Kalika Devi

Name of both a shrine in the Shiwalik
Hills (foothills of the Himalayas) and of
its presiding deity. Kalika Devi is one of
the nine Shiwalik goddesses and is
believed to be a form of the goddess
Kali. The temple itself is in the town of
Kalka, on the road between the cities of
Chandigarh and Simla. As is the
case with many of the other Shiwalik
goddesses, the image of Kalika Devi is a
natural stone outcropping. This is considered a self-manifested (svayambhu)
form of the Goddess. Unlike many of the
other Shiwalik goddesses, the Hindi literature on this shrine does not claim
that the temple is one of the Shakti
Pithas, a network of sites sacred to the
Goddess, mythically connected as
places where a body part of the dismembered goddess Sati fell to earth. Instead,
the literature simply commends the
temple for its power and majesty. The
literature does note, however, that local
priests claim it as the place where Sati’s
hair fell to earth. This illustrates both the
influence that pamphlet literature can
have in channeling pilgrim traffic and
the need to tie one’s site into the network of the Shakti Pithas.
The stone outcropping that forms
Kalika Devi’s image is considered to be
her head. According to tradition, Kali
took the form of a beautiful woman and
came to the temple to sing festive songs
during the festival of Navaratri. The
local monarch was so smitten by
her voice and beauty that he asked
her to marry him. Enraged at this insult,
Kali cursed the king to lose his kingdom.
As a further sign of her displeasure,
she caused the temple image to begin
sinking into the earth. At the plea of
an ardent devotee, she allowed the
head of the image to remain visible.
See also pitha.