Mutiyettu
Mutiyettu , also Mudiyettu, Muṭiyēttu ( malayalam ), is a Hindu ritual theater that is performed annually in several temples in the southern Indian state of Kerala . The focus of the songs, dramatic scenes and dances is Bhadrakali , venerated as the supreme goddess , a manifestation of the Kali as she fights victoriously against the demon Darika. The story Darika vadham is narrated in the Puranas . The name mutiyettu means "wearing the crown", the headdress ( muti or mudi ) is the most religiously significant element of decoration. The goddess Bhadrakali embodies an actor who becomes possessed by her during the drama . Her alter ego is an ugly character named Kuli, the caricature of a lower-class woman who teases antics between scenes and breaks up the tense sacred atmosphere.
All roles in the performance, which lasts from early in the morning until after midnight, are performed by men who are members of a few upper caste groups . The performances take place in the hot season between February and May and represent a harvest festival addressed to the mother goddess. In 2010, Mutiyettu was included in the UNESCO list of masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of mankind .
Origin and environment
Indian folk theaters can be divided into two groups according to their function: into entertainment theaters, which at least partly draw from the religious myth repertoire and some of which are in the tradition of swang in northern India , and into religious theaters that arose with the Bhakti cult. In terms of content and structure, there is hardly any difference between religious theaters and rituals . The performances of the old Sanskrit theater Kutiyattam in Kerala with made-up actors and the dance drama Krishnanattam are understood as sacrifices to the deity of the temple. Likewise, the classical Kathakali dance style shown outside of temples can assume the function of a sacrifice in a corresponding context. Regardless of this, every religious ritual theater (such as Yakshagana in Karnataka or Chhau in Bihar ) is preceded by an introductory act with a sacrifice / homage ( puja ) to a god.
To complete a ritual usually includes the following components: the invocation of the deity with a formulaic, rhythmic text, songs in verse and dialogues; a mythical narrative forming the content; a plot represented in dances and dramatic actions, a wide arsenal of ritual objects, masks and costumes; a demarcated and ritually purified place of the event and a believing, partly interacting audience.
An essential aspect of Indian ritual theater is that the actor does not act in an acting role, but transforms for a certain time so that he embodies the deity and is worshiped by the believers as a representation of the deity. In Shatapatha Brahmana , a fire ritual is described in the mythical story of Urvashi and Pururava, which deals with the relationship between a beautiful apsara and a king. During this ritual, King Pururava transforms into a Gandharva , in Indian mythology this is one of the heavenly musicians and companions of the Apsaras.
Several dramatic forms stage the obsession of the actor by a deity, as it has been handed down from ancient times in the popular Bhuta cult, and describe the origin and special power of the deity before the actor is transformed. In the Teyyam ritual drama of Kerala with made-up actors and in the mask dance Gambhira of West Bengal there is a first part in which the actor sings the story of the gods in verse. In the Gambhira as in the Mutiyettu, the female energy is embodied in the form of Durga or Kali, while the Teyyam includes around 400 individual deities and demons who take possession of the actor's body in the respective ritual. With the ritual drama Ayyappan tiyatta from Kerala, Mutiyettu has a large floor painting kalam representing the deity in common, which is made at the beginning of the performance and destroyed as the final act. In the rituals Nagamandala , Ashlesha bali and Sarpam thullal in the south of Karnataka the floor image takes the form of a mandala in which the snake god Naga is conjured up. While Teyyam and Ayyappan tiyatta have a main character at the center of the action, Mudiyettu and Prahlada nataka are similar in Odisha in the large-scale scenic representation of mythical acts that end in a heroic battle with the victory over the evil demon. Structurally similar are ritual dramas in which Vishnu is venerated in one of his incarnations, such as the Bhagavata mela performed near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu . There, the main character is owned by Narasimha . Among the numerous participants, only the main actor turns into the deity, in contrast to this in the Kattaikkuttu (also Terukkuttu ) in Tamil Nadu the deity takes possession of several actors and believers in the course of the drama. The ritual dramas that were known in Kerala in the 17th century include Mutiyettu and Teyyam, Ayyappan tiyatta and the dance drama Krishnanattam , which was created around this time and became the direct forerunner of Kathakali .
