Supermodel Heidi Klum [Images], appearing in the attire of Hindu goddess Kali at a Halloween party recently, has sparked a controversy with netizens seeking explanations over dressing up like a deity.

There was some questioning on Internet, whether it is advisable for anyone to dress up as god of any other religion.

Heidi, who throws party on every Holloween, was dressed a cat last year. The photographs taken at the bash are now being widely circulated on the Internet.

"My husband (Seal) and I were in India last year, so she said, 'why don't you do an Indian Goddess? Like a scary Indian goddess?' And I said OK!"

In a posting on its website, USmagazine.com quoted Heidi as telling reporters that it was actually her assistant's idea.

"So then she Googled around and she found Kali and showed me a picture, and I loved it," she said. "I loved it because she's so mean and killed all these different people and (had) fingers hanging off (her) and little shrunken heads everywhere."

Her husband Seal, who is a singer, was also dressed up in a costume which some postings on Internet say appears to be that of Angulimala ('garland of fingers'), a killer who was converted by the Buddha to a life of faith.

Holloween is celebrated every year on Oct 31, a day on which tradition says the boundary between the living and dead is dissolved and the dead are capable of doing harm to the living.

Children go round the neighbourhoods dressed in costumes of various scary characters and seek candies. "Trick or Treat", they chant when the neighbours open the door and get a few candies.

Image: TV personality/supermodel Heidi Klum shows off her Halloween party costume.
Photograph: Joe Corrigan/AFP/Getty Images