Sri Kankalitala Temple, West Bengal

Address

Sri Kankalitala Temple, BolpurLabhPur Road, Distt, Kankalitala, West Bengal 731204

Diety

Shakti: Devgarbha Bhairava: Ruru Body part or ornament:Bone

Introduction

Kankalitala Temple is situated on the banks of Kopai river in the north-east of Bolpur (Shanti Niketan), in the Birbhum district of the state of West Bengal. The temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peeth of Goddess Sati, where the waist of Mother Sati fell. Kankalitala Temple is listed among the most prominent temples of Hinduism. Goddess Sati is the presiding goddess of the temple. It is believed that, when Sati’s waist (Kankal in the Bengali language) fell at this place, it caused a depression in the earth, which was later filled with water, and a divine kund was formed. Idols and Statues made up of stone, metal, or clay are not available in this temple. There is a framed painting depicting goddess Kali standing on the top of Lord Shiva. The divine energies of Goddess Sati and Lord Shiva are placed as ‘Devgarbha,’ and ‘Ruru,’ respectively in the temple.

Puranic Significance

ANOTHER STORY OF SATI: In Hindu mythology, the son of Brahma, King Prajapati Daksha had a daughter named Sati. Princess Sati grew up adoring the legends and tales of Shiva, and when finally her age of getting married came, she knew it was only the ascetic Lord Shiva of Kailash where her heart and soul resided. Soon enough, Daksha’s daughter left her father’s luxuries and palace and began her meditation to win Shiva’s heart. She performed intense penance in dense forests and renounced food completely. When she finally pleased Shiva through her austerities, the lord of Kailash appeared in front of her and agreed to marry her.The legend goes that Sati and Shiva were happy in their marital bliss, but their marriage had not gone down too well with King Daksha, who considered ascetic Shiva nothing short of an uncouth lad who lives a hermit’s life not worthy of his daughter. So when Daksha organized a great yajna, he invited all the deities, gods and sages–but consciously excluded his son-in-law Shiva to insult him. Hurt by her father’s decision, Sati decided to visit her father and demand the reason for not inviting them. When she entered Daksha’s palace, she was bombarded with insults directed towards the Shiva. Haughty and proud King Prajapati Daksha called him all sorts of names right from a dishevelled god who hung out in graveyard to the supposed ‘lord of the beasts’. Unable to bear anything against her husband, a devastated Goddess Sati threw herself in the glowing scared fire of yajna. When Shiva’s attendants informed him about the demise of his wife, he grew enraged and created Veerbhadra from a lock of his hair. Veerbhadra created havoc in Daksha’s palace and killed him. Meanwhile, mourning his beloved soulmate’s death, Shiva tenderly held Sati’s body and started his dance of destruction (taandav). To save the universe and bring back Shiva’s sanity, Lord Vishnu cut Sati’s lifeless body using Sudharshan Chakra into 51 pieces.There are 51 Shakti Peeth linking to the 51 alphabets in Sanskrit. Each temple has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava. The Shakti of the temple is addressed as “Devgarbha” and the Bhairava as “Ruru”. It is believed that Sati Devi’s bones have fallen here.