Early modern · Hindu · India

Dakshineswar Kali Temple

দক্ষিণেশ্বর কালী মন্দির

Dakshineswar, Kolkata, West Bengal · 22.6547°, 88.3577°

Kali as BhavatariniColonial-era BengalBengal navaratna (nine-spired)
Sacred since
1847 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
consecrated 1855
patron: Rani Rashmoni

History & significance

Built on the Hooghly by Rani Rashmoni — the formidable zamindar who defied both orthodoxy and the East India Company — and made immortal by its young priest Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, whose God-intoxicated life here (and marriage to Sarada Devi) seeded a global spiritual movement through his disciple Vivekananda.

Sthala katha — the legend

Denied priests because of her caste, the Rani was granted the temple's legitimacy through a dream of the Mother; Ramakrishna, asked whether the Goddess was real, would answer from this shrine: 'She talks to me.'

Official site ↗Open in Google Maps ↗Wikipedia ↗View on the atlas map

Related sites

Kalighat Kali Temple
Kolkata · India
present temple 1809; site far older

Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Colonial-era Bengal