The myth of Kali and Darika ( Darika vadham ) is only represented in Kerala, while the mother goddess is worshiped throughout India: in Tamil Nadu in the form of the legendary Tamil woman Kannagi and the goddess Durga, especially in Bengal, as the buffalo-slayer Mahishasuramardini. In addition to religious veneration, Mutiyettu also represents a unifying social event that brings together the various social classes.
content
The story passed down in the Markandeya Purana is about one of the many wars between the Asuras (demons) and the Devas (gods), in which the Asuras were almost completely destroyed and most of the Asura women became widows. Two of the widows named Darumathi and Danumathi were able to persuade Brahma after a long pleading that he let them bear two sons: Darika and Danavendra. At first the two prospered much to the delight of Brahma, so that he endowed them with the promise ( vara ) that they could not be killed by any male being of men, demons or the gods. In the event of Darika's injury, thousands of new Darikas would immediately emerge from his drops of blood and stand by his side in the fight. Later on, it was to the detriment of the two that they forgot to include the women in the assurances requested.
Equipped with such backing, Darika and his buddy Danavendra conquered the whole world, caused unrest everywhere and even challenged Indra . When the sage informed Narada Shiva of the atrocities, his patience was overstretched. Shiva created the goddess Bhadrakali from his third eye and gave her the order to kill Darika and Danavendra. She should be supported by Nandikeshvara and Kuli, the two companions of Shiva and the bloodthirsty goddess Vetali. Vetali's job was to swallow the blood from Darika's wounds before it hit the ground. This is how Bhadrakali managed to kill the demon. This story is staged in the most dramatic way in the Mudiyettu. There are parallels to the struggle of the Vishnu created Narasimha against the demon Hiranyakashipu , the story presented in the Prahlada nataka .
Performance practice
Mudiyettu performances take place annually after the harvest in the hot season between February and May in the enclosed courtyard of the temples of the mother goddess Bhagavati ( Bhagavati kavu ) or Bhadrakali. Three families in central Allaa maintain the mudiyettu tradition and recruit the performers from their ranks. They come from Pazhur and Keezhillam in the Ernakulam district and Koratty in the Thrissur district . Performances take place in Ernakulam, Idukki , Kottayam and Thrissur districts. The performers are traditionally members of the sub-sets Nayar (Nair), Kurup (Kuruppu) and Marar. The organization is in the hands of the family elders, with members from all social groups and castes in the village making their intended contribution to the preparation and implementation. Members of the lower caste of the Parayiar procure the cowhides for covering the drums and ritual objects made of bamboo. The tandan bring leaves of the betel nut palm , which are used for the costumes. A member of the ganakan paints the headdress and performs as a singer. Kuruvan keep the torches and oil lamps burning while Maran get the oil for them.
The performance consists of two parts: in the first part, which begins early in the morning, sacrifices and worship ceremonies take place, then a priest ( tantri ) makes the floor painting. In the second part, the myth is played as a dramatic action. Originally Darika vadham could only have been presented as a simple chant. In order to visualize the theme, the image of the goddess was added as a fixed point, which was later expanded to include the dramatic action. The development process took place without any change in the character of the ritual.
Part 1. Image and invocation songs
The opening ceremony follows the pattern of a satyananayana puja , as held by Hindus on the occasion of weddings or house initiations. The stories of the gods are told in verse or sung. While in the above-mentioned puja the worship of Vishnu in his benevolent form as Narayana takes center stage, in the Mutiyettu the myth of the goddess Bhadrakali is spread as she fights against the demons.
After Mutiyettu priests have observed several days of nutrition and have completed a morning cleansing ceremony, they first draw a large image ( kalam ) of the cruel goddess Bhadrakali with colored powders on the floor in the kalamezhuthu ceremony . The colors are of vegetable origin, green is ground from dried leaves, white is made from rice flour, charred and grated rice straw makes black, yellow is made from turmeric, and red is made from turmeric, lime and rice flour. The picture shows the angry Kali in predominantly red and black colors on her way to the holy mountain Kailash with the severed head of Darika in her hand, from which blood is dripping down. In her numerous hands (4 to 64) she holds various weapons as her attributes.
According to belief, Bhadrakali resides in a sacred jackfruit tree on the site of some temples. A lamp that burns on the ground next to the tree symbolizes their presence. In a procession, accompanied by singers and musicians with cylinder drums ( chenda ) and small pair basins ( elathalam ), the lamp is brought from the tree or otherwise from its altar figure ( murti ) in the sanctum to the floor picture in order to charge the picture with the energy of the goddess. Now comes the homage, kalam puja . In the thiriyuzhichil ceremony, those involved dance in front of the picture with burning torches in their hands.
