Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple (Bengali: যশোরেশ্বরী কালী মন্দির Joshoreshshori Kali Mondir) is a famous Hindu temple in Bangladesh, dedicated to the goddess Kali

Kali

' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...

. The temple is located in Ishwaripur

Ishwaripur

Ishwaripur is one of the historically famous villages in Bangladesh. It has many beautiful sites; including the Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple, the Triangular Chanda Bhairab Temple, the Five domed Tenga Mosque & a Hammamkhana built in the late sixteenth century by Maharaja Pratapaditya.- Location,...

, a village in Shyamnagar upazilla

Shyamnagar

Shyamnagar Upazila is a small town and the largest thana of Bangladesh with an area of 1968.24 km². It has many beautiful places including some part of the Sundarban, the largest mangrove forest in the world.-Location:...

 of Satkhira

Satkhira District

The district of Satkhira consists 3296 mosques, 1305 temples, 59 churches, 35 Buddhist temples, 8 tombs and 45 shrines.-Subdivisions:Satkhira subdivision was established in 1861 under Jessore district. It was included into Khulna district in 1882. The subdivision was upgraded into a district in...

. The name "Jeshoreshwari" means "Goddess of Jeshore".

Legend

Jeshoreshwari is regarded as one of the 51 Peeth

Shakti Peethas

The Shakti Pithas are places of worship consecrated to the goddess Shakti or Parvati or Sati or Durga, the female principal of Hinduism and the main deity of the Shakta sect...

 of Sati; according to the belief, it is where the various parts of Sati's body are said to have fallen, in the course of Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

's Rudra Tandava. Jeshoreshwari represents the site where the palm of Sati fell. Legend says that the General of Maharaja Pratapaditya discovered a luminant ray of light coming from the bushes, and came upon a piece of stone carved in the form of a human palm. Later, Pratapaditya started worshiping Kali, building the Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple. As to be the "Goddess of Jessore", it was named after Jessore.

History

It is believed to have created by a brahman named Anari. He created a 100 door temple for the Jeshoreshwari Peeth. But the timeline is not to be known. Later it has been renovated by Laxman Sen and Pratapaditya in their reigning periods.

Worship and Rituals

The temple is visited by pilgrims from all over, irrespective of sectarian differences. Worship is done by the priest every Saturday and Tuesday at noon time. But before 1971, there was daily routine of worship. Every year on the day of Kali puja

Kali Puja

Kali Puja or Shyama Puja is a festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, celebrated on the new moon day of the Hindu month Ashwin in Bengal. It coincides with the pan-Indian Lakshmi Puja day of Diwali...

, the present Caretakers of the temple conduct a ceremony. There is also a Mela taking place around the temple compound.

'Natmondir' and Architecture

A large rectangular covered platform called Natmondir has been erected adjacent to the main temple, from where the face of goddess can be seen. This was renovated by Laxman Sen in the late 13th century, but the builders are not known. After 1971, it crumbled. Now only the pillars can be seen.