Dakshineswar Kali Temple – The Road to Ma Kali

 The journey to the temple of Kali at Dakshineswar begins before the temple itself comes into view. The road leading toward it is filled with movement and sound, with people making their way to the Goddess, small shops and stalls lining the street, and animals moving among the crowds.

Those who have already visited Ma Kali can sometimes be recognized by the marks on their foreheads. Others stop at the stalls to buy something to offer to the Goddess. The shops contain a great variety of objects connected with worship: flowers, garlands, bangles, beads, perfumes, coloured powders, pictures and small images of gods and goddesses.

The different forms of Kali are represented among these images. Dakshineswar Kali appears in her gentle form, while Smashan Kali is shown as wild and frightening. There is also Adyapith Kali, another gentle form of the Goddess. Alongside them are images of other deities, including Ganesha, Shiva, Krishna with Radha, Durga, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Parvati.

The road itself has its own rhythm. Vendors call out to those passing by, bells and other sounds come from the stalls, and taxis make their way slowly through the crowded street. Dogs search for food, crows gather around the roofs of the small shops, and cows move through the same space as the people. The scene is crowded, yet it forms the setting through which the pilgrim approaches the temple.

The main road ends at the principal gate of the temple. It is not, however, the only way to reach Dakshineswar. The temple stands beside the Ganges, and in the time of Sri Ramakrishna many people preferred to arrive by boat because the roads were in poor condition.

Today the journey can be made more easily by road, but the approach to the temple remains closely connected with everything that surrounds it. The stalls, the offerings, the images of the gods, the people and the sounds of the street all belong to the experience of coming to Ma Kali.

Source & Note

This article is based on Elizabeth U. Harding’s Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar (Nicolas-Hays, 1993). The material has been edited and adapted for this publication.