Kali’s Garland of Skulls – The Fifty Letters of Creation

 

One of the most striking features of Kali’s image is the garland of human skulls hanging around her neck. At Dakshineswar, this garland is often difficult to see because it is covered with fresh flowers. 

The skulls are not described simply as an image of death. Harding explains that the garland contains fifty skulls, representing the fifty letters of the alphabet. These letters are connected with manifested sound, from which creation evolved.

Kali is therefore also associated with sound. Harding describes Kali as the Sound through which the universe was created, with knowledge contained within it. Names and forms may change, but sound remains. 

In ordinary human experience, only the gross and audible part of this sound is perceived. Harding writes that yogis may also hear a hidden, transcendental sound. In this way, the garland of skulls and the idea of sound belong to the same symbolism: the fifty letters represent manifested sound, while Kali herself is described as the Sound connected with creation.

The image of Kali therefore contains a connection between death and creation. The skulls around her neck recall human mortality, while at the same time they represent the letters through which manifested sound gives rise to creation. In Kali’s form, these two aspects appear together.

Source & Note

This article is based on Elizabeth U. Harding’s Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar (Nicolas-Hays, 1993). The material has been edited and adapted for this publication.

Picture:

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