The priests then extinguish the torches and chant the verses of invocation called kalam pattu , in which the deity that is now manifested in the picture is described in every physical detail. Pattu means ballad or epic poem, a kalam pattu (also kalamezhuthu pattu or thottam pattu ) is also performed as an independent form of presentation without a subsequent drama to solicit the blessing of Bhadrakali, Ayyappan and other gods. The accompanying orchestra ( thayampaka ) plays around five chenda s, some elathalam s, the double reed instrument kuzhal and the large curved natural trumpet kombu . The singer tells the story of Bhadrakali ( Darika vadham ) by adding a social aspect to the mythological struggle of good against evil, when Darika leads a horde of fiends and Kali is also attacked by smallpox , as it used to be during the hot season increased. The singer is marked accordingly by white dots on his face.
After a few sacrifices, a priest destroys the picture by smudging the colored powder with one of the fresh coconut palm leaves lying on the edge for decoration and distributing the remaining gray pile to the believers as prasadam . Part 1 is over.
Part 2. Drama
After a morning bath, the leading actor asks for the blessing of the goddess Kali. He only wears the freshly washed, white wraparound skirt ( mattu ) that the washer ( veluthedan ) brought him. After he has put on the costume and the headdress - this act is called mutiyettu , his transformation into the deity is complete. Neither in the changing room ( aniyara ) nor outside he is allowed to touch or speak to another person. A total of seven actors appear in the ritual drama: In addition to Bhadrakali, these are Shiva, his mount Nandikeshvara (the bull Nandi , also Koimbidar), the sage Narada , the villains Darika and Danavendra and the comical figure Kuli. The locations change in seven scenes from Mount Kailash down to the place of residence of the Asuras ( asura lokam ) in the lowest of the three worlds ( paathalam ).
Accompanied by the drum orchestra, the oil lamp is lit for the prelude ( purvaranga ). Two helpers bring a curtain, behind which the choir and musicians line up and sing invocation songs. Shiva then appears behind the curtain that hides the lower half of his body up to his hips. He is standing on a high chair, an indication that he is looking down from Mount Kailash. Shiva is accompanied by his mount Nandikeshvara, whose wooden head is fastened over the curtain. The sage Narada now enters the scene, in his hand a palm leaf manuscript ( grantha ) on which the atrocities of Darika are noted, which he brings to Shiva. Shiva agrees that something must be done. To make this need clear, Darika suddenly emerges from behind the curtain, tramples and jumps with shouting in the square and occasionally between the spectators until he positions himself on a high chair, implying that he is lord over all is three worlds.
At the height of Darika's frenzy, Bhadrakali appears in her majestic guise with sword in hand. After a short banter with Darika, Darika leaves the square and the remaining Bhadrakali worships the lamp as a symbol of Shiva. Bhadrakali has become so angry by the first unsuccessful fights that the obsessed actor's headdress is briefly removed so that Bhadrakali can cool down her excitement.
Bhadrakali walks around the temple area, followed by musicians and torchbearers in an impressive procession ( thalappoli ), followed by the believers. After one round, the spectators take their seats again and Bhadrakali is joined by Nandikeshvara and the comical figure Kuli.
As a funny interlude, the drummers alternate with Nandikeshvara, who sings songs about the birth of the lucky elephant god Ganapati . Kuli is the grotesque exaggeration of a simple tribesman who is often depicted with a pregnant belly. In a high voice, much to the delight of the audience and in dialogue with the leading drum player, she utters obscene, ambiguous sayings. With her drooping breasts, she runs through the rows of the audience several times in search of an “infant”, an always male victim from the audience, whom she embraces and tries to “breastfeed” him. Then she hurries back to the performance location, where she makes silly, gaudy attempts to imitate Kali's ritual cleansing and honoring ( puja ) in front of the oil lamp set up in the middle. The drum player insults Kuli and mocks her stupidity and ugliness, he presses her with questions during her supposed cleansing bath, which takes place in front of the audience in an associative way as a peep show. Kuli asks "in the bathroom" for Nirmala (product name of a washing powder), the drum player recommends that she take Vim (a toilet cleaner) and scrape off fungus and itch on her skin with a hemp rope, which is used to tie cows. After the bath, she has to exert herself and hit her hard breasts with a stone in order to obtain milk from it, with which she wants to paste sandalwood powder onto her forehead (the point of a sandal paste mixed with water on the forehead usually closes the cosmetic procedure of an Indian woman). The conversation continues at this level for a long time. Then Kuli performs various dance numbers and vocal interludes in which she parodies Kali, presented in her own inadequacy.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Ravi_Varma_Press_Kali.jpg/170px-Ravi_Varma_Press_Kali.jpg)
At some point the drum player brings the subject to coolies socially unsuitable pregnancy. Kuli is just about to sharpen her sword on her breasts to go into battle with Bhadrakali against the demon. When she compares her body with that of Bhadrakali, she tugs at the annoyed goddess. Kuli admits to being abused by Darika and Danavendra and having become pregnant. This confession further arouses Bhadrakali and leads her to immediately go into the fight against the demons.
