THE KALIGHAT TEMPLE

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

[ Back ] [ Up ] [ Next ]