Baobabtree

Ah ok. I wasn't aware of that. Ah I see. A lot like Kali's association with the color black. Well, thanks for all the pictures and info Pujari. You've been a really big help here. Edit: By the way, would you happen to know who the goddess is on the black bull you posted a picture of?

Namaste Pujari and Radhe This website seems to identify Kateri with one of the navdurgas (I'm guessing Siddhidatri as she is the only one without a picture of herself below the icon of Kateri at the top). Would any of you be able to verify if this were true or not? If so is the icon of her with lions, also of another goddess then Kateri?

Namaste Pujari. Thanks for the info, and I have come to except that the picture was just of Randal and her shadow image. Do you happen to have any links with information about Kalikambal? Jai Ma! Edit: Also is there any connection between Kalikambal and Tripura Sundari? I've noticed they have very similar iconography.

Welcome and Jai Maa!

Namaste Celina. Meldi is quiet illusive in terms of information about her mythology and worship. I don't know her mantra, but there's a youtube user called aishreekhodiyaar. Google her up, and you should be able to find some videos she has of people singing bhajans to her. If you speak Gujarati you should be able to pick up on what they're singing.

If you are to google Ayyappan you should be able to find a site on the first page called "Lord Ayyapa of Sabarimala, Kerala, India :: by Rtn. Mohanakannan P" click it and go to "The legend" section of the site, and you should be able to find out about his birth and life (I'm afraid I can't post a direct link yet due to my lack os posts on this forum). Edit: I'm guessing someone has probably wirtten about Ayyapa in scriptural format, but it just hasn't gained wide popularity as of yet amongst devotees.

So, he is not mentioned in any official scriptures suddenly he is not real? The lord has descended upon this world thousands of times before, I wouldn't say it is too far fetched to believe that perhaps one of his avatars (or in this case his children) wasn't recognized by most of the Hindu community instantly. Btw folklore doesn't mean some sort of myth of fairytale.

I don't think there's any actual scriptual mention of lord Ayyapa's birth and exploits, just Keralan folklore.

Namaste all. Last night I had an interesting dream where I was walking through a museum of pictures of Mataji whilest being guided through it by an East Indian girl of about 14 years of age or so. I can recall seeing a picture of Chandi-Chamunda that she didn't really speak about then she showed me several pictures of Momai Mataji. The first of these showed a camel gripping a sword (similar to the one Durga has in one of her hands) in its paw and slicing off its mouth and nose. The girl explained to me that according to legend the camel had self sacrificed itself to Durga so that it could be reborn as either the vahana (vechile) of Durga, or as a goddess herself to help kill two demons (can't remember which it was). Then, in the next picture I saw Durga blessing Momai Mataji on top of a camel (in this picture Momai had about as many arms as Durga), and another of her just sitting on top of her camel again (in this picture Durga was not present and she only had four arms). The girl then showed me a picture of a goddess with a pig's head (the name of which I forget), and she told me it was a form Durga assumed after she killed a pig demon, and placed it's head on top of her own (I forget the name of this goddess all together). After this she showed me the back of the museum where I saw a picture of Randal Mataji and another goddess who was supposed to be her sister. Oddly enough her sister looked exactly like most pictures I've seen of Randal Mataji(Having a red head dress and wearing a red and green sari), where as Randal had a browny purple head dress, and wore a completely red sari (I thought that might be her shadow image at first, but I remember the girl telling me she had a name which sounded nothing like Randal Mataji, and Mataji's shadow image is simply called Randal's shadow image). Finally she showed me the last picture in the gallery which was of a murti form of Some godess. She told me the goddess' name was a fusion of both Ammba and Kali's name, but she had forgotten the specific name of that Goddess. The goddess' murti was completely black (except for a red bindi on its head which was surounded by a white ring), had several weapons in it's various arms, a nose ring going through its nostrils, and was seated in a pile of leaves in front of a large tree. Would anyone happen to know of any goddesses that sound similar to the last three I mentioned, or would happen to know of any folklore or tales about Momai Mataji that sound familiar to the one I mentioned? Jai Ma!

I can only hope Mataji watches over her, and has lead her into Moksha. But, may I ask something? Your devotee friend attempted to save her life, by taking a goat's life for Kali, isn't that a bit contradictory? I can understand why some choose to practice animal sacfrices and whatnot, but how is Mataji supposed to benefeit from us sacrifcing a goat to her? I don't think this is some kind of divine punishment from Kali here, nor do I think any sort of puja (animal sacrifice or no animal sacrifice) could have saved her. Only medical attention could do that. And I certainly share your feelings of anger towards such pujaris, who claim that all sicknesses can be healed by devotion, but we also have to understand, that they honestly think such. It's not that they wanted her to die, or wanted to elevate their own status, it's that they sadly thought such was true. You should pray for them, as much as you pray for her, and I certainly will as well. Jai Ma!

I'm not sure if you're still an active member here as this post of yours was posted quiet awhile ago, but yes to adjust or create your own ritual to an extent is alright as long as you follow the basics (chant kali's mantra, sing her bhajans and offer parasad etc). No, it's actually not (unless you're also practicing any form of Hatha or Raja yoga in which case I recommend you practice vegetarianism). However, I personally do not offer any meat to her, and it is not necessary to eat or offer meat when you worship her (she will gladly except offerings of vegetables, grains dairy products and fruits as well).