Goddess Kaalratri include - the Lalita sahasranama storam (found in the Brahmanda Purana) and Lakshmi sahasranama stotram. Etymology The first part of the word kalaratri is kala. Kala primarily means time but also means black in honour of being the first creation before light itself. This is a masculine noun in Sanskrit. Time, as perceived by Vedic seers, is where everything takes place; the framework on which all creation unfolds. Vedic seers therefore conceived of kala as a powerful deity as much as a concept. This then gave rise to the Vedic image of the deified Kala as devourer of all things, in the sense that time devours all. Kaalratri can also mean the one who is the death of time. In the Mahanirvana Tantra, during the dissolution of the universe, Kala (time) devours the universe and is himself, engulfed by his spouse, the supreme creative force, Kali. Kālī is the feminine form of kālam (black, dark coloured) and refers to her being the entity beyond time. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः । तस्य पत्नीति - काली । kālaḥ śivaḥ । tasya patnīti kālī - "Shiva is Kāla, thus, his wife is Kāli" The second part of the word kalaratri, is ratri and its origins can be traced to the oldest of Vedas, the Rig Veda. According to the Ratrisukta of the Rig Veda, sage Kushika while absorbed in meditation realised the enveloping power of darkness and thus invoked Ratri (night) as an all-powerful goddess. Thus, the darkness after sunset became deified and was invoked by sages to deliver mortals from fears and worldly bondage. Each period of the night, according to Tantric tradition, is under the sway of a particular terrifying goddess who grants a particular desire to the aspirant. The word kalaratriin Tantra refers to the darkness of night, a state normally frightening to ordinary individuals but considered beneficial to worshippers of the Goddess. In latter times, Ratridevi (Goddess Ratri' or 'Goddess of the Night) came to be identified with a variety of goddesses - for example in the Atharva Veda, where Ratridevi is called Durga. Black references primal darkness before creation and also darkness of ignorance. Hence this form of goddess is considered as one who destroys the darkness of ignorance. Invoking Goddess Kaalratri therefore empowers the devotee with the devouring quality of kala (time) and the all-consuming nature of ratri (night) -