Bhadrakali's battle, which has now been fought aggressively and seriously, begins at midnight. It means the climax of the drama and can drag on for several hours with turbulent scenes and lots of war cries. He is accompanied by the wild beats of the drums ( chenda ) and cymbals ( elathalam ) as well as the wind instruments ( kuzhal and kombu ). One scene is called ayudhanottam , " looking into weapons". Here Kali and Darika sharpen their weapons for the upcoming duel. In Mutiyettu, the use of precisely defined gestures ( angika bhinaya , acting with the body) is less important than in the Sanskrit drama Kutiyattam or the Kathakali dance style . The word attam in Kerala means “dance movement” in a stylistically finer form than tullal , which means a lively dance with jumps and rhythmic hops. In the movement style pathinyattam , all characters appear at the same time in the fight scenes, in the ilakiyattam the actor is completely free in his movement patterns , he can turn in a circle or make any jumps. As a sign of the victory of the goddess, the demons have their heads removed. The drama ends with the symbolic chopping off of the heads.
Images of gods
The image of the goddess worshiped in the altar figure ( murti ) in the temple is doubled by the ritual in the floor image ( kalam ), a third representation is the actor with the headdress on ( muti ). The goddess, who is only present in one place, is shown in the course of the ritual is shown several times, its presence intensifies. The question does not arise which of the images shows the correct goddess; all three together have the effect that it moves closer to the physical world from its inaccessible place of activity on the other side and becomes more tangible for the believers. Equipped with costume, make-up and headdress, the actor has vesam ( Sanskrit and Malayalam, “character”, “role”, “mask”), a term that includes social behavior, emotions and spiritual forces in addition to external form. In an iconic relation characteristic of Indian theater , costumes, gestures and voices express this spiritual dimension. There is a system of precisely defined associations between the outer forms of the images and the visionary experience of the deity ( darshan ), whose presence is felt to be real.
The personified powers are female, but they may only be embodied by men, as is prescribed for all rituals from the Brahmanic and generally high-caste environment. Women are ritually unclean in the temple. The male actors are carefully masked with make-up and with breasts placed on the costume as abstractions of the female body. In the drama, female power is brought into one form by means of a double masking of the actor: make-up and costume (together vesam ) as well as headdress ( muti ).
Muti
The headdress of the main character is the essential element of equipment and namesake of the Mutiyettu. The word muti can also mean “hair” or “bundle of rice straw”. Because the energy of the deity is embodied in him, the actor keeps him in a locked, especially revered place in his house. The religious meaning of the muti is based on the wood used beyond a form depicting the deity. The suitable variety of the jackfruit tree ( Artocarpus integrifolia , malayalam varikka plavu ) is considered a magical tree in the Bhagavati cult, statues of gods ( murti ) in the temple and the body of the venerated cylinder drum chenda are made from this wood. For example, in 1991 the administration of the Bhagvati temple Paramekkavu in Thrissur asked what material the dilapidated statue of the gods should be made from. An astrologer was entrusted with a divination ( prasnam ). In contrast to the temple priests, who wanted a prestigious and expensive image of a god made of gold-plated metal, he came to the conclusion that the deity made her image from the wood of the female jackfruit tree (because the fruits hang directly on the trunk like breasts) wanted to have. Furthermore, the deity gave the task that the tree must have very specific properties. Only after several months of intensive search and after the divinity, through the mediation of the fortune teller, had rejected all suggestions since then, could the suitable tree be found.
