Kalighat Kali Temple

About Kalighat Kali Temple

Kalighat Kali Temple in south Kolkata is one of the most important Kali temples in India and one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. According to the Devi Bhagavata Purana and the Kalika Purana, the toes of Sati's right foot fell here when Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra divided her body during Shiva's dance of grief. Kalighat is also counted among the four Adi Shakti Peethas, and the city's name is popularly connected with Kali and the ghat (riverbank) of the Adi Ganga on which the temple stands.

The temple is built in the aat-chala style of Bengal temple architecture: a square building with a two-tier curved roof of eight faces, painted silver with bright borders, crowned by three spires. The outer walls carry a green-and-white diamond pattern and terracotta motifs of deities and nature. Kalighat is also the birthplace of Kalighat painting, the bold 19th-century style of pictures sold to pilgrims.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees come through the year, especially on Kali Puja, Durga Puja, Poila Baisakh (Bengali New Year), the English New Year, Snana Yatra — when the deity is bathed in the Kundupukur tank — and on Amavasya nights. Expect crowds and plan for queues on festival days.

History

The temple is mentioned in Bengali texts of the 15th and 17th centuries. The present structure was built between 1798 and 1809 under the patronage of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family, begun by Santosh Roy Chowdhury. The temple square grew over the 19th century: a Nat Mandir was added in 1835, the Shyam Rai temple in 1843 and its Dol Mancha in 1858. In 2024 the temple underwent its first major renovation since 1809, funded by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Reliance Foundation, during which the three spires were covered in gold.