Power Of Kali And The Art Of Taking Offence

From Kali to the Prophet, we are all the same in matters of religion. Welcome to a nation of 'hurt sentiments'

- Sneha Bhura

Five years ago, Samyukta Madhu was starting to be popular on the internet. The Brooklyn-based digital artist was concerned with the existential highs and lows of a single, brown woman. Blending Indian traditions with a pop-punk aesthetic, her women were bold and sharp in electric pink and effervescent green. She was in her early 20s, and she drew Kali and other blue-skinned goddesses as representatives of the contemporary Indian woman.

“My first viral artwork was a picture of a woman looking into a bathroom mirror and seeing the goddess Kali looking back at her,” says Madhu, who now lives in Berlin as a freelance artist. “This image sent waves around the internet. I went from 800 to 20,000 followers overnight. People even got it tattooed. I felt so powerful. I felt invincible, validated, recognised, cherished. In a way, Kali had given me this power.”

With accolades, came a steady trickle of hate messages. Her parents kept warning her not to mess with religion. Eventually, Madhu stopped using Kali in her work. “Now I’m sitting in my apartment in Berlin, and it’s a lot harder for me to be an artist,” she says. “Kali was the source of all my power; my ideas would flow so easily when I could use her. I ended up inadvertently creating my own goddess—a black, bald, sightless figure with six arms. A goddess that represents the void.… I applaud Leena Manimekalai for her strength and resilience.”