Dakshineswar Kali Temple
Dakshineswar
Kali Temple is a famous Hindu
temple which is situated in Dakshineswar near Kolkata. It is located on the
eastern bank of the Hooghly River. The presiding deity of the temple is
Bhavatarini, who is an aspect of Goddess Kali. She was famed to liberate her
devotees from the ocean of existence i.e.
Samsara. The temple was constructed in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni, who
was a philanthropist and a austere devotee of Maa Kali. Dakshineswar Kali
Temple is well-known for its association with Ramakrishna, a mystic of 19th
Century Bengal. The temple premises contain a large courtyard surrounding the
temple with rooms along the boundary walls, apart from the nine-spired main
temple. Pre-dominantly, there are 12 shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva—Kali
companion—along the riverfront, a temple to Radha-Krishna and a bathing
Ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. Nahavat-Khana, the
chamber in the north western corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples,
is where Rama Krishna spent a considerable part of his life.
History
This popular and historic
temple Dakshineswar Kali Temple was established around the middle of the 19th
century by Rani Rashmoni. She was a Mahishya by caste and was famous for her
philanthropic activities. Rashmoni, prepared to go upon a long pilgrimage to
the sacred Hindu city of Kashi to express her devotions to the Divine Mother.
Rani was to travel in twenty four boats, carrying relatives, servants and supplies
in the year 1847. As per the traditional accounts, the night before the
pilgrimage began; Rashmoni had a vision of the Divine Mother, in the form of
the goddess Kali in a dream and reportedly said, there is no need to go to
Banaras. The statue was installed in a beautiful temple on the banks of the
Ganges River and the idol has been arranged for the worship, then the
manifestation has done in the image and Sarada Devi, who stayed in the south
side of the small music room, on the ground floor, which now a stupendous
shrine dedicated to her.30 years later from his death in 1886, Ramakrishna was
responsible for bringing much in the way of both fame and pilgrims to the
temple. She lived only for five years and nine months after the inauguration of
the temple. She fell ill in 1861. When she realized that her death was near she
decided to handover the property she 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 unfortunately died on the next
day.
