Kalighat Kali

Three variations of the Dakshinakali iconography are seen among the watercolour pat paintings: the anthropomorphic deity with four hands standing atop a reclined Shiva, and two versions of the totemic Kalighat temple Kali, presented on her own or housed within the temple. This benevolent form of the goddess holds her right hands in the abhaya and varada mudras, stances that reassure and grant boons to her followers. In her left hands, she holds a sickle and decapacitated asura head. The goddeses' oversized face - modelled after the temple's sculpture - is painted in black, the colour traditionally associated with her. A multicoloured halo adorns the back of her head. It is patterned and has a green, featherlike fringe.