Dakshineswar, India
Install my statue in a beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges River and arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest myself in the image and accept worship at that place.
—Maha Kali, as spoken in a dream to Rani Rashmoni (1793–1861), Indian philanthropist and founder of Dakshineswar Kali Temple
After taking charge of a temple dedicated to Maha Kali in 1856, the young Hindu priest Ramakrishna Paramahamsa became so absorbed with love for Mother Kali that he would plunge deeply into ecstatic devotion and lose consciousness. This happened so often that he was relieved of his priestly duties but continued to live in the temple complex. The three-story Kali Temple, with its nine spires, is built in traditional Bengali style and surrounded by an enormous courtyard housing other smaller temples. The temple seems to rise from the nearby sacred Ganges as if it were a lotus with petals (instead of turrets) turned upward toward heaven.
If you would like to see where Ramakrishna lived, absorbed in ecstatic love for Divine Mother, visit Dakshineswar Kali Temple—preferably during the dry season (September to May). During holidays such as Diwali in October or November, the complex is packed with pilgrims. Travel from Calcutta by rental car, taxi, or local bus or rail service.
Purchase a red flower to offer inside the temple, since red is Kali’s favorite color. Then pray for blessings of love from the Mother of Infinite Love.
In addition to the Kali temple, the compound features twelve shrines to Shiva (Kali’s companion) and a temple venerating Lord Krishna.