Boro Maa Kali Bari Temple

About

Boro Kāli Bāri is among the oldest and most important Hindu Temples of the city of Mymensingh in northern Bangladesh. The shrine is dedicated to the Mother Goddess in her form as Kālī, and stands within easy reach of the city centre, about a ten-minute rickshaw ride from Ganginapar Mour.

The great festival of the Temple is Kālī Pūjā, when crowds of devotees gather for night-long darśana and offerings. Since 2013, the Kāli Bāri Kings Club has introduced themed pandals at the festival that retell episodes from Hindu sacred narrative, a practice that other local clubs have since followed. Durgā Pūjā, Lakṣmī Pūjā, Sarasvatī Pūjā, and Manasā Pūjā are also observed here through the year. The daily worship typically begins after sunset, and the lanes around the Temple are lined with stalls of sweets and offerings.

History

The Boro Kālī Bāri is said to have been established around three hundred years ago, during the rule of Nawab Alivardi Khan in Bengal. By local tradition the Temple was founded by Tāntric devotees, who consecrated the Goddess on a panchamundī altar of five skulls and a narimuṇḍa altar of one. The story is told that a black stone (kasṭipāthar) image of Kālī was once drawn up in a fisherman's net from the waters of the Brahmaputra; on seeing the image he cried out, 'Joy Kālī! Joy Kālī!', and the deity has carried that name in the Temple ever since. The fisherman entrusted the image to the Tāntrics, who consecrated her under a great banyan tree, where a simple thatched shrine first stood. The Temple has been repaired over the years; the historic black-stone mūrti has been succeeded by a new larger image of Mā Kālī, and shrines to Gaṇeśa and Bipadnāśinī have been added to the precinct.

Significance

Boro Kālī Bāri is a Śākta centre of long memory in eastern Bengal, sheltering the worship of Mā Kālī as Joy Kālī across more than three centuries. Together with the Durgā Bāri, Thanarghat Śiva, Dāśabhujā Bāri, Śiva Bāri, and Biśvanāth Temples of Mymensingh, it forms part of the living Hindu fabric of the city.