Where Kali sits on five real skulls

Lucknow: Not many in the city know that the idol of Kali in the sanctum sanctorum of over 150-year-old Kali Bari in Kaiserbagh is placed on five real skulls — human, jackal, snake, monkey and bat. Positioned in PanchmundiAsan, the mud figurine of the Goddess is one of its kind in UP. The skulls of all the beings are believed to be most suitable for rituals performed to invoke the Goddess in Shakti form in Tantra tradition.
The temple was abuzz with activity on Monday evening as it was being decked up for the four-day Basanti Puja to start from Tuesday. Celebrated by Bengali community, Basanti (spring) or Durga Puja is held along with Chaitra Navratri celebrations in north India.
During this period, along with the goddess, the five skulls are also worshipped through elaborate rituals. “It is believed that Pandit Madhusudan Mukhopadhyay, a follower of tantra tradition, who came from Kolkata in the late 1850’s envisaged the temple on the basis of a dream of his. One night, he dreamt of placing the goddess in the form of Chamunda in Panchmund position on real skulls, symbolizing her supremacy over all living beings. He spent the next few months giving shape to his dream. The temple has been renovated several times but the platform on which the idol is placed has never been touched,” said Kali Bari managing committee’s joint secretary Ajay Bose.
The idol has several such features that are not commonly found. Temple’s board of trustees’ secretary P K Maiti said, “This is the oldest and the only idol of Kali in the entire country that has the goddess in a sitting position and is clothed. The most common picture that everybody must have seen portrays her standing infuriated on Lord Shiva with garlands of human skulls and bones wrapped as jewellery, covering her body.”
While most of the Devi temples run by Bengali traditions in the city celebrate Shardaiya (autumnal) Durga Pooja on a large scale, Basanti (spring) pooja during this Navratri holds relevance in the Kali Bari temple in Ghasiyari Mandi, Qaiserbagh.
Temple priest Amit Goswami explained that though the kalash is placed on the first day of Navaratra, the real pooja begins on the Shashti (sixth day). “Durga Puja during Shardaiya Navaratra is called Akal Bodhan meaning untimely awakening of the goddess by Rama to achieve victory over Ravana. Basanti Puja during Chaitra Navaratra is believed to be a time when the Goddess arrives herself to bless devotees, ” he said.