Kali Klum

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heidiklumaskali.jpg

Thanks to Alex Carnevale at Gawker, I saw this today. Heidi Klum as Kali for her Halloween party.

What think you, desis? My initial thought was that I should be offended. Then I thought, why? Is that reasonable? People dress up as versions of evil a range of characters, including ones with religious connotations, every year on Halloween. And this Kali is a pretty awesome costume. Klum certainly pulls it off with panache. Maybe that’s easier if you’re twelve feet tall and a model. She’s got all the details–look at what’s around her neck and waist!

If you click on the picture, you’ll see a gallery that includes her husband, Seal. (Gallery from ohnotheydidn’t.)

UPDATED: Previous Sepia coverage of Halloween.

Here and here.

129 thoughts on “Kali Klum”

  1. People should not get offended from the Kali Klum

    But then when folks dress up as the prophet mohammad, islamic folks in the millions go crazy and burn and kill crazzy.

    I dont get it ?? anyone care to explain ? The hypocrisy ?

  2. See GR, it’s alot like ISO compliance. With the progressives and cultural relatavists it’s about consistency in following process and not about results.

    I dont get it ?? anyone care to explain ? The hypocrisy ?

  3. i’m a Kali ‘fan’, and not offended at all by this. Why should I? kayastha_lady, though, is another matter 🙂

    Kali is a concept, given form as an idol. Concepts don’t do evil things – people do.

  5. ‘men’ need license to commit evil? 🙂

    i know what you mean, but the same logic would apply to pretty much all religion.

    from nov 4th, let’s appeal to our higher motivations 😉

  6. by the way, VV – deeply appreciate the edit – rather, the consideration behind it.

    may there be more civilized discourse.

  7. Not offended, because she did it well. There are many times when representation of cultures that are not one’s own are done poorly, which is why, after Jindal was elected governor here in Louisiana, I asked one of my Mardi Gras parading krewes to put the kaibosh on brownface and the capitol building in Baton Rouge decorated as the Taj Mahal as I foresaw that it could go horribly wrong. Dress-up, satire and send-ups are three very different things, and drunk/carousing folks are no subscribers to subtlety.

    Madhurakali is our kula thaivam (family god). It was explained to us that Kali is not evil, destruction or death, but a representation/manifestation of vengeance, wrath and the responsibility of going on the war path towards the consumption of evil. She is nothing but an aspect, just like Rama is an aspect of dharma or Saraswati is education and literacy manifest. For the record, we are active Kali/Durga/Shakti/Rudra worshippers and sacrifice nothing but time and effort in prostration and long trips to obscure temples in obscure South Indian villages. Nowhere in the puranas or prayers that we read does it say that Kali requires blood/human sacrifice. Again, context is more important than concept; ever consider that, in some cultures/tribes/sects which already practised sacrifice, Kali was simply subsumed?

  8. This all comes down to race. If Heidi was an Indian-American, or Indian, no one would care. But because she’s white it’s automatically assumed that she is making fun of the religion because as a white person, she can’t possibly know anything substantial about Hinduism. The word “evil” has a different meaning in Hinduism. Hinduism teaches us that all are one, not the dichotomous Christian idea of either you’re in heaven, or you’re in hell. It’s simply the opposite manifestation of good and the sacred texts don’t assign it a value judgement.

  9. 43 · Digital Cabinet said

    The question would be what would her reaction be if say one of the party attendees had come as a Nazi Kamp Kommandant? An Islamic Suicide Bomber? An aborted foetus?

    Great analogy! Finally, somebody has the courage to point out that Kali is as offensive as a Nazi camp Kommandant, or an Islamic suicide bomber.

  10. Well I suppose admins deleted a comment by somebody that this entire post is absolutely ridiculous…actually I would differ with that commenter because if not same but similar ridiculousness (questionable adjective maybe) folks encounter at workplace and one sometimes wonders what should be ones response.

