Siddheswari Kali Mandir

• NAME : Debiprasad Mukhopadhyay
• AGE : 62
• LOCATION : Siddheswari Kali Mandir
• OCCUPATION : Devotee

Debi Prasad Mukhopadhyay calmly narrated the history of Siddhewsari Mandir to me and KB. He patiently answered all our questions. His family carry on the responsibility of taking care of the idol and the temple.

The idol itself is over than 500 years old. The Goddess appeared in the dream of the celebrated Sadhak Kaliprasad. She revealed herself to the Sadhu(holy man) and told him that she can be found in the southern side of a village where the Ganges ends. Sadakh Kaliprasad came down from the Himalayas with his two disciples and discovered the idol on the southern side of a forest in West Bengal, exactly where the Goddess had told him She would be found. Kolkata was not kolkata then. The Goddess had directed the Sadhu to establish her in The Maha Pith(Kalighat). But Sadhak Kaliprasad being a holy man of very limited means, offered water and sugar to the Goddess. He then meditated and prayed till  the Goddess gave him permission to establish Her in that place only. After establishing the Goddess, the Sadhu went back to his Himalayan abode.

The history of how the temple was built around the idol is equally interesting. There is a well known Madan Mohan temple a few feet away from the Siddheswari Kali Temple.One follower of the Madan Mohan temple was Shyam Chand Mullick. He happened to be the local zamindar. Daily while coming back from the Madan Mohan temple he had to cross the Siddheswari Kali idol. He would cover his face up so that he did not have to view the Goddess's face. In  pre-indepant India of 17th century, being a Vaishanb(follower of Krishna) it would be heresy on his part if he even as much as glanced at the Kali idol. But then over the next few days, he started hallucinating the Goddesses's face while looking at Lord Madan Mohan. He was deeply repentant and as a token of begging forgiveness he built the temple. He also engraved his name on the floor in front of the idol. The idea is that his offense would be slowly reduced as people step over his name to pray to the Goddess.

A few decades later towards the early 1700 this temple, became a place of worship and a centre for the notorious Dacoits of the day. Historically for some reason the Dacoits have been ardent devotee and worshipper of Kali, the ultimate symbol of female power. This Kali idol came to be known as one of the Dakate Kali idols. The Dacoits would abduct innocent victims and use them as human sacrifice by beheading them and offering the fresh blood to appease the Goddess. Infact the Kali idol is placed on top of three Dacoit heads. Even to date the Harikath(the Y shaped structure where the victims head would be placed while his hands would be tied behind his back) and the Khorgho(chopper used to chop the head off) is preserved inside the temple. It was only towards the end of 1700 when, one day Lord Clive , the then viceroy of East India Company, was passing the temple on his boat via the Ganges, came upon a little child about to be sacrificed. That is when he took measures to stop this barbaric ritual of human sacrifice.

This place also is witness to several other historical incidents. The Siddheswari Kali idol was referred to as Ginnima by Ramkrishna Parhamhansa Deb. This is where he stayed when he used to visit Kolkata. Once when Keshab Chandra was grievously sick, Ramkrishna Deb asked him to offer prayer to the Siddheswari Kali Ma. But Keshab Chandra being an ardent Brahmo Samaj member refused. Then Ramkrishna Deb came all the way over to Siddheswari Kali and offered prayer on Keshab Chandra Sen's behalf. 

The celebrated theater personality Girish Chandra Ghosh used to come to Siddheswari Kali Ma to seek blessing after every new play that he would write.

I am not a religious person. I am, what can be best described as agnostic. But this idol(Mrinmoyi Murti) has a calm and powerful aura. Just being in Her presence will make you close your eyes and offer a prayer. I did offer a prayer and also made a wish. Later KB told me that she prayed and wished that I would make a wish inside that temple. So if that means that her wished came true.... does it mean so will mine ?


P.S. - I am uploading the narrative in Debiprasad Mukhopadhyay's own voice. It is in three parts and might not be very cohesive.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3