Dakshineswar Kali Temple Kolkata

Dakshineswar Kali Temple Kolkata (Timings, History, Architecture )

Dakshineshwar Kali Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the small hamlet of Dakshineshwar, north of Kolkata, on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. A vacation to Kolkata is frequently considered incomplete without a visit to the Dakshineswar Kali Temple due to its famed beauty and charm. Although the mystic sage and reformer Ramakrishna Paramahansa and his wife Sarada Devi are linked to this temple’s spiritual past, the sociopolitical history of the temple is also fascinating.

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The Dakshineswar Kali Temple was established in 1855 by Bengali Rani Rashmoni and opened to the public just two years before to the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, which is commonly referred to as India’s first war of independence. The temple’s architecture also has a historical feel to it because it was constructed in the Bengal School of Architecture’s traditional “nava-ratna,” or nine spires, form.

History of Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Kolkata

Dakshineshwar, the location of the current temple, was a tiny settlement in the early 1800s, encircled by a thick forest.

A philanthropist and ardent devotee of Goddess Kali, Rani Rashmoni constructed the majestic temple of Dakshineshwar. According to legend, Rani Rashmoni desired to travel to Varanasi as a pilgrim to pray to the mother goddess. In her dream the night before she was to go for Varanasi, the Goddess asked her to construct a temple close to the Ganges and erect a statue there instead of travelling all the way to Varanasi.

Rani got to work planning the construction of a temple right away. After researching a number of potential temple locations, she decided on the 20-acre tract of land by the eastern banks of the Ganges, which included a Muslim cemetery that also had a tortoise-like hump, which was thought to be ideal for worshipping Shakti in Tantra customs.

A European by the name of John Hasty owned another portion of the land, which was known as Saheban Bagicha. When a Hindu temple is built on a place that was once part of another religion, it represents the unification of all religions.

Over the course of eight years, from 1845 to 1855, the massive temple complex was constructed at an estimated cost of INR 9 lakhs, of which INR 2 lakhs were spent on the day of opening. The installation of the gods’ and goddesses’ idols was planned for May 31, 1855, which is considered an auspicious day for Hindus and known as “snana-yatra.” Over 100,000 Brahmins were invited from throughout the nation to participate in the celebrations and get food. The official name of the temple was Sri Sri Jagadishwari Mahakali temple.

Sri Ramakrishna’s older brother, Ramkumar Chattopadhayay, was named the temple’s chief priest. His nephew, Hriday, and younger brother, Ramakrishna, who was then called Gadadhar, helped him. Nevertheless, Ramkumar died a year after the temple was dedicated, leaving young Ramakrishna and his wife Sarada Devi to handle all remaining duties. Sarada Devi resided on the ground level, south of Nahabat (the music chamber), which is now a shrine to her.

Throughout the following three decades of his dedication to the heavenly mother goddess, Ramakrishna was the primary force behind the temple’s enormous fame and the influx of pilgrims. In addition to being a fervent follower of Kali, he also significantly altered Bengal’s socioreligious landscape.

Being a very kind and open-minded person, Rani Rashmoni had always wished for the temple to be accessible to people of all social groups, regardless of their caste, creed, or religion. This custom has persisted to this day, as pilgrims from all walks of life flock to the temple.

Rani Rashmoni died in February 1861, only five years and nine months after the temple’s inauguration, thus she didn’t survive to see much of its splendour. She left a property in Dinajpur, which is now in Bangladesh, as part of her legacy for the upkeep of the temple and temple trust after realising she wouldn’t be around for long. The day after she turned over the legal documents, on February 18, 1861, Rani died.

Architecture of Dakshineswar Kali Temple