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Kolkata · Spiritual
Kalighat
The Kali Temple
The temple that named the city: pilgrim queues, hibiscus garlands, and the city's oldest quarter around it.
One of the 51 Shakti Pithas, where a finger of the goddess Sati is said to have fallen. The Kali temple is the heart of Bengali devotion: hibiscus-garland queues, morning goat sacrifices, icon-sellers at every step. Next door stands Mother Teresa's Nirmal Hriday hospice. Powerful, unsettling, unmissable; go open-hearted, cameras away inside.
Who it suits
the Kali temple pilgrimage living Shakti tradition
Staying here
Pilgrim guesthouses around the temple: simple and loud.
In the evening
Early morning is the hour; the darshan queue grows with the sun.
Getting there
Ⓜ Kalighat (Blue)
What to see
KalighatThe ancient heart of Kali worship
Shopping
The Seagull BookstoreA world publisher's own shop, quiet and full of editions India rarely stocks
Other areas of Kolkata
BBD Bagh (Dalhousie)Park StreetThe Maidan & VictoriaShobhabazarCollege StreetKumartuliDakshineswar & Belur
Areas on the map
In the app: the city's areas on the map, the places inside and a route.
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