Kalighat Kali Temple, Kolkata – History

Kalighat Kali Temple, Kolkata – History

The Kalighat temple in its present form is only about 200 years old, although it has been referred to in Mansar Bhasan composed in the 15^th century A.D. and in Kavi Kankan Chandi of the 17^th century A.D. The original temple was a small hut and during the early 16^th century A.D, a small temple was built by King Manasingha. The present structure of the temple was completed under the patronage of Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family of Banisha in 1809.

Mention of the Kali temple is also found in Lalmohon Bidyanidhis's Sambanda Nirnoy. Only two types of coins of Chandragupta II, who incorporated Vanga in the Gupta Empire, are known from Bengal. His Archer type coins, which became the most popular type of coinage with the Gupta rulers after Kumaragupta I, have been found in Kalighat. This is evidence of the antiquity of the place.

The Haldar family claims to be the original owners of the temple property. But this was disputed by the Chowdhury of Banisha. In the 1960’s a committee was formed for the administrative management of the temple with representation from the Government and the Haldar family.