Kali

Kali is a term with several meanings in South Asian culture and modern technology. In Hinduism, Kali is a major goddess associated with time, change, and empowerment. She is regarded as a fierce form of the goddess Shakti, often depicted with dark skin, multiple arms, and a necklace of severed heads, sometimes standing on the god Shiva. Her iconography and attributes vary by region; she is worshiped primarily in Bengal and Nepal, with Kali Puja and Durga Puja as major festivals.

Kali also refers to geographical features named after the goddess. Notably, the Kali Gandaki River in Nepal is a major river, and the Kali River forms part of the Nepal–India border. These names reflect the cultural influence of the goddess in the region.

Kali is also the name of a Linux distribution. Kali Linux is a Debian-based operating system designed for penetration testing, digital forensics, and security research. It was developed and maintained by Offensive Security and first released in 2014 as a successor to BackTrack. It ships with a large collection of security tools and supports live boot from USB drives and virtualization.

The etymology of Kali derives from Sanskrit kalā or kāla, meaning "black" or "time," and the name is closely associated with the goddess’s aspects as time, transformation, and destruction. In contemporary usage, Kali can refer to the deity, places named after her, or the security-focused Linux distribution, depending on the context.