Batara Kala

Batara Kala is a Javanese demon god who rules the underworld with his wife Setesuyara. Kala was born when creator god Batara Gurus chief consort rejected his sexual advances while flying through the heavens. Poorly timed, his semen spilled into the ocean and was eaten by a fish, which gave birth to the god of the underworld.HIs consort, Uma, was later banished to the world, where she raised the ogrelike Batara Kala. Kala had an enormous appetite, which his father took pity on by permitting him to eat any inedible object on Earth. During this divine tastetesting, though, Kala sampled human flesh. Developing a taste for it, Batara Guru allowed his son to eat certain kinds of humans.

Among the kind Kala is permitted to eat are children without siblings, children who have two siblings of the opposite sex, and people who break certain social codes. Ceremonies are carried out on children to stave off the voracious god of the underworld.