  11. As for Kali kissing, well, she’s the consort of Shiva so I imagine at some point she’s kissed him

    Why, was Seal dressed as Shiva?

  12. 77 · Saraswati Palin said

    What’s offensive about Kali?

    I think (a) human/child sacrifices ritual (b) very agressive unlike indian women/victorian ladies are expected to behave in public (c) flirting with shiva who is already married to parvathi. any othercCause célèbre ?

  13. 77 · Saraswati Palin said

    What’s offensive about Kali?

    Hey, I was just admiring the genius comparison that really put the God in Godwin.

  14. 58 · black goddess said

    The brahmins must have made it all up.

    Let’s see what Wikipedia says: “She was worshipped initially by tribals and low-caste Hindus, in “wild places”. An architectural work dating between the sixth to eighth century prescribes her temples be built near cremation grounds or houses of low-caste people”

  15. 69 · black goddess said

    but the same logic would apply to pretty much all religion.
    Hinduism is the only extant religion that practices human sacrifice. The evil insanity went on for millenia until a foreign occupying power, the British colonial rulers of India, made it illegal and forced the sacrificers to go underground. Even today countless innocent children are sacrificed illegally to Kali. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501020729-322673,00.html

    Did you actually bother to read that link before sending it? The parts where it aid “human sacrifice has always been an anomaly” and “the mystique of ritual killing is so powerful that even those who actually don’t perform it claim to do so?”

    I would really like to see some hard evidence of any systemic process of killing grown kids. I do hope you’re not naive enough to think that the British were above making crap up to justify their dominion over India.

    The Thuggee cult worshipped Kali AND they killed people (for money). They did so in a ritualized fashion, but everything in India gets done in a ritualized fashion. I don’t see how it’s any different from run of the mill banditry just because the bandits happen to have a spiritual side.

  16. The theme of the costumes is scary. Not evil. Kali is scary but not evil. So we can console ourselves. A long-haired white man pinned to a board is also potentially scary but I doubt if many would risk it.

  17. – Does Densensitization=not offended=Liberation ?

    Thanks, Demi Moore–yes, that is what, roughly speaking, I meant. At least if you want to interact with your friends and family as such, and interact with others out of self-interest–that is, to make $$ (I don’t mean this to sound so crass–after all, it’s the basis of most happy lives, pace Tolstoy). That’s why I said “Naan yarendru yennakku theriyum”–(loosely) translated, “I know who I am”–if one does, one doesn’t need to freak out so much at others’ perceptions of one, so long as the others are willing to–errr–deal (meant figuratively and literally).

  18. 17 · Anil said

    if someone had dressed up as Muhammad…would it have been as “cool” ?

    I agree. Hinduism should aspire to Islam’s current manifestation as the ideal. Clearly, Islam has earned so much respect, adoration and understand in the West that we must all be envious of it, and emulate its behavior.

  19. From Wikipedia:

    KālÄ« is the feminine of kāla “black, dark coloured” (per Panini 4.1.42). It appears as the name of a form of Durga in Mahabharata 4.195, and as the name of an evil female spirit in Harivamsa 11552.

  20. 38 · banerjee said

    I’ve seen people dressed up as Kali in India too. The major difference, that I can see, is that the Indian dresser-ups would paint their tongues blood red and stick them out. And, the jewelry was less intense and the heads less realistic.

    As a kid I remember watching PachaiKali (Green Kali) and PavalaKali (Red Kali) parading the streets of Thanjavur all day long before doing a duel in the evening. PachaiKali Aatam and PavaliKali Aatam involved a huge costume (~ 8 to 10 feet tall) that was usually ‘worn’ by men and then danced. One more folk art form that is being preserved.

