Dakshineshwar – TIW Travel

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Ancient Bengal was the site of various vedic Kingdoms. The region gets its name from the ancient kingdom of Banga referenced in the Sanskrit texts. Blessed with the bounties of nature, Bengal is a land of richness of culture and heritage. The place has been blessed with the tap and sadhna of some of the greatest rishis and yogis of the yore, their energy still resonating at certain locations in the state…

Earlier, rajas and maharajas would build temples on the lands where yogis and rishis performed tapa. These places, having witnessed exchanges and interactions of the yogis with subtler energies, carried the impressions of those interactions in the form of vibrations. These temples were then visited by sadhaks to open blocks in their sadhna with the help of the energy of the place. One such place that deserves a special mention is the Dakshineshwar Temple, on the eastern banks of river Hooghly in Kolkata. The place abounds with stories of miracles and supernatural experiences.

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The temple is dedicated to Ma Bhavatarini, an aspect of the Supreme Goddess Kali.  According to traditional accounts, Rani Rasmani was preparing to make a pilgrimage to the city of Benaras in 1847, when she had a vision of Ma Kali. The goddess indicated that she would manifest in a temple built on the banks of Ganga. Rani immediately started the construction of a temple which got completed in the year 1855. One of the greatest yogis of modern times, Ramkrishna Paramhans spent significant years of his sadhna in this place, this is the spot where he got initiation/shakti-path from his Guru, Totapuriji. There still exists a room in the northwest corner of the temple which is dedicated to this mystical yogi. The vibrancy and energy of the place is phenomenal.

We visited the temple some time back and were shocked to see the state the place was in. There were layers of dirt and filth inside, plastic and wrappers strewn outside. We cleaned the temple complex ourselves. Since then, some interest has been shown by the government and the cleanliness is maintained. However, the initiative to develop it as a spiritual and tourism centre is lacking.

If you travel to the West, you will notice that they take great pains in preserving their culture. Heritage buildings and monuments are looked after with utmost care and exude the sense of pride that people take in their culture and lineage. Even the palaces and mansions of lesser known chiefs and landlords are preserved and converted into museums, the artefacts intact and accessible to anyone who wishes to see them. In our country, on the other hand, the artefacts are locked up in storerooms which are not opened for years together, to be eaten up by insects. Powerful centres like Dakshineshwar are left to rot and be forgotten in the dusts of time. It is a pity that a country as glorious and culturally rich as ours is so ignorant of our powerful culture which has attracted men from far and wide towards this land.

The world is looking East and benefitting from what our ancestors have handed down to us, we on the other hand are following Western innovations. Do not learn their technology, the touch-phones and tablets, learn to take care of culture and heritage from them.

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TIW Bureau

TIW Bureau

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