Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

154 KalisiaKalisiaCreator god. Pigmy [Democratic Republic ofCongo and Congo, central Africa]. The guardianof hunters and the jungle forests. Pigmy huntersinvoke the god with special rituals and he deliversdream messages identifying the location of game.KaliyaMinor serpent god. Hindu (Epic and Puranic). Oneof the nagas in the endless conflict between goodand evil, he poisoned the fresh water with hisvenom. The young KRSNA revived all the life whichhad drunk from it and then almost destroyed Kaliyabefore taking the snake as one of his followers. Bytradition he lives in depths of the river Yamuna.Kalki(n) (with white horse)Horse god. Hindu (Vedic, Epic and Puranic).Possibly the tenth avatara of VIŠNU. He rewardsthe good and punishes evil. The counterpart ofthe Buddhist deity MAITREYA. Horses becameassociated with divine kingship in ancient Indiabecause of their speed of movement. Solar deitieswere perceived to ride horses across the sky andhorse sacrifice became highly significant. Kalki isdepicted either anthropomorphically or with thehead of a horse and has four arms. He is attendedby a white horse. Attributes: arrow, conch, prayerwheel, shield and sword. Also Višnuyasas.KalligeneiaObscure birth goddess. Greek. Known only fromritual texts in Athens.KalteshFertility goddess. Ugric (western Siberian). Agoddess concerned with childbirth and the futuredestiny of the infant. Consort of the sky godNun. Her sacred animals include the hare andthe goose and she may be symbolized by a birchtree.KalungaCreator god. Ndonga [northern Namibia, southernAfrica]. Said to take the form of a giant manwho is always partially hidden by clouds and generallyseen only by women intermediaries knownas nelagos who go to converse with him in sacredplaces. He is the father of MUSISI. The god isinvoked at times of warfare and illness, but also asa fertility deity and before making a journey.KAMA(DEVA) (desire)ORIGIN Hindu (Puranic) [India]. God of carnallove.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 1000 BC, andprobably earlier, until present.SYNONYMS Kama; MANMATHA; Ananga.CENTER(S) OF CULT various.ART REFERENCESreliefs.LITERARY SOURCESPuranic texts.stone and metal sculptures;Ramayana epic and variousAs god of love Kamadeva stimulates physicaldesire. The son of VIŠNU and LAKSMI, or of theirreincarnations KRSNA and RUKMINI, in whichinstance he is titled Kama. An alternative legendarybeginning accounts that he rosefrom the heart of the creator god BRAHMA. Hischief ally is the god of spring, Vasanta, his principalconsort the goddess of affection, RATI, and heis attended by a band of nymphs, the APSARAS.Kamadeva is depicted as a youthful god withgreen or red skin, decked with ornaments andflowers, armed with a bow of sugar cane, strung