Dakshineswar a temple town under Kamarhati Municipality in Barrackpore subdivision of the city Kolkata, West Bengal is famous for a temple dedicated to goddess Kali.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple is a large riverside Hindu temple complex and a place of pilgrimage for millions of Hindus around the world.  Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, an aspect of Kali, meaning, ‘She who liberates her devotees from the ocean of existence i.e. Saṃsāra’.The temple was built in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni, a philanthropist and a devotee of Kali. The temple is famous for its association with Ramakrishna, a mystic of 19th Century Bengal.  This famous religious thinker achieved his spiritual vision and preached the unity of all religions.

He served as a temple’s head priest. Since the first days of his service in the shrine of the goddess kali, was filled with a rare form of love for the Goddess known in Hinduism as maha-bhava . Worshipping in front of the statue of Goddess Kali, Ramakrishna used to overcome with such an ecstatic love for the deity that he would fall to the ground and immersed in spiritual trance, lose all consciousness of the external world. Ramakrishna fully realized the all inclusive nature of the divine.

The temple compound, apart from the nine-spired main temple, contains a large courtyard surrounding the temple, with rooms along the boundary walls. There are twelve shrines dedicated to Shiva—Kali’s companion—along the riverfront, a temple to Radha-Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. ‘Nahavat-Khana’, the chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples, is where Ramakrishna spent a considerable part of his life.

Dakshineshwar Kali temple has an interesting story. The construction of this fabulous temple was initialized in the year 1847 and got completed in 1855. The credit for the formation of Calcutta Dakshineswar Kali temple goes to the queen Rasmani of Janbazar. The legend associated with the establishment of the temple suggests that the queen Rasmani was all set to leave for the sacred city of Banaras to worship the divine mother and seek her blessings. During those times, going by boat was the only feasible option, as there were no railway lines between Calcutta and Banaras. But one night before, it happened that divine mother kali appeared in the dreams of Rani Rasmani and instructed her to construct a beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges River and install her idol in it. She also said that she would manifest herself in the image over there and accept her devotion. It is one of the largest temples in Kolkata covering an area of 25 acres.

Close to the main temple is the row of twelve identical Shiva temples built facing the east in the typical aat-chala Bengal architecture, they are built on either side of the ghat on the Hoogly River. To the North east of the Temple Complex is the Vishnu Temple or the Radha Kanta’s Temple. A flight of steps lead to the columned verandah and into the temple where a silver throne rests with a 21 1⁄2-inch (550 mm) idol of Lord Krishna and a 16-inch (410 mm) idol of Radha.

Lakhs of Devotees come to Dakshineswar to offer prayers to Maa Kali with the customary red hibiscus flower and sandesh.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakshineswar_Kali_Temple

http://www.indianmirror.com/temples/dakshineshwar-mandir.html

http://www.kolkata.org.uk/religious-places/dakshineshwar-temple.html