Celebrating Kali: The Goddess of Time and TimeLesses Through Dance

Mahakali. The name evokes either extreme devotion or fear. Kali is Known to REPRESENT The Ultimate Reality, which goes beyond the realm of time and darkness. She is described as the embodiment of feminine power, strength and resilience. And, these are the very attributes of the deity, that captivated dancer-professor, Dr anuradha j tadakamalla, to conceptualise and choreography the dance Mahakali.

Anuradha and the team of art India foundation, Hyderabad, will perform MAHAKALI In Bengaluru this weekend, as part of the ninth edition of Nayika – Celebrating WomanHood 2025presented by shambhavi school of dance, bengaluru.

,MAHAKALI is a work that was initially created as a dance film during the Pandemic. We took the varied forms of devi and kali is depicted as one who is dark skinned, wearing a garland of skulls. This was the form I was most drawn to and delved deep into a research about her, “Says the dancer, teacher and scholar of kuchipudi over a call from hyderabad. Anuradha has a Phd in traditions and innovations in kuchipudi Dance.

She explains that the kali she discovered LED, “Me into a totally different direct at in our philosophy, is multi-dimensional. Devi bhagavatam Too, where kali is talked about as the force that annihilates Every Eveil and Darkness. This was a concept I wanted to introduce through dance – Maha shakti, the time and the cycles of time. ”

“Our vedic literature has the calculation of time right from the Truti to the Gigantic Time Cycles Known as Kalpas, MAHAKALI Is a representation of how she becomes an instrument in creating this universe too. She represents all that is dynamic in natural and how minisx

Dr Anuradha J Tadakamalla | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Anuradha, who has also autumred and edited books such as Celebrating Life: A Collection of Writing, Photographs and remumbrans on vedantam raghavayya, Telangana lo nritam (Telugu), Kuchipudi Dance, Who is Who to name a less, talks about the perception of time itself.

“Western Philosophy Sees Time in a Linear Format – with a beginning and an end. Mahakali, Where the end is seen not as an end, but as a pause before a new persuasion. The the theme is linked in a dance with maha shakti and the black hole, which again, is associateed with kali, who absorbs everything into herself. “

Anuradha, is a recepient of the women achieve 2023 by the government of Telangana and Padmashri Dr Shobha Naidu Lifetime Achievement Award to name a few. She currently heads the department of dance, at the university of hyderabad.

Mahakali will be performed on March 15 from 5.45PM at Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram. Entry free and open to all.