Popular as a place of goddess Durga and her various forms, Kolkata is a city of religion, festivals and joy. A really good percentage of population here worship goddess Durga or Kali and thus the city has various shrines dedicated to the goddess. Some of which are quite significant for devotees. Kalighat temple is one of these holy shrines that are quite close to the hearts of worshippers. Kalighat Temple as the name suggests is dedicated to goddess Kali. It is situated in the southern part of Kolkata city. The present day temple was created by a Brahmin named Sabarna Roy Choudhury but it is believed that the original temple was built centuries ago by King Manasingha sometime in the sixteenth century. The original temple was set up in a hut at that time. The present day temple’s work started in the year 1809.This temple is one of the fifty two Shakti Peethas in the country. there is a mythological story attached to this temple and it goes like this: thousands of centuries back when lord Shiva was doing his Tandav Nratya (Frightening dance) as denoted by Hindus as Pralay dance, holding his dead wife Sati on his shoulders, Lord Vishnu tried to stop him. In order to do so he has to cut his dead wife Sati into pieces using his Chakra and these pieces spread all over. One of these pieces of her body fell at the Kalighat where the temple of Kali is built. Thus this place has become one of the Shakti Peethas of fifty two.The shrine sees good crowd of devotees from all over the city and has become quite a significant Hindu pilgrimage. The temple is very beautifully decorated with flowers and illuminated with uncountable lights on the occasion of Diwali and Navratri. Apart from these two festivals on Kali puja, Durga Puja, Poila Baishakh, Bangali New Year and on Sankranti also loads of people come to offer prayers in the temple. Not only from the city but devotees from other parts of country also visit the shrine to offer their prayers. Face of the Goddess was created first. Then some of the remaining parts were added later over the years. The hands of the goddess are made of gold and silver metals. From 1960 the administrative management is looked after by Government and Haldar family together. There were paintings of Kalighat are sold here as a souvenir. If you do not want to visit the temple in crowd then go on a Wednesday or Thursday as Tuesdays and Saturdays are special for devotees of Kali and good number of people visit on these two days of week.How to reach the temple?There are buses as well as trams can be used to reach here as it connects to all parts of the city. The temple is located off the Shyam Prasad Mukharjee Road and almost all buses passes through this road while going to South Kolkata. This place is also connected to Metro Railway station.Opening timingsThe temple is open from 5.00 am to 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm to 10.30 pm every day. The Aartis are performed in the morning and evenings.RUCHI MAHAJAN