Sergkwi: added info

2026-04-22T05:24:57Z

added info

Show changes

WikiDwarfBOT: Cleanup:

2023-07-22T02:48:38Z

Cleanup:

Show changes

>Billjones94: /* Gallery */

2021-07-06T17:48:14Z

Gallery

New page

{{Short description|Hindu Temple in Kolkata, West Bengal}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox Hindu temple
|name = Dakshineswar Kali Temple
|image = Dakhineshwar Temple beside the Hoogly, West Bengal.JPG
|caption = The Temple complex on the bank of river Hooghly, West Bengal.
|map_type = India Kolkata
|map_caption = Location in Kolkata
|coordinates = {{coord|22|39|18|N|88|21|28|E|type:landmark_region:IN-WB|display=inline,title}}
|country = [[India]]
|state = [[West Bengal]]
|district = [[North 24 Parganas]]
|location = [[Kolkata Metropolitan Area|Greater Kolkata]]
|deity = [[Bhavatarini|Bhavatarini Kali]]
|festivals = [[Kali Puja]], [[Snana Yatra]], [[Kalpataru Day]]
|architecture = [[Bengal architecture]]
|temple_quantity = 12 Shiva temples, 1 temple of Radhakrishna and 1 Main Temple of Goddess Kali
|monument_quantity=
|year_completed = {{foundation date and age|1855|5|31|df=y}}
|founded_by = [[Rani Rashmoni]]
|creator =
|website = [http://www.dakshineswarkalitemple.org Official website]
|native_name=দক্ষিণেশ্বর কালীমন্দির|native_name_lang=Bengali|architecture_style=Navaratna|Official Name=}}
'''Dakshineswar Kali Temple''' is a [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Navaratna (architecture)|navaratna]] temple located at [[Dakshineswar]]. Situated on the eastern bank of the [[Hooghly River]], the presiding deity of the temple is [[Bhavatarini]], a form of [[Mahadevi|Parashakti Adya Kali]], otherwise known as Adishakti Kalika.<ref name="Mehrotra">
And also it is a price full place{{Harvnb|Mehrotra|2008}} p.11.</ref> The temple was built in 1855 by [[Rani Rashmoni]], a philanthropist and a devotee of Kali. The temple is known for its association with [[Ramakrishna]] and Ma [[Sarada Devi]], mystics of 19th Century Bengal.<ref name=l>{{cite web|title=History of the temple|url=http://www.dakshineswarkalitemple.org/history.html|publisher=Dakshineswar Kali Temple|access-date=21 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=Bengal>{{cite web|title=Dakshineswar - ''A Heritage''|url=http://www.westbengaltourism.gov.in/web/guest/dakhineswar|publisher=Government of West Bengal|access-date=26 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902101045/http://westbengaltourism.gov.in/web/guest/dakhineswar|archive-date=2 September 2013 |df=dmy}}</ref>

The temple compound, apart from the nine-spired main temple, contains a large courtyard surrounding the temple, with rooms along the boundary walls. There are twelve shrines dedicated to [[Shiva]]—Kali's husband—along the riverfront, a temple to [[Radha]]-[[Krishna]], a bathing ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. 'Nahabat', the chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples, is where Ramakrishna and Maa Sarada spent a considerable part of their lives.<ref name=l/><ref name=Kolkata>{{cite book|title=Kolkata: City Guide|year=2011|publisher=Goodearth Publications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUq9heKpjEIC&pg=PA125e|editor=Swati Mitra|isbn=978-93-80262-15-4}}</ref>

==History==
The Dakshineswar Kali Temple was founded around the middle of the 19th century by [[Rani Rashmoni]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Harding|1998}}, p.xii</ref> Rani Rashmoni was a [[Mahishya]] by caste<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13688790600657835|last=Sen|first=Amiya P.|title=Sri Ramakrishna, the ''Kathamrita'' and the Calcutta middle classes: an old problematic revisited|journal=Postcolonial Studies|volume=9|issue=2|pages=165–177|date=June 2006}}</ref> and was well known for her philanthropic activities. In the year 1847, Rashmoni prepared to go upon a long [[pilgrimage]] to the sacred Hindu city of [[Varanasi|Kashi]] to express her devotions to the [[Adi Parashakti|Divine Mother]]. Rani was to travel in twenty-four boats, carrying relatives, servants, and supplies.<ref name=Kolkata/> According to traditional accounts, the night before the pilgrimage began, Rashmoni had a [[vision (spirituality)|vision]] of the Divine Mother goddess [[Kali]] in a dream and reportedly said,<ref>{{cite book|last=Rosen|first=Steven |title=Essential Hinduism|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2006|pages=201–202|url=https://books.google.com/?id=WuVG8PxKq_0C&pg=PA201|isbn=978-0-275-99006-0}}</ref>
{{Quote|There is no need to go to Banaras. Install my statue in a beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges river and arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest myself in the image and accept worship at that place.}}

