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Built by Rani Rasmoni of North Calcutta in the 19th century, the Dakshineswar Kali Temple is situated on the bank of Ganges, northeast of Calcutta. Maa Kali here is in a benign form. She is the Dakshina Kali, with Her right foot front. It is famous as the temple where Maa Kali came alive for Sri Ramakrishna, the renowned spiritual personality and the guru of Swami Vivekananda. Many great saints like Paramahansa Yogananda, Ananda-moyi Ma, Neem Karoli Baba and Papa Ram Das are known to have had mystical experiences in its hallowed grounds.
Some 300 miles from Calcutta, Tarapith is situated on the banks of the north flowing Dwarka river, in Birbhum, in West Bengal. A seat of tantra studies, this is yet another holy shrine devoted to the worship of the female principle of creation, or Shakti. Tarapith is where Vasistha, the son of Brahma, the creator among the Hindu trinity first attained his spiritual salvation. As the legend goes, Vasistha, after repeated failure in his attempt to acquire salvation, went away to China, mastered it there, and brought it back to Tarapith. A very similar form of this quasi Buddhist asceticism is still practiced here, which involves austerities and meditation, leading to a final communion with God. The temple that was built by Vasistha got buried under the earth with the passage of time. Tarapith as it stands today, was built by Joybroto, a merchant, who received directions from Tara Maa in his sleep to unearth the 'brahmashila', or the sacred stone, to set it up as a shrine in a proper place. Tara Maa of Tarapith, another form of Kali, has two hands, is garlanded with snakes, is adorned in sacred threads, and has Shiva lying in her left lap sucking her breast.
Kamakhya Temple, wrapped in legends, mythology, and the splendour of nature, is a cave temple built atop the Neelachal hills in Guwahati. Considered one of the holiest shrines of the Shakta Hindus in India and a seat of tantrik studies, Kamakhya is one of the 'pithostans', where the 'yoni' of Uma or Shakti was said to have fallen during the 'tandava nritya' of Shiva. In the sanctum sanctorum, there is no idol, but a dark, evenly shaped stone. The actual site of the temple is a cave with a spring, where the locals worshipped the Mother Goddess some 5000 years back, later identified as Shakti. Every year, in a particular month, 'ashadha' (June-July), the spring water turns red. This is identified as the Goddess's menstruation and the Temple is closed to the public as well as to the priests for three days of the 'ambubachi'. According to folklore, the temple was built by Narakasura, the demon king of ancient Assam, only to be rebuilt in the 10th century by Koch Narnarayana, a king who ruled much of Assam alongside the Ahom kings. |
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