Dakshineswar Kali Temple
Dakshineswar Kali Temple দক্ষিণেশ্বর কালীবাড়ি | |
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Bengal architecture | |
Style | Navaratna |
Founder | Rani Rashmoni |
Completed | 31 May 1855 |
Temple(s) | 1 main temple of Kali 12 Shiva temples 1 temple of Radha–Krishna |
Website | |
Official website |
Part of a series on |
Hinduism |
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Dakshineswar Kali Temple or Dakshineswar Kalibari is a
The main temple was inspired by Navaratna style Radhakanta temple in Tollygunge, built by Babu Ramnath Mondal of Bawali Raj family .[4][5][6][7] 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 consort, 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.[2][8]
History
The Dakshineswar Kali Temple was founded around the middle of the 19th century by
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 12,000-hectare (30,000-acre) plot in the village of Dakshineswar. The large temple complex was built between 1847 and 1855. The 8.1-hectare (20-acre) plot was bought from an Englishman, Jake Hastie, and was then popularly known as Saheban Bagicha.[12] 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 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.[1][2][3][8][13] 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. His wife, Sarada Devi, 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.[14] Ramakrishna was responsible for bringing much in the way of both fame and pilgrims to the temple.[15]
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.[2] After her death, her sons-in-law took to celebrating Durga Puja in their respective premises.
Architecture
Built in the
The
Close to the main temple are the row of twelve identical Shiva temples built facing the east in the typical
Gallery
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The name of the idol ofBhavatarini.
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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.
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Photograph of Ramnath Temple from Views of Calcutta and Barrackpore, taken by Samuel Bourne.
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Twelve Shiva temples at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple
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Temple on the banks of Ganges
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Main entrance (Lion gate/"Singha Dwar"; সিংহ দুয়ার) of the iconic Dakshineswar Temple.
See also
References
- ^ a b Mehrotra 2008 p.11.
- ^ a b c d "History of the temple". Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Dakshineswar - A Heritage". Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 2 September 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- ^ Roy, Diptimoy (2001). Paschimbanger Kali O Kalikshetra [Kali and Kali Temples in West Bengal] (in Bengali). Kolata: Mondal Book House. pp. 64–65.
- ^ "কংক্রিটের আড়ালে মুখ ঢেকেছে মন্দিরশিল্প". www.anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "রানিকাহিনি". www.anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ Basu, Debashish Ed (1990). Kolkatar Purakatha. pp. 71, 78.
- ^ ISBN 978-93-80262-15-4.
- ^ Harding 1998, p.xii
- S2CID 144046925.
- ISBN 978-0-275-99006-0.
- ^ Prabhananda 2003
- ISBN 978-0-916356-79-8.
- ISBN 978-81-87952-12-1.
- ^ Balakrishnan, S (9 May 2003). "Kali Mandir of Kolkata". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 June 2003. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
Bibliography
- Dutta, Krishna (2003). Calcutta: a cultural and literary history. Signal Books. p. 255. ISBN 978-1-902669-59-5.
- Prabhananda, Swami (October 2003). "The Kali Temple at Dakshineswar and Sri Ramakrishna". Vedanta Kesari.
- "Map of Kali Temple at Dakshineshwar". Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
- Harding, Elizabeth U. (1998). Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-1450-9.
- ISBN 978-0-14-306371-1.
External links
- Official website
- Dakshineswar travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Geographic data related to Dakshineswar Kali Temple at OpenStreetMap
- Dakshineswar Kali temple