Kāla (time)

 is a Sanskrit word for "time". It denotes a fixed or right point in time (compare rtu, kairos). It is also the name of a deity, in which sense it is not always distinguishable from  meaning "black".

Monier-Williams's widely-used Sanskrit-English dictionary lists two distinct words with the form .

 1 means "black, of a dark colour, dark-blue ..." and has a feminine form ending in ' – ' – as mentioned in 4-1, 42.

' 2 means "a fixed or right point of time, a space of time, time ... destiny, fate ... death" and has a feminine form (found at the end of compounds) ending in ', as mentioned in the ' '.

According to Monier-Williams, ' 2 is from the verbal root ' "to calculate", while the root of  1 is uncertain, though possibly the same.

As applied to gods and goddesses in works such as the ' ' and the Skanda ', ' 1 and  2 are not readily distinguishable. Thus Wendy Doniger, translating a conversation between and  from the Skanda ', says ' may mean " 'the Great Death' ... or 'the Great Black One' ". And, a Hindu translator of the ' ', renders the feminine compound ' (where ' means "night") as "dark night of periodic dissolution".

As Time personified, destroying all things, Kala is a god of death sometimes identified with Yama. As a traditional Hindu unit of time, one kālá corresponds to the 900th part of a day, or 96 seconds.

In Javanese mythology, Kala is the god of destruction, husband to Durga. Kala is depicted as giant, born of the sperm of Bathara Guru, the kings of gods.

In Borobudur, the gate to the stairs is adorned with a giant head, making the gate look like the open mouth of the giant. Many other gates in Javanese traditional buildings have this kind of ornament. Perhaps the most detailed Kala Face in Java is on the south side of Candi Kalasan.