Dakshineshwar Kali Temple, Kolkata – History

Dakshineshwar Kali Temple, Kolkata – History

The temple was constructed during the 19th century CE by Rani Rashmoni (28 September 1793 – 19 February 1861). The temple is known for its association with Ramakrishna and Ma Sarada Devi, mystics of 19^th Century Bengal. Rani Rashmoni was a businesswoman, Zamindar and philanthropist . Rashmoni planned to go on a pilgrimage to holy city of Kashi. She arranged twenty four boats for this pilgrimage carrying her relatives, servants, and supplies. Rani Rashmoni had a vision of goddess Kali in a dream.

The night before the pilgrimage began, Goddess Kali appeared in the dreams of Rani Rashmoni, instructed her to install her idol on the banks of the Ganges river and directed Rani to build a temple for the idol. Further, Kali said that she would manifest herself in the idol and would accept the worship of Rani at the newly built temple. As directed in the dreams, Rani immediately searched for a suitable land and purchased a 30,000-acre plot in the village of Dakshineshwar.

The large temple complex was built between 1847 and 1855. The 20-acre (81,000 m2) plot was bought from an Englishman, Jake Hastie, and was then popularly known as Saheban Bagicha. It is said that the site was party a old Muslin burial ground shaped like a tortoise. The place is considered befitting for the worship of Shakti according to Tantra traditions. It took eight years and nine hundred thousand rupees 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 formally known as Sri Jagadishwari Mahakali, with Ramkumar Chattopadhyay as the head priest. Soon, his younger brother Gadadhar (later known as Ramakrishna) moved in and so did his nephew Hriday to assist him. On 31 May 1855 more than 1 lakh (one hundred thousand) Brahmins were invited from different parts of the country to grace the auspicious occasion.

The next year, Ramkumar Chattopadhyay died, and the position was given to Ramakrishna along with his wife Sarada Devi, who stayed in the south side of the Nahabat (music room) in a small room on the ground floor, which is now a shrine dedicated to her. Ramakrishna was responsible for bringing much in the way of both fame and pilgrims to the temple. 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 decided to hand over the property she had purchased in Dinajpur (now in Bangladesh) as a legacy for the maintenance of the temple to the temple trust. She accomplished her task on 18 February 1861 and died on the next day. After her death, her sons-in-law took to celebrating Durga Puja in their respective premises.