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Introduction
Kalighat temple in the city of Calcutta is well known throughout
India. Foreign tourists in Calcutta also usually visit this temple. There is a theory that
the name Kalikata anglicized into Calcutta is derived from the temple at Kalighat.
The temple at Kalighat as a place of worship for the Sakti
cultists was set up by the Sabarna Roy Choudhurys, a famous Brahmin Zamindar family of
Barisa in the district of 24 Parganas*. This family was one of the foremost
Brahmin families in Bengal and still continues to be very highly regarded for the various
contributions to the cultural development of Bengal. Barisa is a village about 8 miles
from Calcutta and adjoins Behala, another prosperousvillage. The side of the
Calcutta-Diamond Harbor Road locates it. Different branches of the Sabarna Roy Choudhurys
had settled themselves at other villages, namely, Halisahar, portions of Calcutta,
Baruipur, etc.
*Paschim Banger Sanskriti by Binoy Ghosh.
Author - P. C. Roy Choudhury
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