Dakshineswar Kali Temple is situated alongside the Vivekananda
Bridge north of Calcutta, about 20 km. from BBD Bagh. It is famous for its
association - with Ramkrishna who achieved spiritual vision here. This
temple was built by Rani Rashmoni in 1847. The 12- spired temple with its
enormous courtyard is surrounded by 12 other temples dedicated to Lord
Shiva. It is a world famous place of pilgrimage and it was here that the
famous religious thinker Rama Krishna Paramahamsa achieved his spiritual
vision and preached the unity of all religions.
Ramakrishna served as temple's head priest. From the first days of his
service in the shrine of the goddess Kali, he was filled with a rare form of
love for the Goddess known in Hinduism as maha-bhava. Worshiping in front of
the statue of Kali, Ramakrishna would be overcome with such ecstatic love
for the deity that he would fall to the ground and immersed in spiritual
trance, lose all consciousness of the external world. Ramakrishna fully
realized the infinite and all-inclusive nature of the divine.
