Daskineswar

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Dakshineswar

 

 

"Awake, Mother, Awake! How long Thou hast been asleep

"In the lotus of the Muladhara!

"Fulfill Thy secret function, Mother:

"Rise to the thousand-petalled lotus within the head,

"Where mighty Shiva has His dwelling;

"Swiftly pierce the six lotuses

"And take away my grief, O Essence of Consciousness!" [from Gospel

of Sri Ramakrishna]

 

Dakshineswar is a grand and glorious temple to the Goddess Kali,

located on the banks of the Ganges River north of Calcutta. It was

built in the 19th Century. Inside is a statue of Kali standing on her

husband, Shiva. People come and throw flowers at the statue,

shouting "Jai Kali Ma!" or "Jai Kali!" or "Jai Ma" or some other

variation on this.

The priests in the Temple treat the statue as a person. They wash

her every day with water from the Sacred Ganges River, feed her

(eating the leftovers themselves), and make sure that she gets

sufficient sleep at night. Every New Moon, they ritually kill a goat

in her honor.

One important story relates Hindu attitudes toward theology and

treatment of animals. Kali's son Ganesh (or Ganesa, a very popular

God in his own right, shown in art with the body of a man and the

head of an elephant) hit a cat. When he got home, he saw that the

injury that he had caused the cat appeared also on his mother's body.

This illustrates the idea that the Goddess does not live in the sky

or on a mountaintop, but in the hearts of her children. This includes

animals. If you injure another person or injure an animal, you are

attacking the Goddess within. Therefore, you should cherish all life,

whether human or animal.

A few points about theology and imagery:

 

1. What does the name Kali mean? It is from kala, meaning time. She

is the power of time, which devours all.

 

2. Where should one worship Kali? The best place would be in a

cremation ground amid dead bodies, but some other place will suffice

if you are not into this sort of thing.

 

3. Why is her hair disheveled? Because she has unbounded freedom.

 

4. Why is Kali naked? Because she encompasses all. No person and no

thing can encompass her, not even clothing.

 

5. Why is she black? Because nothing can escape her, not even light.

 

6. Why does she have three eyes? The third symbolizes wisdom.

 

7. What is the goal of life? Oneness with the Divine, as opposed to

possession of material wealth as many in the West believe.

 

8. Why does Kali wear earrings with images of embryos? To illustrate

that she creates as well as destroys. Many outsiders see the fearsome

way in wich Kali is portrayed and think of her only as an evil,

destructive entity. Christianity is characterized by a sharp

distinction between good and evil. God is good, but the Devil is bad.

Hinduism lacks this. The gods and goddesses represent power. That

power can create or can destroy. Kali does both.

 

There are two major celebrations: Durga Puja and Kali Puja. Durga is

the yellow form of the Goddess; remember that she has many names

because she can change her shape and her color according to the

situation. Durga Puja is a really big deal in Bengal, comparable to

Christmas in the US, though without the flying deer. It is a 5-day

celebration with lots of ceremony. People make clay statues of Durga,

displaying them for everyone to see. At the end of the 5 day holiday,

everyone washes the statues in the Ganges River. The priests at

Daskineswar do not make a yellow Durga statue, but instead worship

the black Kali statue during Durga Puja.

Kali Puja follows three weeks after Durga Puja, during the

darkness of the New Moon. It is a more solemn affair than the Durga

Puja, but of immense spiritual importance. Lots of praying and

chanting and that sort of thing.

Jai Kali Ma!

 

Sister Usha