Kalighat Kali Temple

Kalighat Kali Temple is a Hindu temple in Kalighat, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. It is one of the 51 Shakti Pithas in eastern India.

Legend
The term Kalighat originated from the goddess Kali who resides in the temple, and Ghat (riverbank) where the temple is located.

As per mythology, on learning about the death of Sati by self-immolation, Shiva was blinded in rage and started the Tandav Nritya (Dance of Destruction). To prevent the world from eminent destruction, Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra to cut the corpse of Sati into 51 pieces, which fell in various places of the Indian subcontinent. Kalighat represents the site where the toes of the right foot of Dakshayani or Sati fell.

History
The Kalighat Kali temple in its present form is about 200 years old, although it has been referred to in Mansar Bhasan composed in the 15th century, and Kavi Kankan Chandi in the 17th century. The present structure of the temple was completed under the Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family's patronage in 1809. Santosh Roy Chowdhury, a Kali devotee himself, started the construction of the present-day temple in 1798. It took 11 years to complete the construction. The factual authenticity of Roy Chowdhurys' being the traditional patron of the deity is disputed. Pilgrims to the site practice a holy dipping event called Snan Yatra in the temple's Kundupukur tank.

In 1835 Kashinath Roy built a Nat Mandir in the temple square. In 1843 Vaishnavite Uday Narayan Mondal established the present day ShyamRai temple in the Kalighat temple square. In 1858 a Dal Mancha was installed by Madan Gopal Koley for the ShyamRai temple.