Thread by @Lavishly_cursed

The famous Dakshineswar Kaali temple in West Bengal was built in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni, the generous Queen of Janbazar. The temple is situated on the Eastern bank of the Hooghly river, which is a distributary of Ganga. The presiding deity of the temple is Goddess Bhavatarini.

Devi Bhavatarini is an aspect of Goddess Kaali. The word "Bhavatarini" means " She who liberates her devotees from the ocean of "bhava samsara", i.e., worldly existence". The temple was formerly known as "Sri Sri Jagadiswari Mahakaali temple".

Rani Rashmoni was born on 28th September, 1793 into a Kaivarta (fisherman) family, in the present day city of Halishahar, West Bengal. Her father's name was Harekrishna Das. Her mother, Rampriya Dasi, passed away when Rashmoni was just seven years old. It is said that she had

Two elder brothers. She was exceptionally beautiful. When she was eleven years old, she was married to Babu Rajchandra Das (Marh), younger son of Pritram Das (Marh), the rich Zamindar of Janbazar who ran successful businesses in Calcutta. Rajchandra was a widower and was much

older than Rashmoni. Rani Rashmoni's family, i.e., her mother, her father and Rashmoni herself, were devotees of Shree Raam.

Being a Mahishya by caste, the pious, spiritual but rebellious Rani had numerous clashes with the British and the Brahmins. Varna system was prevalent in the society, so lower caste people weren't granted religious rights. But the Rani believed in equality and true devotion.

This led to clashes with the Brahmins. And Rani fought against the British for the common people. She was a very generous and kind hearted lady, a worshipper of truth. Aptly known as the 19th century Ahilyabaai Holkar of Bengal.

Rani Rashmoni had four daughters, namely Padmamani (who was married to Ramchandra Ata), Kumari (who was married to Piarimohan Biswas). Karunamoyee was married to Mathurmohan Biswas. But after her death, Jagadamba was married off to Mathurmohan.

After Rajchandra's death in 1836 (Rashmoni was 43 years old then), she immediately took charge of the zamindari and finances and soon proved herself to be a natural leader. She treated Mathurmohan like her own son and Mathurmohan also helped her in looking after the zamindari

And solving problems related to business and family.
Given below are the photos of Rani Rashmoni and Mathurmohan (or Mathura Mohan) Biswas.

So this Dakshineswar Kaali temple has an interesting story about its construction. In the year 1847, Rashmoni arranged for a long pilgrimage to the Holy city of Kashi. According to the records, Rani was to travel in twenty four boats with her relatives, servants and supplies.

She wanted to offer her devotion to the Divine Mother (Mahamaya). It is said that just the night before the holy pilgrimage began, Rashmoni had a vision of Devi Mahamaya in the form of Goddess Kaali, who said :

"There is no need to go to Banaras. Install my statue in a beautiful temple on the banks of the river Ganga and arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest myself in the image and accept worship at that place".

She was deeply affected by the dream. She started looking for a plot. It is said that Devi Mahamaya herself showed her the plot in Dakshineswar. She immediately purchased the 30,000 acre plot and started the construction in 1845. According to old records, the 20 acre plot

was purchased from an Englishman named Jake Hastie. Back then, the plot was popularly known as the "Saheb Bagicha" or "Saheban Bagicha". It was partly a Muslim burial ground shaped like a tortoise which was considered perfect for the worship of Shakti according to Hindu tantra

Shastra. It took roughly eight years and about nine hundred thousand rupees to complete the construction. Finally, in the year 1855 on the auspicious day of Snana Yatra (31st May) the idol of Goddess Kaali was installed at the temple amid festivities.

Ramkumar Chattopadhyay was initially appointed the head priest. Soon, his younger brother, Gadadhar Chattopadhyay replaced him. Later on, Gadadhar Chattopadhyay emerged to be Ramkrishna Paramahansa Deva, the 19th century Hindu mystic who preached the principle of

"Jawto mawt tawto path", which means that there are hundreds and thousands of different opinions in human society, and each opinion is a valid religious principle. His nephew, Hriday or Hride, also came to assist him.

Now let's end today's thread with a brief description of the temple. Built in the traditional 'Nava-ratna' or nine spires style of Bengal architecture, the three-storeyed south-facing temple has nine spires distributed in upper two storeys. The garva griha houses an idol of

Devi Bhavatarini standing on the chest of a supine Lord Shiva, and the idols are placed upon a thousand-petaled lotus made of silver. Close to the main temple are the row of twelve identical Shiva temples built facing the east in the typical aat-chala Bengal architecture.

The temple compound also consists of a Radha Madhav temple,a large courtyard surrounding the temple, with rooms along the boundary walls, a bathing ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. There is a chamber in the northwestern corner named Nahabat where Ramkrishna

had spent a considerable part of his life. There's a library, too, but only the members are allowed to study there.

And yes, did I mention the huge, peaceful and beautiful Naatmandir? Below are some pictures of the temple and associated structures.