Kankalitala Temple Shakti Peetha in Bolpur, West Bengal
Kankalitala Temple is close to Shantiniketan in Bolpur. It is an ideal destination for those spiritually inclined. You can hire a rickshaw to get there.
Story of Maa Kankalitala Mandir
Kankalitala is one sacred destination of Hindus. It is one of the 52 Shakti Peeths, which is holy abode of Goddess Sati. It is believed that Lord Shiva in a rage, refused to give up the corpse of Sati, his consort. He danced wildly and angrily. Lord Vishnu, in order to calm him down cut the corpse of Goddess Sati in to 52 pieces. One of the pieces, Her waist, is believed to have fallen here in Kankalitala. You can read the story in Bakreswar Shakti Peetha.
Goddess Parvati is the residing deity of the Kankalitala Temple. It created a depression in the earth which later filled up with water and formed the sacred kund (pond). It is strongly believed by devotees that the actual body part now lies underneath this water. Very clean and well maintained. The diety room has no idol but a photograph of Maa Kali.
Shakti Peetha
52 Shakti Peeths are scattered all over India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Nepal, Bangladesh and one in Pakistan too. Of these there are 13 Shakti Peetha in West Bengal. You can see the entire list here. At each location a temple is built or it existed for centuries.
- Phullara (lips) in Birbhum
- Goddess Bahula (left arm) in Burdwan
- Mahishmardini (portion between eyebrows) in Bakreswar
- Kalika (Right toes) in Kolkata
- Devagarbha (Bones) in Birbhum
- Vimla (Crown) in Murshidabad
- Kumai (right shoulder) in Hooghly
- Bhramaari (left leg) in Jalpaiguri
- Nandini (neck) in Birbhum
- Mangal Chandika (right wrist) in Burdwan
- Kapaalini (left ankle) in Midnapore
- Jugaadya (great toe) in Burdwan
- Kalika Devi (throat) in Birbhum
Kankalitala Temple Shakti Peetha
Kankalitala Temple is close to Shantiniketan. This temple is 8kms from Bolpur station. Prayers are offered on everyday basis, but it seemed to be a very desolate place. Sometime back in 2010, a major burglary took place there, the temple was looted. There is a boundary around the temple, but that seemed to be a mute spectator.
Local people believe that there is a stone in the depths of the pond near the temple which resembles a human skeleton. When the pond dries up during summers, when the water level recedes, this stone form is visible. Most of the locals claim to have seen it and the stone is said to have sharp edges causing cuts when one tries to touch it.
Kankalitala Temple Shakti Peetha holy banyan tree
A huge banyan tree provided shade to the temple complex. Just outside the temple premises under the hot sun, were a set of poor devotees seeking alms!
Meet a sadhu and pujari from Kankalitala in my Faces of India series – Faces of India 237, Faces of India-265
Kankalitala Temple sadhus seeking alms
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A very interesting story! So sorry the temple was vandalized. Thanks for sharing this.
So interesting.
Wonderful to have you at "Oh, the PLACES I have been!"
– The Tablescaper
Nice info and pictures too. It is an eyesore to find people begging before/near such important shrines. I think it is their passion.
That’s interesting epic on the temple! Located at a peaceful environment… like the banyan tree
That's too bad the place was taken advantage of like that. It looks like a beautiful place.
oh i had never heard of this temple..thanks indrani for sharing ,i have been to other shakti pith like mansadevi and kangradevi
fascinating place and history, thanks for sharing.
Interesting place..!
Beautiful pics…such a lonely tree.
Fascinating post and great shots. That's a shame about the robbery.
nice use of words!
Fascinating history !
Such a beautiful and colorful temple,its so annoying when you see that there are so many people ready to steal temples and shame the temple and the people who love it.
Lovely Post on Hindu Myth..Indeed one of the Shakti Peeth is Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati,Assam–There also one piece of Goddess Sati is said to fell there…
I love reading about the history of our temples . Lovely write up Indrani 🙂
fascinating place
Is there a throng of dwvotees to this hallowed ?The temple appears poor.If it has no financial wherewithal some philantropists should come to its,nitya puja, upkeep and maintenance.
Fascinating
Your photos are very colourful and the story about the Goddess Sati is very sad. It is sad too that the widows have to sit outside in the hot sun. It is too bad they do not have someone to care for them. I hope they get enough alms each day.
Telling pictures
That is an impressive banyan tree…so big…and the blue on the columns in the first picture is so pretty. I know it must be a lovely temple to visit. genie
chopping the body to pieces to calm the grieving down. that's counterintuitive but maybe gods work differently.
people vandalize anything. how to cultivate everyone?
never heard abt this…thanks for sharing Ind
Interesting story (I clicked on the link). Does the number 52 have significance? Now, of course, it's the number of weeks in a year. I'm always confused and overwhelmed by the number of deities and their various forms…
Hindu temples are always alive with such colours.
Nice to read your post & pics, Beautiful temple. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful impressions … I would love to be there!
Thanks sharing your knowledge.How horrible to loot a temple.
Isn't that banyan tree amazing!
Wonderful story of this place. Nice to know about this place.
What a lovely and fascinating place.
i really enjoy learning more about the very vast and deep indian culture.
Thank you for bringing us.
Aloha
that tree is special!
This is a beautiful temple. Vandalism is always horrible, but vandalism in a sacred place seems especially evil.
Lovely Temple,full of history.
Very nice post.
Lovely little temple full of history. I once visited a temple in Haridwar, where they believed Sati Devi's eyes fell.
Such a beautiful place and wonderful captures as always, Indrani!! I always look forward to seeing pictures of your world! Have a great week!
Lovely post again…..alway nice and interesting Indrani.
Greetings, Joop
Oh, what a shame the temple was looted!