Navaratri special: recitation, talk and exhibition

On Tuesday the 20th of October this year falls Vijaya Dashami or Dussehra, the victory of the ferocious Mother Goddess, whose disturbingly awesome form as the Goddess Kali is one of the most well-known of the Hindu pantheon, inspiring many further across the world, from the Rolling Stones to neopagan feminists, though not unproblematically. 

As much as Her frightful iconography has captivated the Western imagination, Her true nature has not been so well understood. Her mythic origin story is detailed within the ancient scripture celebrated in the Navaratri festival which reaches its culmination on this day. 

For this event, Dolorosa de la Cruz and BC present a special event at GalleryX, with Dolorosa de la Cruz presenting her nine original paintings of the Navadurga: aspects of the fierce Divine Feminine worshipped during the nine nights of the festival. 

These paintings were themselves completed on the appropriate nights of Autumn 2023, and BC will give a short talk outlining this festival, its mythology, and the origin of Kali, including a melodic recitation and illuminating translation of the relevant Sanskrit hymns.