The temple was built by Rani Rashmoni, a philanthropist and devotee of Kali in 1855. The temple is famous for its association with Ramakrishna, a 19th century mystic of Bengal. The temple complex, 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 (companion of Kalis) along the river, a temple to Radha-Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river and a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. Nahavat-Khana, the chamber in the northwest corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples, is where Ramakrishna spent a considerable part of his life.
In the early 1800s, Dakshineswar was a small village along the eastern banks of the Ganges River. Thick forests surrounded the area where the famous Dakshineswar temple stands today. It has been 300 years since Durgaprasad Roy Choudhury and Bhavaniprasad Roy Choudhury, members of the renowned Savarna Roy Choudhury family, settled here. Yogindranath, one of the successors of this family, was an ardent devotee of Sri Ramakrishna who later became known as Swami Yogananda.
The famous Dakshineswar temple housing the goddess Kali was founded by Rani Rashmoni following a dream she had when she was about to undertake her pilgrimage to Benaras. A long-term plan of the Rani that she had been longing to realize materialized when her husband died with an unfulfilled desire to build a Kali temple.
The idols of the Gods and Goddess were decided to be installed on the day of snana-yatra, an auspicious day for Hindus. On 31 May 1855, more than 1 lakh Brahmins were invited from different parts of the country to grace the auspicious occasion amidst the controversy that the Rani was not in a position to own a temple and provide food for the Brahmins as she was of low birth. The Rani lived only five years and nine months after the inauguration of the temple. She fell seriously ill in 1861.
Realizing that death was approaching, she decided to hand over the property (which she purchased in Dinajpur (now in Bangladesh) as an inheritance). For the maintenance of the temple at the foundation of the temple, she performed her duty on 18 February 1861 and died the next day.
History of Dakshineswar Kali Temple
In the early 1800s, Dakshineshwar was a small village surrounded by dense forest around the area where the current temple is located. The magnificent Dakshineshwar temple was built by Rani Rashmoni, a philanthropist and a devout believer of the goddess Kali. Legend has it that Rani Rashmoni wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Varanasi to offer prayers to the Mother Goddess.
The night before she left for Varanasi, she dreamed of the Goddess asking her to build a temple near the Ganges and erect a statue rather than go all the way to Varanasi. Rani immediately began making arrangements to build a temple. After looking for several plots of land to build the temple, she zeroed in on the 20-acre plot along the eastern banks of the Ganges, part of which had a Muslim cemetery that also resembled a tortoise’s hump, considered absolutely suitable for worship.
Shakti according to Tantric traditions. Another part of the land belonged to a European named John Hasty and this part of the land was popularly known as Saheban Bagicha. By building a Hindu temple on a site, parts of which belonged to different faiths, it signifies the unity of all faiths.
The huge temple complex was built in a span of 8 years, between 1845 and 1855, at an estimated cost of INR 9 lakh of which INR 2 lakh was spent on the inauguration day. The idols of the gods and goddesses were to be installed on May 31, 1855, the day of "snana-yatra", an auspicious day for Hindus.
More than a hundred thousand Brahmins were invited from all over the country to grace the festivities and were fed. The temple was formally named Sri Sri Jagadishwari Mahakali Temple. Ramkumar Chattopadhayay, the elder brother of Sri Ramakrishna, was appointed the head priest of the temple.
He was assisted by his younger brother, Ramakrishna, who was then known by his name Gadadhar and nephew Hriday. However; Ramkumar passed away a year after the inauguration of the temple, all further responsibilities fell on the shoulders of the younger Ramakrishna along with his wife Sarada Devi.
Sarada Devi resided south of Nahabat (the music hall) on the ground floor, which is now a shrine dedicated to her. Ramakrishna was the major influence in bringing immense reputation as well as pilgrims to the temple during the next thirty years of his service to the divine Mother Goddess.
He became an ardent seeker of Kali and also brought some changes in the socio-religious condition of Bengal. Rani Rashmoni, who was an exceptionally broad and benevolent mind, had always wanted the temple to be open to people from all sects of society, irrespective of their caste, creed or religion.
This tradition has been followed till date and the temple is thronged by pilgrims from all strata of society. Rani Rashmoni did not live long enough to witness much of the glory of the temple as she passed away in February 1861, just 5 years and nine months after the inauguration of the temple.
Realizing that she would not live long, she bequeathed a property in Dinajpur (part of present-day Bangladesh) as part of the legacy for the maintenance of the temple and the temple trust. Rani died on 18 February 1861, the day after she delivered the legal documents.
