Wandering in the Vibrant City... Kolkata... Day 4 Part 2

           









             



 Day 4 Part 2

The Temples of Shiva – The premise of the Dakshineswar temple houses twelve identical temples of Shiva. The temples have been erected just opposite to the main temple and they nestle close to the banks of River Ganges. The interiors of the Shiva temples are adorned with white and black stone. Each of the temple houses beautiful Shiva Lingas, done in black stone. All these Shiva temples are east facing and they have been erected following the typical ‘Aat Chala’ Bengal architecture. The series of the Shiva temples are divided by Chadni (River bank). Six temples rest at the right of the bank, whereas the other six to the left. The steps in between leads to the River Hooghly / Ganges. 


The Vishnu Temple – At the north east side of the Dakshineswar temple complex, lies the Vishnu Temple or the Radha Kanta’s Temple. A flight of stairs will lead you inside the temple. The temple houses a 21 and half inches idol of Lord Krishna and 16 inches idol of Radha. 

The Panchavati garden, a congregation of five ancient trees, located in close proximity to the Dakshineswar Temple is nicely landscaped and is well maintained. It is said under Sri Ramkrishna’s guidance, 5 trees Banyan, Peepal, Neem, Amlaki and Woodapple trees were planted with the soil brought from the ‘Radha Kund’ and ‘Shyam Kund’ of Vrindavan. 

It is in Panchvati, Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa spent 12 years of sadhana and attained his divine enlightenment. Here, he obtained a spiritual vision and witnessed a holy glance of Goddess Kali and later took sanyas (ascetic vows). For the purpose of sadhana (attainment), a hut was built in Panchavati  along with a Shiva Temple.

History of Dakshineswar Kali Temple

In the early 1800s, Dakshineswar was a mere village, which nestled along the eastern bank of the Ganges River. Dense forest surrounded the area. It is said that Rani Rashmoni of Janbazar, while on her pilgrimage to Varanasi, had a dream, where she was instructed to build a Kali temple by Godess Kali. Rani Rashmoni was intensely moved by the dream and to materialize it, being a dynamic and a popular Zamindarni and a businesswoman, she procured a 20-acre plot in the village of Dakshineswar, a part from an English man and a part from the Muslims. Under the patronage of Rani Rashmoni, the construction of Dakshineswar Temple was initiated on this site, signifying the unity of different faiths. 

The temple of Dakshineswar is dedicated to Sri Jagadiswari Kalimata Thakurani also known as Bhavatharini. Rani Rashmoni was very benevolent and she wished that pilgrims of all religions and castes would be allowed to offer prayer at the temple. Rani survived only for five years and nine months after the temple was inaugurated and before she took on her eternal journey she made sure that there was ample funds for the maintenance of this temple by setting up a trust and allotting the required lands and  funds… 

   ~~~ oOo ~~~

The pictures inside the temple are taken from google images....

The credit to  goes to the original uploader...