Sri Ramakrishna's Dakshineswar

The Dakshineswar Kali Temple was founded around the middle of the 19th century by Rani Rashmoni who was well known for her philanthropic activities. In 1847, before leaving on a pilgrimage to the sacred city of Kashi, she had a vision of the Divine Mother in the form of the goddess Kali who said to Rashmoni:

There is no need to go to Banaras. Install my statue in a beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges river and arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest myself in the image and accept worship at that place.

And so the Kali Temple at Dakshineswar was built. In 1856 the head priest, Ramkumar Chhattopadhyay, died and was succeeded by his brother, Sri Ramakrishna. From then until his death 30 years later in 1886, Ramakrishna was responsible for bringing much in the way of both fame and pilgrims to the temple.

Sri Ramakrishna’s Dakshineswar tells the story of the temple and provides invaluable pictures and vivid descriptions of Sri Ramakrishna’s life in Dakshineswar. Most of the incidents described in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna having taken place in Dakshineswar, the book is a source of information and inspiration to all Ramakrishna’s devotees and earnest seekers of spiritual values.