the image of the deity is very small and the details are indistinct, whereas the miniatures are more colourful and depict her better. Shall see if I can change it, and I hope people can understand that the infobox image really should be a good representation of the subject--no offense intended. Snowgrouse (talk) 19:11, 16 November 2013 (UTC)