When Maa Durga had to move to Kolkata from Dhaka after 1947 partition r¡ots

The original Dhakeshwari temple in Dhaka was built and Devi installed in 12th c. CE by Raja Ballal Sen (Sena dynasty), and Dhaka was named after the Devi.

During the post partition days, as r¡ots continued unabated, in 1948 a special plane shrouded in secrecy arrived in Kolkata from Dhaka. As curiosity grew around the special flight, it was soon learned that the passenger who had flown in was a very special one. It was the murti of Devi Dhakeshwari from the famed temple in Dhaka. The small golden murti of the Devi was put into a box, placed inside an ordinary suitcase, and covered with clothes and newspapers to avoid Dhaka customs detection. The suitcase was carried by Rajendra Kishore Tiwari (temple sevayat), and accompanying him were Harihar Chakravarty and Brajendra Dubey. The murti, once in Kolkata, was taken to the home of an industrialist Debendranath Chowdhury, whose family owned the Banga Laxmi Cotton Mill. Soon Debendranath Chowdhury acquired land in Kumartuli and built a temple, where Dhakeshwari devi was installed in 1950 and the temple was named Dhakeshwari Matar Mandir.

Images are of Dhakeswari Devi that is Katyani Durga, an aspect of Devi Mahisasuramardini in the Dhakeswari mandir, Kumartuli, Kolkata.

#Navratri #DurgaPuja