Dakshinakali

According to the Markandeya Purana, Kali manifested from Durga's brow as personified anger during her battle with Raktabija, an asura or demigod who could clone himself from every drop of shed blood that touched the earth. Kali, overpowered with rage, defeated the asura and continued on a path of rampage and destruction that threatened to destroy the world. In order to control her, Shiva hid among the corpses in the battlefield, and as soon as Kali stepped on him, she regained her senses-her tongue hanging loose in embarassment. This story, steeped in patriarchy, is based on an older tantric narrative - an iconograpy of celestial balance where Kali is the unstoppable force, and Shiva the immovable object. Kali's hands point towards each cardinal direction, and her omnipresence is shown through the placement of her feet: the stretched foot behind her is for the past, and the other on Shiva is for the present. The tongue pushing forward from her mouth looks out to the future.