Recently, I made my second trip to the city of joy, Kolkatta.This time it was a sight seeing trip combined with the purpose of visiting my daughter. I was very much keen to see Belur Mutt and the famous Kolkatta Kali temple. I studied in a Ramakrishna Mission school and always was inspired by Ramakrishna and Vivekanada's teachings. Hence the visit to Belur Ramakrishna Mutt was very special. Like all Mutt premises in other parts of the country, Belur was so peaceful and beautiful.
Kolkatta as a city was stark in its dusty and dirty roads and buses, abject poverty was evident in every nook and corner of the city. It was a common sight to see groups of people washing and bathing in open at the corners of even busy roads. I thought, Mumbai , despite its staggering slum population has an air of affluence which is lacking in Kolkatta.
My expectations about the most famous Kali temple at Kali Ghat in Kolkatta was high after hearing about the aura and power of Kali narrated by her devotees. My cousin, with who I stayed, was luckily staying close to the Kali temple. She suggested that we visit the temple late night as the crowd would be minimal at that time and we can have a hassle-free darshan. I had been warned of pandas (beggars living in the temple) who can extract money, grab your purse at the Kali temple. So it was a good suggestion to visit the temple late night.
I was imagining a smooth passage to the sanctum sanctorum and a nice, peaceful darshan at that time. But I was surprised to see quite a crowd at the temple even at that time. There was no proper approach or line to the sanctum sanctorum. there were dogs roaming around and beggars all along the way and to top it all, the sanctum sanctorum itself was so crowded, people were entering and moving out at their will and the entire area was dirty, filled with water and slush , with dried flowers, food and all other muck. I just could not experience any divinity with so much to be careful about before actually having proper darshan. Within seconds , even before we could realize we were close to Kali Mata we were smeared with tilak and money was grabbed from our hands by the pandit and we were pushed out. I was wondering where was the aura or divine shakthi of Kali which I was supposed to experience? Did I miss it because I was more worried about my mother who could slip and fall in that slush? or was it because I am not yet spiritual enough to ignore the surrounding and just concentrate on the divine power of the Kali mata? Whatever be the reason, visit to the much awaited Kali temple turned out to be a damp squib.
I might sound very unspiritual to those believe in the divine power of Kali, but for me, peace and divinity can be experienced better in temples like tiruvannaikaval Jambukeshwarar temple or nagarajaswamy temple in Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu, where the premises are very clean, crowd is minimal on ordinary days and the mandaps are huge and you are allowed to sit there for hours just enjoying the nature and the fresh smell of jasmine flowers and incense sticks.
Images of Kali temple and Kali Mata
View of Belur Ramakrishna Mutt
With this visit to Kali temple, at least I realize, its going to take a while for me to feel spiritual and experience divine peace in a temple despite its disorderliness and muck.
Kolkatta as a city was stark in its dusty and dirty roads and buses, abject poverty was evident in every nook and corner of the city. It was a common sight to see groups of people washing and bathing in open at the corners of even busy roads. I thought, Mumbai , despite its staggering slum population has an air of affluence which is lacking in Kolkatta.
My expectations about the most famous Kali temple at Kali Ghat in Kolkatta was high after hearing about the aura and power of Kali narrated by her devotees. My cousin, with who I stayed, was luckily staying close to the Kali temple. She suggested that we visit the temple late night as the crowd would be minimal at that time and we can have a hassle-free darshan. I had been warned of pandas (beggars living in the temple) who can extract money, grab your purse at the Kali temple. So it was a good suggestion to visit the temple late night.
I was imagining a smooth passage to the sanctum sanctorum and a nice, peaceful darshan at that time. But I was surprised to see quite a crowd at the temple even at that time. There was no proper approach or line to the sanctum sanctorum. there were dogs roaming around and beggars all along the way and to top it all, the sanctum sanctorum itself was so crowded, people were entering and moving out at their will and the entire area was dirty, filled with water and slush , with dried flowers, food and all other muck. I just could not experience any divinity with so much to be careful about before actually having proper darshan. Within seconds , even before we could realize we were close to Kali Mata we were smeared with tilak and money was grabbed from our hands by the pandit and we were pushed out. I was wondering where was the aura or divine shakthi of Kali which I was supposed to experience? Did I miss it because I was more worried about my mother who could slip and fall in that slush? or was it because I am not yet spiritual enough to ignore the surrounding and just concentrate on the divine power of the Kali mata? Whatever be the reason, visit to the much awaited Kali temple turned out to be a damp squib.
I might sound very unspiritual to those believe in the divine power of Kali, but for me, peace and divinity can be experienced better in temples like tiruvannaikaval Jambukeshwarar temple or nagarajaswamy temple in Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu, where the premises are very clean, crowd is minimal on ordinary days and the mandaps are huge and you are allowed to sit there for hours just enjoying the nature and the fresh smell of jasmine flowers and incense sticks.
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