Dakshineswar Kali Temple is a Hindu temple dedicayed to Godess Kali which is located on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River near a small town in Kolkata, West Bengal, India named Dakshineswar.
While the spiritual history of this temple has the mystic sage and reformer Ramakrishna Paramahansa and his wife Sarada Devi associated with it, the socio-political history associated with the temple is quite interesting too.
The history of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple is that in the year 1847, the widow, Rani Rashmoni set out to express her love for the Divine Mother with a convoy of twenty four boats carrying relatives, servants and labourers to the city of Banaras.
Legend says that just before the night of the pilgrimage the Divine Mother Kali appeared in her dream asking her to build a shrine for her on the “ banks of the river Ganga and there she would accept worship from her devotees”.
So she set out to build this vast temple complex consisting temples of Goddess Kali, Lord Shiva and a temple of Radha Krishna. It took eight years to build the entire structure.
The temple head priest was a scholarly elder sage famous by the name of Ramkumar.
But within a year of its foundation he died and hence passed on the responsibilities to his brother Ramkrishna who attained “moksha” through his love for the Divine Mother and brought great fame to the Dakshineswar temple.
Also Read: ABOUT KAMAKHYA TEMPLE
Architecture of Dakshineswar Kali Temple
The Dakshineshwar Kali Temple is built in ‘Nava-Ratna’ or nine spires style, very typical to ancient Bengali architecture. The main Kali temple is a three storeyed south facing monument with nine spires distributed in the upper two storeys.
The main temple is built in an area of around 46 Square feet and stands on a high platform that has a flight of stairs thereby giving the temple the height of over 100 feet (30m).
There is a narrowly covered verandah that serves as an audience chamber. Additionally, there is also a spacious Natmandir built right in front of the temple.
Quick Facts
- Address: Dakshineswar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700076
- Timings: 6AM -12:30PM ⋅ Reopens 3PM – 8:30 PM
- Opened: 31 May 1855
- Temple(s): 12 Shiva temples, 1 temple of Radhakrishna and 1 Main Temple of Goddess Kali
- Founder: Rani Rashmoni
- Floors: 3
- Style: Navaratna
- Entry Fee: Nil
- Festivals Celebrated: Kalpataru, Navaratri
Pooja Timings:-
| TIMINGS | FROM | TO |
|---|---|---|
| Open (Morning) | 7 am | 12 pm |
| Open (Evening) | 3:30 pm | 9 pm |
| Mangal arati (summer) | 4:00 am | |
| Mangal Aarti (Winter) | 5:00 am | |
| Bhog arati | 12:00 pm | |
| Sandhya aarti (Summer) | 7:00 p.m. | |
| Sandhya aarti (Winter) | 6:30 p.m. |
How to Reach Dakshineswar Kali Temple ?
By Air
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, West Bengal, India is the nearest airport, at a distance of about 10 km from the temple.
From there you can take a taxi to the temple.
By Rail
The nearest railway station is Dakshineswar , which is about 1 km away from the temple.
From there you may take a taxi or walk by foot.
By Road
State-owned buses and private buses run regularly to and fro from the neighboring cities and states to Kolkata.
Where to Stay?
There are multiple guest houses to stay in Kolkata.
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