Adayapeath Kolkata

300 years old, and growing younger by the day — that’s Kolkata for you! The cultural and intellectual capital of India, and the place where the traditional meets the modern and fuses to give rise to an exotic and interesting ambience, Kolkata is growing to be one of the top tourist locations in Eastern India. There are many wonderful places of interest in Kolkata, where tourists can get a feel of the city and its rich culture and vibrant heritage. One such tourist attraction is the Adayapeath, Kolkata.

The temple of Adayapeath, Kolkata, is located at Dakshineswar, and dedicated to ‘Ma Kali’, the presiding deity of the city, and the ‘Divine Mother’ revered by Kolkatans. According to legend, the setting up of this temple is shrouded in mystery and strange dreams. The Adayapeath, Kolkata, was founded by a young Brahmin named Annada Charan Bhattacharya, who had dream visitations, from Ma Kali and Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

Following a dream, he went to the Eden gardens in Kolkata, where he discovered a foot tall black marble idol of Adya Ma, with all her bodily parts were well preserved and no damage. He took it home and began worshipping it, but was commanded in another dream to immerse the image in the Ganges. Unwilling, but due to deep devotion, he photographed the image and then immersed it. It was with this image that he then set up the temple of Adayapeath, Kolkata.

The temple of Adayapeath, Kolkata, is in reality three temples in one, with altar built like large steps. The bottom stair was to have he deity of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa seated in a cross legged posture, the second was to be the replica of the all powerful Adya Ma that Annada Charan had found, an the topmost step of the Adayapeath, Kolkata, was to have the emblems of eternal love, Radha & Krishna, encircled by the sacred syllable “Om”.

Another very interesting fact about the Adayapeath, Kolkata, is that the temple, made of white marble, is a unique instance of the unity of religions preached by Ramakrishna Paramahansa. The spire of the Adayapeath, Kolkata, combines Shiva's Trident, the Moon and Star, the Cross, and the Hand Fan, which are respectively, the symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism.