Dakshineswar Kali Temple or Dakshineswar Kalibari is a Hindu temple Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River (branch of Ganga), in Dakshineswar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, a form of Parashakti Adya Kali, also known as Adishakti Kalika. The temple was built in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni, a Zamindar, philanthropist, social reformer and a devotee of Kali Maa. She along with Ishwar Chandara Vidyasagar started the noble reform of widow remarriage, which later became the law. The temple is known for its association with Ramakrishna and Ma Sarada Devi, mystics of 19th century Bengal.
In the year 1847, Rani Rashmoni prepared to go on a long pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu city of Kashi to express her devotion to the Divine Mother. Rani was to travel in twenty-four boats, carrying relatives, servants, and luggage. According to the local people, the night before the pilgrimage began, Rani Rashmoni had a vision of the Divine Mother goddess Kali in a dream who asked Rashmoni to install her statue and build a beautiful temple on the banks of the Hoogly river , instead of attempting to come to Kashi all the way from Kolkata.
Rani Rashmoni acquired land in the village of Dakshineswar. The large temple complex was built between 1847 and 1855. 20-acre (81,000 m2) plot was bought from an Englishman, Jake Hastie, which was then popularly known as Saheban Bagicha and partly old Muslim burial ground shaped like a tortoise, considered befitting for the worship of Shakti according to Tantric traditions. it took eight years and Rs. 9 lakhs to complete the construction. The idol of Goddess Kali was installed on the Snana Yatra day on 31 May 1855 amid festivities at the temple formerly known as Sri Sri Jagadishwari Kali, with Ramkumar Chhattopadhyay as the head priest. Soon his younger brother Gadai or Gadadhar (later known as Ramakrishna) moved in and so did his nephew Hriday to assist him. In 1856, Ramkumar Chattopadhyay died, and the position of head priest was given to Ramakrishna.
The main temple was inspired by Navaratna style Radhakanta temple in Tollygunge, built by Babu Ramnath Mondal of Bawali Raj family. The temple compound, apart from the nine-spired main temple, contains a large courtyard surrounding the temple, with rooms along the boundary walls.
Rani Rashmoni lived for only five years and nine months after the inauguration of the temple. She fell seriously ill in 1861. Realizing that her death was near, she handed over the property she had purchased in Dinajpur (now in Bangladesh) as a legacy for the maintenance of the temple to the temple trust on 18th February, 1861 and died on the next day. Rani Rashmoni wished that pilgrims of all casts and religions could offer prayers at the temple. Her dreams were fulfilled since irrespective of religion and castes Dakshineswar is thronged by millions of devotees and admired for its peaceful ambiance.
The garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) houses the idol of goddess Kali, known as Bhavatarini, standing on the chest of Lord Shiva, and both the idols are placed on a thousand-petaled lotus throne made of silver.
The main temple is built in an area of around 46 Square feet and stands on a high platform that has a flight of stairs thereby giving the temple the height of over 100 feet (30m). There is a narrowly covered verandah that serves as an audience chamber. Additionally, there is also a spacious Natmandir built right in front of the temple.
Kali is the feminine form of Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) and is the consort of Shiva. Kali’s two of the four hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The sword signifies divine knowledge and the human head signifies human ego which must be slain by divine knowledge in order to attain salvation (moksha). The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means anyone worshipping her with true devotion will be saved as she will protect them throughout. This form of Kali stands on the calm and prostrate Lord Shiva, usually with her right foot forward, a symbol of the popular dakṣiṇācāra (“right-hand path”) also known as Dakshina Kali. While the Goddess Shakti represents the energy, Lord Shiva denotes consciousness. The union of Shakti and Shiva i.e., energy and consciousness create the material world.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa says in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – (page 271 – 2):
‘Whatever you perceive in the universe is the outcome of the union of Purusha and Prakriti. Take the image of Shiva and Kali. Kali stands on the bosom of Shiva; Shiva lies under Her feet like a corpse; Kali looks at Shiva. All this denotes the union of Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is inactive; therefore Shiva lies on the ground like a corpse. Prakriti performs all Her activities in conjunction with Purusha. Thus, She creates, preserves, and destroys.’
Kali is one of the ten forms of Shakti known as Dasa Mahavidya. The Dasa Mahavidyas are: Kālī, Bagalāmukhī, Chinnamastā, Bhuvaneśvarī, Mātaṃgī, Ṣodaśī, Dhūmāvatī, Tripurasundarī, Tārā, and Bhairavī. When Sati, the consort of Lord Shiva wanted to attend her father Daksha Prajapati’s yagna Shiva advised her not to go as her father did not extend any invitation to attend the yagna. Sati got annoyed with Shiva for preventing her from attending the yagna and assumes 10 different forms known as dasa mahavidyas.
Twelve Shiva temples at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple
Close to the main temple are the row of twelve identical Shiva temples built facing the east in the typical aat-chala (a gabled roof with an eight sided pyramid structured roof or literally the eight faces of the roof) Bengal architecture, at the ghat on the Hooghly river. The 12 Shiva temples were constructed keeping 12 jyotirlingas in mind. It is here in these Shiva temples that Sri Ramakrishnan Paramhansa used to meditate and is believed to have reached enlightenment. To the North east of the Temple Complex is the Vishnu Temple or the Radha Kanta Temple. The Lord Krishna idol that resides in the Vishnu temple is 21 and a half inch and the idol of Radha is of 16 inches. There is also a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni here.
There is a pond to the east of the temple called ‘Gaji Pukur’. To the north-east of the pond is ‘Gaji Tala’, the place where Ramakrishna explored Islam. Rani Rashmoni did not disturb Gaji Tala while constructing the temple as she felt that people from both faiths might like to offer their prayers. Gaji Tala is maintained by Debottar Estate, under whose management the Dakshineswar Kali temple too falls.
Towards the north of Ganga, very close to Gaji Tala, Sri Ramakrishna resided on the ground floor of Kuthi Bari. This building was originally built by Lord Hastings, and now converted into a police camp that takes care of the safety of the tourists.
Dakshineswar temple complex houses two Nahabat Khanas, one at the southern garden which remains closed permanently and the second is towards the west of Kuthi Bari and north of Kali Temple. Sarada Devi stayed at south of Nahabat (the music room) on the ground floor, which is now a shrine dedicated to her. Chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the twelve Shiva temples, is where Ramakrishna and Maa Sarada spent a considerable part of their lives.
An assortment of musical instruments was played during ancient time at Nahabat Khana however; the only instruments that are played now are Dhak, Dhol and few others during the aarti ceremony.
To the north-west corner of the temple premises is the room where Sri Ramakrishna used to reside. Ramakrishna lived here for 14 years. He had shifted here from Kuthi Bari after the demise of his nephew and never went back to stay in Kuthi Bari. Hence, the room came to be known as Room of Ramakrishna. Various artefacts used by Sri Ramakrishna are kept as exhibits here till date.
The Bakul Tala Ghat is close to Nahabat Khana where Sri Sarada Maa used to take her bath. There used to be a Bakula tree here by the ghat and hence the ghat’s name. It is this place where Ramakrishna’s guru, Bhairavi Bramhani Yogeshwari Devi made him a disciple of ‘Tantra Sadhana’.
To the north of Bakul Tala, there is a wide space called Panchvati. Towards the south of Panchvati under Sri Ramakrishna’s guidance, 5 trees were planted. These are- Banyan, Peepal, Neem, Awla and Wood apple. It is here at Panchvati that Sri Ramakrishna took Sanyas according to Vedic rites under the careful tutelage of great sage Totapuri and spent 12 years of sadhana. The hut where sadhana was performed was later rebuilt as ‘Shanti Kuthi’ and a Shiva temple was built close to it.
On 16th September 1884, Vivekananda requested Ramakrishna to pray Maa Kali on his behalf to get his family relieved of financial difficulties. At that time Vivekananda’s family was experiencing financial difficulties as his father Vishwanath Dutta, a lawyer passed away suddenly and Vivekananda then a 20-year-old boy was finding it very difficult to continue his studies. Ramakrishna advised Vivekananda to pray directly Maa Kali for the financial welfare of his family. Vivekananda goes to the Dakshineswar Kali mandir but instead prays, “Mother, I want nothing but knowledge and devotion!”. This happens continuously for three times and all the three times Vivekananda prays for knowledge and devotion but not for the financial welfare of his family. Ramakrishna was pleased to learn that his disciple has deep spiritual inclination and predicted that Narendra’s (original name of Swami Vivekananda) family would never experience lack of essentials things in life.
According to Vivekananda’s biographer B. R. Kishore, “This incident added a new dimension to Narendra’s devotion and knowledge. Till now, he had been against image-worship. He had refused to accept the Divine Mother. But now he had become an ardent devotee of the Mother.”
Swami Vivekananda wrote the poem “ Kali the Mother” on 24 September 1898 when he was staying in Kashmir, on a houseboat, on Dal Lake in Srinagar. This poem influenced Indian freedom fighters Subhas Chandra Bose and Sri Aurobindo. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan said that the poem gives “articulation and voice to that eternal spirit of India”.
Some of the festivals celebrated at Dakshineswar Kali Temple are:
- Kalpataru one of the holiest of festivals is celebrated at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple on the first day of the English calendar i.e., 1st January. Followers of Sri Ramkrishna attend this festival with much enthusiasm.
- Navaratri is celebrated at Dakshineswar Kali Temple with grandeur for nine days and nine nights.
- The Dusshera sees the celebration of Goddess Saraswati who showers knowledge and wisdom to her worshipers.
- On Diwali, Kali pooja takes place at Dakshineswar Kali Temple where the devotees worship deity Bhavatarini. On this day the entire temple complex is decorated with diyas and strings of lights.
Both Tantric and Brahmanical rituals are performed to Ma Kali and thousands of visitors get to see the entire rituals.
The Dakshineswar Temple is located at 13 km away from Kolkata and 19 km from Howrah. The temple is at a walking distance from Dakshineswar local railway station.
–Dr. B.N.V. Parthasarathi
Reference: https://www.dakshineswarkalitemple.org/history.html
