Goddess Kali is worshipped the most in West Bengal. Hence, the state is full of Kali Temples. During my recent visit to Kolkata I came across many Kali temples. But the one that really stunned me was the Dakat Kalibari Temple. Animal sacrifices are a regular practice in a lot of Kali temples. But there was a time long ago when human beings were sacrificed here.
Dakat Kalibari temple is situated on Purna Das Road in the city. It is just like any other lively street from Kolkata. The temple is situated inside a compound. When I visited the place, I was impressed with its old world décor, which indicated that it’s a centuries old temple. It looked like any other old temple to me, until I was told that at one point of time dacoits used to perform human sacrifices over here.
I was, obviously, stunned by this revelation, but there was more to come. The people running the temple have also kept the area and the trident where human sacrifices used to happen intact since over a century, as you can see in the picture below. One look at it made me go through a lot of feelings of what it might have looked like when such sacrifices used to happen at this place.
It is believed and as reported by The Statesman that brothers Raghu Ghosh and Bidhu Bhushan Ghosh installed the deity in the temple around five centuries ago. They used to work as daily wagers during the day and transform themselves as dacoits by the night. Their group was called Raghu Dakater Dal. Before heading out for every dacoity, they used to offer human sacrifice and roasted fish to the goddess in order to get her blessings for their ‘mission’.
Despite being a dacoit, Raghu was worshipped by the poor and the needy as a messiah or demigod for the help he used to provide to them.
Obviously, due to the fear of getting caught and killed in the sacrifice, nobody dared to venture around the temple. But once a devotee named Ram Prasad passed through the temple vicinity and was caught by the dacoits to offer him as sacrifice to the Goddess. He pleaded to Raghu to grant him one last wish – to sing a hymn for the Goddess. As Raghu was an ardent devotee of Kali, he agreed for the wish.
Photos courtesy: Roushni Sarkar
When Ram Prasad sang, Raghu and the other dacoits were mesmerized by his singing and devotion towards the Goddess. During this time, it is believed that Raghu had a vision of Kali Mata and he realized that the practice of human sacrifices should be stopped. It is also believed that from here onwards, Raghu became a follower of Ram Prasad. This is how the practice of human sacrifice was stopped at this temple.
Today, this temple is a peaceful place thronged by the locals and tourists alike.
Road to Divinity... 