    If ‘evil’ characters is what people are looking for in costumes, there are hundreds of such characters in Indian tradition from all kinds of Asuras (Narakaasura being one, who was vanquished as being the reason for Deepavali in Tamil Nadu), Rakshasas, Peis, Pisaasu (Kollivaai-[fire in the mouth] Pisaasu being especially fearsome), Bhoothams, Poochaandis and so forth.

  21. Far from ancient barbarisms that refuse to die, sacrifice and sorcery are making a comeback. Sociologists explain the millions who now throng the two main Kali centers in eastern India, at Kamakhya and Tarapith, as what happens when the rat race that is India’s future meets the superstitions of its past.

    LOL–I assume you’re joking–yeah, whatever crap you can describe is going on in (a) the world and (b) South Asia, given that the latter is over 1/5 of the freaking world–so–what’s your point? If it’s that my family has anything to do with this, then, well–you’re too crazy to even be worth the sand beneath my sandals–sorry. . . .

  24. At Dakshinkali, meanwhile, some devotees don’t wait to return home to dine on the dead meat. Instead, they picnic in the forest next to the shrine, roasting their meals on campfires while the slitting and hacking continues below amid clanging of bells and shouts of prayer.

    LOL–definitely outside the range of my parents’ practice, but–so what–what is the point, here? You obviously think you’re baiting someone, but, really, who gives a damn about these fringe practices–apparently, you do–so, fine–go care about them–most people will carry on with their normal stuff, and not care. . . .

  26. Although dressup as a Hindu Goddess is ok by me, I’m not ok with the hypocrisy. First of all, the fangs are out of place, and do not belong. Kali is not evil or a demonic figure, so why portray her as such? Secondly, yesterday’s news said a New Jersey school boy was sent home for dressing up as Jesus. Hmm….so obviously, some people were offended. All religions should have the same treatment. I agree with the one commenter, would German Heidi be comfortable if someone went to her party with the Nazi (not Hindu:-) swastika? I think not.

  27. It’s my party and I’ll slay if I want to, slay if I want to…it’s my party. I want the shoes!

  28. 88 · black goddess said

    KālÄ« is the feminine of kāla “black, dark coloured” (per Panini 4.1.42). It appears as the name of a form of Durga in Mahabharata 4.195, and as the name of an evil female spirit in Harivamsa 11552
    Kali traditions there are some pretty dark practices
    I think (a) human/child sacrifices ritual (b) very agressive unlike indian women/victorian ladies are expected to behave in public (c) flirting with shiva who is already married to parvathi. any othercCause célèbre ? Kali IS non-other than Parvati. Read your Hindu epics/scriptures.

    Maybe because Kali has got the blues since Shiva is flirting with Parvathi leaving her all alone ?

  31. 94 · rob said

    At Dakshinkali, meanwhile, some devotees don’t wait to return home to dine on the dead meat. Instead, they picnic in the forest next to the shrine, roasting their meals on campfires while the slitting and hacking continues below amid clanging of bells and shouts of prayer.
    LOL–definitely outside the range of my parents’ practice, but–so what–what is the point, here? You obviously think you’re baiting someone, but, really, who gives a damn about these fringe practices–apparently, you do–so, fine–go care about them–most people will carry on with their normal stuff, and not care. . . .

    Roasting meat on a campfire is a fringe practice? Just because the article’s writer is one of those holier than thou types of vegetarians and feels like describing the butchery of an animal in the most graphic way possible doesn’t mean it is at all barbaric or “fringe.”

    Really, if you want to see barbarism towards animals then temple sacrifices are the wrong place to look. You might want to start here: http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=factory%20farms&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

  32. That “fringe” lady with the purse in the photograph behind Kali. Is she Parvathi ? 😉

  35. i think she did a pretty good job.

    re hindu gods not being a ‘costume’ – i studied bharata natyam for over 10 years, and dressing up as a hindu deity was a significant part of my experience as a dancer. more so, this is a pretty big part of culture among hindus – e.g. classical dance, ram leela, street artistes etc. – they all involve humans dressing up represent various deities. i’m not sure that this is that much different. i think hk’s intent is rather benign (and she also does not strike me, from what little i’ve read of her, as being a culturally ignorant person) so she’s prob. one of the ‘better’ celebrities to choose and pull off a costume such as this.

