With the Taantrik tradition gaining importance from the 8th century however, Kali achieved a tremendous growth spurt in importance. She was clearly designated as Prakriti, the active energizing principle of the universe, and Shiva was merely Purusha, the passive male component. So much so that there is a saying that, "Without Shakti (Kali) Shiva is merely a Shava (corpse)." She was declared to be the supreme figure of godhood and all the other gods, including Shiva, were mere props to reflect her glory.

This led to the classic Taantrik representation of a rampant fully armed Kali standing on the supine body of her husband. The symbolism behind that picture is far too elaborate to be dealt with in this article. Particularly the left-hand path of tantra, with its somewhat bizarre rituals, found Kali an ideal goddess. They even devised a heroic form of worship (vira bhavana), which involved confronting the goddess in all her malevolence and refusing to be cowed down. That apparently resulted in liberation of the soul, not to mention the possession of myriad goodies for the rest of your life. Some of the assertions of Kali supremacy did not sit well with rival sects especially the Vaishnavas, and there were frequent skirmishes over turf.