Dakshineswar Kali Temple is situated on the other side of Belur Math on the bank of river Hooghly. Belur Math and Dakshineswar Temple are the main centres of Bengali spirituality. This temple has a huge history and many beliefs also date back to 1847 when the country was ruled by the British. In West Bengal there was a very rich widow named Rani Rasmani. Everything was there in her life but husband’s happiness was not there. When Rani Rasmani came at the fourth stage of her age, she thought of visiting all the pilgrimages.
Rani Rasmani had great reverence in the Mother Goddess. She thought that she would start her pilgrimage from Varanasi and stay there and meditate on the Goddess for a few days. In those days there was no rail line between Varanasi and Kolkata. People used to go by boat to go from Kolkata to Varanasi. As you know, the river Ganges passes through both the cities, so people used to go till Varanasi through the Ganges. Rani Rasmani also took the same path. And then his convoy got ready to go to Varanasi. But just one night before leaving, a strange incident happened to Rani.
Such a story is prevalent that after meditating on the goddess in her mind, she fell sleep. A dream came in the night. It is said that Goddess Kali appeared in his dream and told him that there was no need to go to Varanasi. You place my statue on the bank of the Ganges. Build a beautiful temple. “I will personally accept the worship of the devotees by appearing in the idol of that temple”. Immediately seeing this dream, the eyes of the queen opened. Early in the morning, the program to go to Varanasi was cancelled and the search for a place for the temple of Maa Kali was started on the banks of the Ganges. It is said that when the queen came to this ghat looking for a place on the banks of the Ganges, a voice came from inside her that yes, a temple should be built at this place.
Then in the morning, the program of the queen to go to Varanasi was cancelled and the search for a place for the temple of Maa Kali was started on the banks of the Ganges. It is believed that when the queen came to this ghat in search of a place on the banks of the Ganges, a voice came from inside her that yes, a temple should be built at this place. Then that place was bought and the work of building the temple started fast. This is from 1847 and the temple work was completed in 1855 i.e. in total eight years. Let us tell you that Vivekananda’s guru Ramakrishna Paramhans has a very close relationship with this temple. People from all corners of the country come to the Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Standing in long queues for hours, they wait for the darshan of Goddess Kali. It is said that Dakshineswar Kali had appeared to Ramakrishna Paramhans in the Dakshineswar Kali temple. Adjacent to the Dakshineswar Kali temple is the room of Paramhans Dev, in which his bed and other souvenirs are preserved. Outside the Dakshineswar Kali temple there is a samadhi temple of Paramhansa’s wife Shri Sharda Mata and Queen Rasmani and there is a banyan tree under which Paramhansa Dev used to meditate.