  37. By Swami Chetanananda

    Originally published in the 1996 Kali Mandir Puja Program

    A non-Christian who is unfamiliar with Jesus becomes horrified when he sees Christians worshipping a portrait of an image of a person hanging on a cross, bleeding, in pain and agony. Similarly, a Christian who is unfamiliar with the Hindu Goddess Kali thinks Her image as dreadful and obnoxious. Ignorance is the mother of all evil. It creates misunderstanding, hatred, intolerance, and many other problems of life. So it is not wise to judge another’s tradition. It is better to study and try to understand it with sincerity and respect.

  39. There is a huge amount of literature in Bengal on Kali. I have given below a poem by the poet Ramprasad.

       Who is there that can understand what Mother Kali is?
   Even the six Darshanas are powerless to reveal Her.
   It is She, the scriptures say, that is the Inner Self
   of the yogis; who in Self discovers all his joys:
   She, that of Her own sweet will, inhabits every living being.

   The macrocosm and microcosm rest in the Mother's womb;
   Now do you see how vast it is? In the Muladhara
   the yogi meditates on Her, and in the Sahasrara:
   who but Shiva has beheld Her as She really is?
   Within the lotus wilderness She Sports beside Her Mate, the Swan.

   When man aspires to understand Her, Ramprasad must smile;
   To think of knowing Her, he says, is quite laughable
   As to imagine one can swim across the boundless sea.
   But while my mind has understood, alas! my heart has not:
   Though but a dwarf, it still would strive to make a captive of the 
   moon.
  41. Earrings: Images of two little babies hang from Her ears; this means that She favors childlike devotees

    Or it represents baby sacrifices. (just kidding)

  42. My parents dressed me up as Krishna for a Diwali performance once and no one was offended.

    Do you have to be a Hindu to dress up as a God in order to make it non-offensive?

    I applaud Heidi for her creativity– the costume is gorgeous.

  46. Some idiot Zed keeps acting as the spokesman for Hindus and makes us all look silly with this idiotic rantings. Now he is protesting this(which he is free to do so on an individual basis). Maybe some of us should start a Hindu organization just to protest other Hindu “organizations” that are outraged over trivial crap.

    BTW, I like the costume. And for those quibbling about inaccuracies, keep in mind, Hindu god representations have a variety owing to new elements brought up by people from different regions or a different time.

  49. It is not so much the costume as Heidi Klum’s insensitive remark on Ma Kali. It is not a nice thing to call the God of another religion mean.Otherwise it doesn’t matter what a highly paid clothes hanger says or does.

  50. this idiotic rantings.

    !?

    Lets see, in the excerpt in the link Zed hadn’t called for Klum death, hadn’t called for a boycott against her or her employers, hadn’t led any protests against her — all responses we have seen occur regularly when this sort of thing happens. In fact going over the comments once more I notice that Zed hadn’t even insulted her.

    The tone of Zed’s comment is polite. The content is entirely in line with mainstream thoughts on what is appropriate for Halloween — see point 4 of this article on Halloween costumes

    Zed’s views may not be the same as yours. This is not a rant. If you want to look for a rant look for comments that delve in personal insults and are unjustifiably intolerant of the expression of differing opinions. They are pretty easy to find. Here is a pretty good example for instance.

    Personally speaking I was not particularly offended by Heidi Klum’s costume, I just did not care one way or the other*1. But I am amazed at the vitriol spewed here on Kali, and on anyone who was not not tickled pink by Heidi’s costume.

    (*1 I admit though, that if I had seen Klum in person, I would have been shocked, and would have probably told her to take off the Kali costume. A sentiment, I apparently share with others)