Jackfruit trees are also associated with the underworld, a magical place full of water where the divine snakes, the naga yakshas and naga yakshis live. They guard the jewels and, if angry, can bring death and ruin to people. In the temple of Pazhur ( Ernakulam district ), a jackfruit tree grows appropriately next to the nagayakshi shrine on the north side of the courtyard. The north direction is associated with menstrual blood (which makes women ritually unclean) and sacrifice. The fearsome goddess Kali watches over life (blood) and death (sacrifice). It hides in the tree, its energy comes to light when the wood is worked and a figure or mask is made from it. The production of such a magical power is a dangerous process, because it disrupts ordinary life, and it can only happen at night. In popular belief, helpful and destructive forces are often closely and ambivalent. Bhadrakali needs the blood of a male demon to calm their anger. In this sense the drama presents a blood sacrifice to the goddess.
The headdress that the performer wears in the Mutiyettu has to be carved from a single block of wood. The elaborate manufacturing process of a certain muti illustrates the religious veneration of these ritual objects. In order to produce the muti in the small town of Adur in the Pathanamthitta district , a scaffolding level was erected high up on the standing tree, on which the sculptor knocked the image out of the trunk for months until it began to wobble by itself and thus gave the sculptor to recognize that it now wanted to be separated from the trunk. So he brought the piece downstairs and gave it to the temple priest.
The same craftsman is also responsible for painting the muti in bright green, red, black and gold colors. The result is a terrifying likeness of the goddess with eyes that will make believers feel stared at. The arched wooden construction is braided with coconut palm leaves ( kuruthola ).
Makeup and costume
Bhadrakali costuming ( vesam ) is an activity that requires the greatest possible attention. It lasts two to three hours and is carried out in a serious atmosphere in the preparation room ( aniyara ). A makeshift shrine was set up there beforehand, consisting of an oil lamp ( vilakku ), a sword ( kadthala ), a coconut and other offerings. The Kali actor takes a seat in front of him and first paints his face with a black paint ( kari ), which consists of charred coconut peel and oil, while he mumbles prayer formulas to the goddess and holds a small mirror in his hand. His assistant, the chuttikkaran, applies the make-up ( chutti ) based on rice flour ( arivamu ) and lime in a process called chutti kuthal . He draws yellow lines of turmeric and white dots that represent smallpox. Black fangs protrude laterally over the red lips. Red thechi flowers ( chrysanthemums ) are glued to the forehead, tip of the nose and chin with the help of rice flour . The two demons are characterized by a red complexion.
Bhradrakali's costume is predominantly red, with a white scarf ( uttariyam ) hanging around the shoulders like Darika's . Several layers of folded white fabric make the skirt expansive. The hoop skirt, which Darika also wears, is called uduthukettu. Danavendra wears a green costume. Bangles and rings on the ankles are usually part of the jewelry of dramatic dancers.
Kuli's face is black with red dots, it should correspond to the rough ritual painting of the forest dwellers in the mountains. She wears a red or mostly black petticoat, as it should be for a spirit ( bhuta ). As a tribesman living in the forest, she is decked out with banana and coconut palm leaves around her hips, and under her pregnant belly is a thick pillow. Her flower chains or strips of paper hang in bundles over her red, drooping breasts. According to her tribal origins, she knows about black magic . Her hair is a frizzy network of leaves and feathers. According to popular belief, coolies ugliness are based on their lower social background, their pregnancy and their black color. With her appearance and her vulgar way of speaking, she represents the counter-image of the always well-groomed, ideal Malayalam woman from the middle class.
The dress of the sage Narada is made of a simple white fabric, his beard is also white and he is holding a palm leaf manuscript in his hands. The Mutiyettu costumes were probably models for those of Kathakali and are accordingly similar.
When the Kali performer is completely made up and costumed, he steps in front of the altar of the goddess, where he is put on the headdress and receives the holy sword. The headdress must not be put on for any other occasion and never without these preparations. In no case must the goddess be angry. Particular care is required at the beginning of the performance. Before Shiva brought Bhadrakali into life with his third eye in order to destroy the demon, the actor performs another homage ( puja ) in front of an oil lamp in the middle of the stage , and only then does the Bhadrakali task into work.
