Kali (/ˈkɑːliː/; Sanskrit: काली, IAST: Kālī, ISO: Kālī), also known as Kalika (Sanskrit: कालिका, Kālikā, ISO: Kālikā), is a Hindu goddess. Kali is the chief of the Mahavidyas, a group of ten Tantric goddesses who each form a different aspect of the mother goddess Parvati.

Kali's earliest appearance is that of a destroyer of evil forces. She is the most powerful form of Shakti and the goddess of one of the four subcategories of the Kulamārga, a category of Tantric Saivism. She destroys the evil in order to protect the innocent. Over time, Kali has been worshipped by devotional movements and tantric sects variously as the Divine Mother, Mother of the Universe