page_title: Kalighat
section_title: Kalika Temple
hierarchical_section_title: Kalighat / Kalika Temple
caption_attribution_description: English: Kalighat temple located in Kolkata
context_page_description: Kalighat is a locality of Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. One of the oldest neighbourhoods in South Kolkata, Kalighat is also densely populated — with a history of cultural intermingling with the various foreign incursions into the area over time.
context_section_description: The Medieval Bhuiyan, Raja Basanta Ray, uncle of Pratapaditya and the King of Jessore, (now in Bangladesh) probably built the first Temple here. This temple was situated on the banks of river Adi Ganga. The Temple Complex is laid out in the following manner. The natmandir, a hall attached to the Garbh Griha sanctum sanctorum is in the southern wing while Shiva's temple is situated in the north-eastern wing. There is a temple dedicated to Radha Krishna built in 1843 by a zamindar of Bhaowali.
  The Kalighat temple in its present form is only about 200 years old, although it has been referred to in Mansar Bhasan composed in the 15th century, and in Kavi Kankan Mukunda Das' Chandi Mangal of the 17th century. Mention of the Kali temple is also found in Lalmohon Bidyanidhis's "Sambanda Nirnoy".
  The image of Kali in this temple is unique. It does not follow the pattern of other Kali images in Bengal. The present idol of touchstone was created by two saints -- Atmaram Brahmachari and Brahmananda Giri.
  However, the image here is older than what meets the eye. Originally thought to have been worshipped and created by the Hindu All-Father Brahma, there are accounts from antiquity, which say that there was a mound or stupa here, which was called as Brahma'r Dhipi. And the image of the Kali here was present on the Dhipi or the mound, being worshipped regularly. Hundreds of years before Brahmananda GIri and Atmaram Brahmachari even reached this place. 
  Presently, the mother goddess has three huge eyes, a long protruding tongue and four hands all of which are made of gold.
  The hands of the goddess was originally made out of silver, and had been donated by Gokulchandra Ghoshal, the Diwan of the East India Company, who had been appointed to the post right after the Battle of Plassey. which had been later replaced by gold hands donated by a man named Kalicharan Mullick. The crown on the Devi's head had been donated by Ramnarayan Sarkar of Beleghata. The iconic golden tongue had been donated by Raja Indrachandra Shingho of Paikpara, and the Garland of heads that the goddess wears had been donated by the Maharaja of Patiala.  Nepal's former Army Chief had donated the Umbrella on top of the goddess' head. 
  Out of the four hands, the top left hand holds a Kharga or a Scimitar, the bottom left holds a severed head of the Asura King Shumbha, while the top right hand she shows the Abhay Mudra, and the bottom right hands she shows the Varada Mudra.
  Whilst the Scimitar signifies Divine Knowledge, the severed head of the Asura signifies the human Ego which has to be slain by the Divine Knowledge to attain Moksha or one's goal in life.
  The Abhay Mudra signifies that the Goddess is always there with her devotees, protecting them from harm, while the Varada Mudra shows the benevolence and the soft-heartedness of the Devi, showering her devotees with divine and material blessings.
  Kalighat temple has references in 15th century texts. The original temple was a small hut. The present temple was built by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of Barisha in 1809. They offered 595 bighas of land to the Temple deity so that worship and service could be continued smoothly. It is believed by some scholars that the name Calcutta was derived from Kalighat. Historically, traders halted at Kalighat to pay patronage to the goddess. The temple was initially on the banks of Hooghly. The river over a period of time has moved away from the temple. The temple is now on the banks of a small canal called Adi Ganga, connecting to Hooghly. The present Dakshina Kali idol of touchstone was created in 1570 CE by two saints - Brahmananda Giri and Atmaram Giri based on the idol of Mata Bhuvaneshwari, the Kuladevi of Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. It was Padmabati Devi, the mother of Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury who discovered the fossils of Sati's finger in a lake called Kalikunda. This made Kalighat as one of the 51 Shakti Pithas.
caption: Kalighat Temple. Bazaar out the temple
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