Dakshineswar Kali Temple

Dakshineswar Kali Temple stands on the east bank of the Hooghly just north of Kolkata, with Belur Math visible across the water. It was built by Rani Rashmoni, a wealthy and devout patron who opened it to worshippers of every faith and caste. The goddess is worshipped as Bhavatarini, standing on the chest of Shiva on a silver lotus of a thousand petals, and the shrine's formal name is Sri Sri Jagadishwari Mahakali.

Tradition says the Rani was about to set out for Varanasi when Kali told her in a dream to build a shrine beside the Ganga instead. She bought a 20-acre plot that had included a Muslim burial ground and a European-owned garden. Work took eight years, and the deities were installed on 31 May 1855, the day of Snana Yatra. The main shrine is a three-storey navaratna temple crowned by nine spires, fronted by a natmandir and flanked by twelve aat-chala Shiva shrines and a Radha-Krishna temple.

Visitors also see the room where Sri Ramakrishna lived for 14 years, the Kuthi Bari, the nahabat where drums play at aarti, Bakul Tala Ghat and the Panchavati grove of his long spiritual practice.