Profoundly affected by the dream, Rani immediately looked for and purchased a 30,000-acre plot in the village of Dakhineswar. The large temple complex was built between 1847 and 1855. The {{convert|20|acre|m2|adj=on}} plot was bought from an Englishman, Jake Hastie, and was then popularly known as ''Saheban Bagicha''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prabhananda|2003}}</ref> Partly old Muslim burial ground shaped like a tortoise, 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 formerly known as ''Sri Sri Jagadishwari Mahakali'', 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.<ref name="Mehrotra"/><ref name=l/><ref name=Bengal/><ref name=Kolkata/><ref>{{cite book|title=God lived with them|year=2001|publisher=Advaita Ashrama|author=Swami Chetanananda|pages=655|isbn=978-0-916356-79-8}}</ref> On 31 May 1855 more than 1 lakh (one hundred thousand) [[Brahmin]]s 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#At Dakshineswar Kali Temple|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.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

Ramakrishna was responsible for bringing much in the way of both fame and pilgrims to the temple.<ref name="Hindu_SB">{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2003/05/09/stories/2003050901460700.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030611024249/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2003/05/09/stories/2003050901460700.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2003|title=Kali Mandir of Kolkata|last=Balakrishnan|first=S|date=9 May 2003|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=21 April 2018}}</ref>

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.<ref name = l/> After her death, her sons-in-law took to celebrating Durga Puja in their respective premises.

==Architecture==
Built in the [[Navaratna (architecture)|navaratna]] or nine spires style of [[Bengal architecture]], the three-storeyed south-facing temple has nine spires distributed in the upper two storeys, and stands on a high platform with a flight of stairs, overall it measures {{convert|46|ft|m}} square and rises over {{convert|100|ft|m}} high.<ref name=Bengal/><ref name=Kolkata/>

The ''[[garbha griha]]'' ([[sanctum sanctorum]]) houses an idol of goddess Kali, known as ''Bhavatarini'', standing on the chest of a supine [[Shiva]], and the two idols are placed on a thousand-petaled [[lotus throne]] made of silver.<ref name=Bengal/><ref name=Kolkata/>

Close to the main temple are the row of twelve identical Shiva temples built facing the east in the typical ''[[At-chala|aat-chala]]'' Bengal architecture, they are built on either side of the ghat on the Hooghly river. To the North east of the Temple Complex is the Vishnu Temple or the Radha Kanta Temple. A flight of steps lead to the columned verandah and into the temple where a silver throne rests with a {{convert|21+1/2|in|adj=on}} idol of Lord Krishna and a {{convert|16|in|adj=on}} idol of Radha.<ref name=Bengal/><ref name=Kolkata/>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Maa Bhavatarini at Dakshineshwar Temple (Photo Frame Type).JPG|The name of the idol of [[Kali]] worshiped in the temple is [[Bhavatarini]]. Shown here, is a picture of the deity adorned with priceless jewelleries and other accessories.
File:Ramakrishna.jpg|[[Ramakrishna]] came to the temple in 1855, as an assistant to his elder brother, Ramkumar, the head priest, a job he took over the next year, after Ramkumar's death.
File:Dakshineshwar Temple - Calcutta (Kolkata) - 1865.jpg|Photograph of Ramnath Temple from ''Views of Calcutta and Barrackpore'', taken by [[Samuel Bourne]].
File:Dakshineshwar.jpg|Dakshineshwar Kali Temple, built on a raised platform.
File:Dakshineshwar Kali Temple by Satyabrata.jpg|Closeup of the spires
File:Dakshineswar Temple1.jpg|Columned ''[[Verandah]]'' of the temple
File:Dakshineswar Kali Temple on the bank River Ganges.jpg|Temple on the banks of Ganges
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Kali Bari, Shimla]]
*[[Belur Math]]
*[[Kalighat Kali Temple]]
*[[Dakshina Kali]]
*[[Ramakrishna]]
*[[Mauni Baba]]
*[[Relationship_between_Ramakrishna_and_Swami_Vivekananda|Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda relationship]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last=Dutta|first=Krishna|title=Calcutta: a cultural and literary history|publisher=Signal Books|year=2003|pages=255|isbn=978-1-902669-59-5|url=https://books.google.com/?id=UKfoHi5412UC&printsec=frontcover}}
*{{cite journal|last=Prabhananda|first=Swami|date=October 2003|title=The Kali Temple at Dakshineswar and Sri Ramakrishna|journal=[[Vedanta Kesari]]|url=http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/vedanta_kesari/Kali_temple_and_Ramakrishna_oct_03.php}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.rkmpune.org/rk_order/dakshineshwar.htm|title=Map of Kali Temple at Dakshineshwar|access-date=5 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612044541/http://www.rkmpune.org/rk_order/dakshineshwar.htm|archive-date=12 June 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy}}
*{{cite book|last=Harding|first=Elizabeth U.|title=Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/?id=4woiJbQTsBQC|isbn=81-208-1450-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Mehrotra|first=Rajiv|author-link=Rajiv Mehrotra|title=Thakur: A Life Of Sri Ramakrishna|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=2008|isbn=0-14-306371-5}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Dakshineswar Kali Temple}}
*{{Official website}}
*{{Wikivoyage-inline|Dakshineswar}}
*{{Osmway|291865633}}

{{Kolkata topics}}
{{Tourist attractions in Kolkata}}
{{Ramakrishna}}
{{North 24 Parganas topics}}
{{Hindu temples in West Bengal}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1855 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Hindu temples in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Ramakrishna]]
[[Category:Kali temples]]
[[Category:Shaktism]]
[[Category: Tourist attractions in North 24 Parganas district]]

Dakshineswar Kali Temple - Revision history

Sergkwi: added info

WikiDwarfBOT: Cleanup:

>Billjones94: /* Gallery */