Kali and Kuli
The two female figures, which are very unequal in character and appearance, are separated by their social origins. Both face the same opponents in Darika and Danavendra for different reasons, but use their own means to pursue their goal. All coolies' activities have a parallel relationship to those of their divine example. The holy, high-caste ritual drama finds its literal equivalent in a crude slapstick for the common people. Even the homage to the altarpiece and Kali's obsession mimicked Kuli in its own way. The parodistically imitated behaviors do not undermine Bhadrakali's authority; on the contrary, they emphasize the authenticity and real obsession of the goddess. The more foolish pen rolling around, the more seriously Bhadrakali's dramatic actions are perceived. Everything that Bhadrakali does purposefully and in pure form, Kuli does it wrongly and in a ritually impure way. The virginal, inviolable goddess faces a sexually experienced woman. According to psychoanalytic interpretation, Kuli embodies the unsatisfied sexual desires of the Kali. A divine being emerges in the background, uniting both forms.
While Kali is acting in a mythological drama, Kuli brings up her mistreatment by the two rapists with a socio-political reference in a longer, the only purely improvised scene. This fact forms the ultimate stumbling block for Bhadrakali to take up the determined fight against the demons. The pen articulates the protest of the oppressed women, embedded in their clowning. However, this is only part of a larger model of explaining the world, which is characterized by high-caste male ideas.
literature
- Sarah Lee Caldwell: On Terrifying Mother: The Mudiyettu Ritual Drama of Kerala, South India. University of California Press, Berkeley 1995
- Sarah Caldwell: Kali and Kuli. Female Masquerades in Kerala Ritual Dance . In: David Shulman, Deborah Thiagarajan (eds.): Masked Ritual and Performance in South India. Dance, Healing, and Possession. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 2006, pp. 184-207, ISBN 978-0891480884
- H. Sadasivan Pillai: The uses and functions of rituals in modern Malayalam theater. Their relevance to the ritual concepts in the theaters of Antonin Artaud and Jerzy Grotowski . Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam 1994, Chapter IV. Theater in Ritual, pp. 122-130. ( Online overview of the dissertation and Chapter 4 as PDF )
- Manohar Laxman Varadpande: History of Indian Theater. Loka Ranga. Panorama of Indian Folk Theater. Abhinav Publications, New Delhi 1992
Web links
- Rajeev: Ecological Aspects of Mudiyettu. A presentation. (PDF; 2.5 MB)
- Kunjan Marar Mudiyettu Kalakendra. mudiyettu.webs.com
- Mudiyettu. CyberKerala
- Padma Jayaraj: Mudiyettu. narthaki.com
- Mudiyettu Dance in Kerala . Indian Net Zone
- Mudiyettu, ritual theater and dance drama of Kerala. Youtube video
Individual evidence
- ^ Mudiyettu, ritual theater and dance drama of Kerala. UNESCO
- ↑ Phillip B. Zarrilli: The Ritual Traditions. Introduction . In: Farley P. Richmond, Darius L. Swann, Phillip B. Zarrilli (Eds.): Indian Theater. Traditions of Performance. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1990, pp. 122f
- ↑ Varadpande, pp. 33f
- ^ Prahlada Nataka, Indian Theater. Indian Net Zone
- ^ Terukkuttu, Indian Folk Theater. Indian Net Zone
- ↑ Zarrilli, pp. 126f, 316
- ↑ Varadpande, p. 35; Pillai, pp. 122f
- ↑ Lt. PDF of UNESCO; Caldwell 2006, p. 191: January to April; on the other hand, Varadpande, p. 34: vrischikam in November and December corresponding to the Malayalam calendar month
- ↑ Varadpande, p. 35; Pillai, pp. 123f
- ↑ Varadpande, p. 35
- ↑ Caldwell 2006, pp. 195-199
- ↑ Angikabhinaya, Art of Histronics, Indian Theater. Indian Net Zone
- ↑ Varadpande, pp. 35f
- ↑ Caldwell 2006, pp. 185-191
- ↑ mudiyettu.files.wordpress.com Photo make-up of the goddess
- ↑ Caldwell 2006, p. 195
- ↑ Pillai, pp. 135-137
- ↑ Jeffrey John Kripal: Why the Tantrika is a Hero: Kali in the Psychoanalytic Tradition. In: Rachel Fell McDermott, Jeffrey John Kripal (Eds.): Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West . University of California Press, Berkeley 2003, p. 209, ISBN 978-0520232402
- ↑ Caldwell 2006, pp. 200f