Thread by @poonamdut

Does Pran Pratistha really work? Is the deity which is present in temples really alive and has spirit inside them?

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Some time in 1847, Rani Rashmoni, an aristocratic lady belonging to a Zamindar family of North 24 Paragnas district in Bengal, decided to go on a pilgrimage, along with her family, relatives & friends in about twenty 24 boats to the holy city of Kashi.
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Just a night before the day of the beginning of the pilgrimage, Rani Roshmoni had a Vision, in which the Divine Mother appeared in the form of Goddess Kali and told her...
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“..There is no need to go to Banaras.. Instead, install my deity in a temple on the banks of a River and arrange for my worship everyday there… Then I shall manifest myself in the deity and accept worship at that place. .”.
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Awed by her vision of divine Mother, Rani Rashmoni immediately bought a 20 acre plot from a British official & began construction of Kali temple in 1847, completing it in 1855, after spending about nine hundred thousand Indian rupees on construction .
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On May 31, 1855, auspicious day of Snan Yatra, Sri Sri Sri Jagadeeswari Maha Kali Temple, built by Rani Rashmoni, was inaugurated with Vedic Hymn chants of One Lakh Brahmins, specially invited from across India. This is Maa Dakshineshwar Kali Temple..
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On the same day, Rani Rashmoni appointed the scholarly Ramkumar Chhattopadhyay as head priest of the Temple. After a few days, Ramkumar's brother Gadai and his nephew Hriday joined him, to assist him in performing the daily rituals at the Temple.
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Unfortunately, after about an year, in 1856, Ramkumar left this world and in his place his brother Gadai became the head priest of the Jagadeeswari Temple and remained in that position for thirty long years until he too left this world in 1886.
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Gadai & wife were great devotees of Ma Kali, led a humble life staying in a small room in the Temple. During his 30 yrs as head priest, Gadai developed the Jagdeeswari Temple in a big way, expanding it & making it hugely popular among Bengali devotees.
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However, there's an amazing story behind this Temple

Rani Rashmoni assigned the task of carving the Main Deity Kali's statue to Navin Pal, a famous sculptor of those days. He too was a great devotee who followed many austerity measures while sculpting.
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Sculpting was like performing a penance for him, and when he was assigned with the job of sculpting the deity for Jagadeeswari Temple, it was much more than mere;y performing a penance for him.
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Since the day he commenced the sculpting of Kali statue for Jagadeeswari Temple, Navin Pal followed many strict measures one of which was to eat only one meal a day at 3 pm, everyday.
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Other than that, he wouldn't touch anything else, spending many hours every day in sculpting & carving Ma Kali's statue. Impressed with Her child's devotion and his dedication to the work, Ma Kali slowly began infusing Her own life into the statue.
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Once the statue was installed in Jagadeeshawari Temple Sanctum Sanctorum following many sacred rituals instilling drops of life (Prana Pratishtha) into the deity & after Gadai became Temple head priest, many amazing things began happening in that Temple.
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While performing daily rituals to Ma Kali’s statue everyday the head priest Gadai would often find subtle movements in the deity. Gadai was not sure whether it was just his feeling or were there really any movements in the deity.
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However, Gadai had a strong feeling that Goddess Kali is residing in that deity in Her own real form as She told Rani Rashmoni when She appeared in her vision.
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Just to make sure whether it was only his doubt or was there really life in that deity, Gadai, on one fine day, took a piece of Cotton in his hand and placed it in front of the nostrils of the holy Goddess Kali’s deity.
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SHOCKING.. Gadai was shocked when he found a subtle movement in the Cotton piece in his hand, that he had held very closely to the nostrils of the deity of Kali, as though caused by the exhaling and inhaling of air by the holy Goddess.
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Gadai immediately told everyone associated with Sri Jagadeeshawari Temple that, “Goddess Kali is alive in the deity and receiving prayers from us everyday..”..
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Conclusion

While Goddess Kali, residing in this Temple in Her real divine form, is worshiped as Bhavatarini (the one Who liberates Her devotees from the ocean of existence or samsara) today;
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the then Sri Jagadeeshawari Temple is more popularly known today as the famous ‘Dakhineswar Temple’, located on the Eastern bank of River Hooghly, near the historic city of Kolkata.
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Later, Gadai, the head priest of this Jagadeeshwari Temple, went on to become a globally renowned Hindu Saint who is more popularly known to the world today as, ‘Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’.
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This article was written by Sri Nareenaditya Komaragiri ji. All credit goes to him. I've just presented a part of it.

Jai Shree Dakshineshwar Kali maa…
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