Kalighat Kali Temple

It is one of the 51 Shakti Pithas in eastern India.

Kalighat Kali Temple
View of the Kalighat Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
Deity	Kali
Festivals	Kali Puja
Location
Location	Kolkata
State	West Bengal
Country	India
West Bengal
Geographic coordinates	22°31′12″N 88°20′31″E / 22.52000°N 88.34194°E / 22.52000; 88.34194
Architecture
Completed	1809
Website
kalighatkalitemple.com

 

The term Kalighat originated from the goddess Kali who resides in the temple, and Ghat (riverbank) where the temple is located.

As per mythology, on learning about the death of Sati by self-immolation, Shiva was blinded in rage and started the Tandav Nritya (Dance of Destruction). To prevent the world from eminent destruction, Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra to cut the corpse of Sati into 51 pieces, which fell in various places of the Indian subcontinent. Kalighat represents the site where the toes of the right foot of Dakshayani or Sati fell.^{[citation needed]}

The Kalighat Kali temple in its present form is about 200 years old, although it has been referred to in Mansar Bhasan composed in the 15th century, and Kavi Kankan Chandi in the 17th century. The present structure of the temple was completed under the Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family's patronage in 1809. Santosh Roy Chowdhury, a Kali devotee himself, started the construction of the present-day temple in 1798. It took 11 years to complete the construction. The factual authenticity of Roy Chowdhurys' being the traditional patron of the deity is disputed. Pilgrims to the site practice a holy dipping event called Snan Yatra in the temple's Kundupukur tank.

• Dakshineswar Kali Temple

• Rachel Fell McDermott; Jeffrey John Kripal (2005). Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-2041-8.

 

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• Official website