A Hindu goddess of death, Kali appears as various characters go to her temple throughout the play. Devadatta sacrifices his head to her, and Kali interrupts Padmini as she tries to kill herself as well. Kali revives Devadatta and Kapila, but only after Padmini has accidentally swapped their heads. When Hayavadana travels to her temple to ask her to make him a complete man, she instead makes him a complete horse. She demonstrates the indifference of the gods as well as their ability to sow chaos just as easily as they create order.
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Kali Character Timeline in Hayavadana
The timeline below shows where the character Kali appears in Hayavadana. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...but the Bhagavata thinks of one more temple he might try: that of the goddess Kali. He says that thousands of people used to flock to her temple, but people stopped...
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...of the various sites around them, including the temple of Rudra and the temple of Kali.
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...Remembering his vow to sacrifice his arms and head, Devadatta goes off to temple of Kali. He shouts a short, anguished prayer in which he says that his head will be...
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...worry about Devadatta when they cannot find him, and so Kapila follows his footprints to Kali’s temple. When he discovers Devadatta’s body, he is filled with anguish at his friend’s death,...
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...men in the afterlife as well and picks up a sword to kill herself, but Kali stops her. Kali reveals her annoyance that the men didn’t care about sacrificing their heads...
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When Kali revives Devadatta and Kapila, they (along with Padmini) quickly realize that something is wrong. Padmini...
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Act 2
...with a horse body as well as a horse head. He explains that he asked Kali to make him complete, but she cut off his request and made him a complete...
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