The goddess immediately set out to do battle with this dreaded demon in the form of Kali or "the Black One". Her eyes were red, her complexion was dark, her features gaunt, her hair unbound, and her teeth sharp like fangs. As the eight-armed Goddess rode into the battleground on her lion, Raktabija experienced fear for the first time in his demonic heart. Kali ordered the gods to attack Raktabija. She then spread her tongue to cover the battlefield preventing even a single drop of Raktabija's blood from falling on the group. Thus, she prevented Raktabija from reproducing himself and the gods were able to slay the demon. Another form of the legend says that Kali pierced Raktabija with a spear, and at once stuck her lips to the wound to drink all the blood as it gushed out of the body, thus preventing Raktabija from reproducing himself.
Drunk on Raktabija's blood, Kali ran across the cosmos killing anyone who dared cross her path. She adorned herself with the heads, limbs and entrails of her victim. The gods were witnessing the balance of the universe being shattered. As a last resort they had to rouse Shiva from his meditation. To pacify her, Shiva threw himself under her feet. This stopped the goddess. She calmed down, embraced her husband, shed her ferocious form to became Gauri, "the Fair one".
Kalighat, the most popular temple dedicated to the Goddess Kali, is located in the city of Calcutta on the banks of the river Hooghly, an offshoot of the river Ganga. The name Calcutta is said to have been derived from the word Kalighat. Kalighat is regarded as one of the 52 Shakti Peethams, where the various parts of Sati's body are said to have fallen, after she immolated herself in the sacrificial fire. Kalighat represents the site where the toes of her right foot fell.
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