The Dakshineswar Kali Temple was founded around the middle of the 19th century by
Mahishya zamindar
Rani Rashmoni. She was well known for her philanthropic activities. In the year 1847, Rashmoni prepared to go upon a long
pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu city of
Kashi (known also as Varanasi or Benares) to express her devotions to the
Divine Mother. Rani was to travel in twenty-four boats, carrying relatives, servants, and supplies. Profoundly affected by the dream, Rani immediately looked for and purchased a plot in the village of Dakshineswar. The large temple complex was built between 1847 and 1855. The plot was bought from an Englishman, Jake Hastie, and was then popularly known as
Saheban Bagicha. Built partly on ground shaped like a tortoise and thus considered befitting for the worship of Shakti according to Tantra traditions, it took eight years and nine hundred thousand rupees to complete the construction. The image of Goddess Kali was installed on the
Snana Yatra day on 31 May 1855, amid grand festivities. The temple was known then as
Sri Sri Jagadishwari Mahakali, with Ramkumar Chhattopadhyay as the head priest. His younger brother Gadadhar (later known as
Ramakrishna) and his nephew Hriday moved in to assist him. On 31 May 1855, more than 1 lakh (one hundred thousand)
Brahmins were invited from different parts of the country to grace the auspicious occasion. The next year, 1856, Ramkumar died, and the position of head priest was given to
Ramakrishna. His wife,
Sarada Devi, stayed in the south side of the
Nahabat (music tower), in a small room on the ground floor which is now a shrine dedicated to her.
Rani Rashmoni lived for only five years and nine months after the inauguration of the temple. She fell seriously ill in 1861. Realizing that her death was near, she decided to hand over the property she had purchased in
Dinajpur (now in
Bangladesh) as a legacy for the maintenance of the temple to the temple trust. She accomplished her task on 18 February 1861 and died on the next day. From 1902-1932, lay disciple
Mahendranath Gupta published the
Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, known in English as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It contains practical teachings given by Sri Ramakrishna over a four year period to his lay devotees and disciples, including moments with Naredranath Dutta, later world-famous as
Swami Vivekananda. ==Architecture==