The Kali temple at Khalore, near Bagnan. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

A temple that was sacred to dacoits centuries ago still thrives, in a far more social avatar.

Lore has it that the goddess Kali appeared in Maharaja of Bardhaman Kandarpa Narayan’s dream and commanded him to set up a temple devoted to her on the bank of Damodar nearly 450 year ago. Kandarpa Narayan, a Kali devotee, obliged, and cleared the woods to build the temple, a 10-minute drive from Bagnan station.

The king also engaged sebaits (servants) for the daily worship of the goddess and the temple’s maintenance. It is said that in those times the Damodar flowed along the eastern side of the temple and the area was sparsely populated. In middle of the night, dacoits often came by the river to worship the dark goddess at the temple and pray for the success of their ventures.

Damodar changed its course nearly 200 years ago. In the past 50 years, the vicinity of the temple has turned densely populated. As a result, the number of visitors to the once-feared temple is increasing steadily.

Not that it ever lost its popularity. “We plan to build a guest house and prayer-room adjacent to the temple for the devotees who visit from far,” says Sachin Bhattacharya, one of the caretakers of the temple. “It is a private temple. Maharaja Kandarpa Narayan assigned our forefathers with the task of looking after the temple and offering puja every day. We still do that.”

Thousands of devotees from different parts of Howrah, the Midnapores, South 24-Paraganas and Hooghly, come here during Kali puja, Shivaratri, Nil puja and Gajan festivals. During Kali puja, goats are sacrificed at the temple.

The mud temple and clay image of Kali was damaged in a cyclonic storm in the Bengali year 1397 (next week, year 1414 rolls off). The temple’s caretakers and the people of Khalore collected donations to build a wooden idol of the goddess. The temple was also repaired.

Later, two Shiva temples on its east and west were added. There is also a Dharmaraj temple on the precinct.

The faith in the goddess seems to have been justified in the devotees’ imagination. “We believe she is our protector. Whenever we get into any trouble, the goddess saves us,” says Ujjal Chakraborty, a resident of Khalore.

Pratima Mukherjee, who came to the temple all the way from Sonarpur, said: “I prayed for my daughter who was suffering from a nerve ailment. The goddess answered my prayer.”