Birla Mandir in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, is a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 temple on Asutosh Chowdhury Avenue, Ballygunge

Ballygunge

Ballygunge is an upmarket and elite locality in South Kolkata, India. It is flanked by Park Circus in the north, Kasba and the Eastern Railway south suburban line in the east, Dhakuria and the Lakes in the south, and the localities of Bhowanipore and Lansdowne in the west...

, built by the industrialist Birla family

Birla family

The Birla family is one of the foremost business houses in India. The fore-father of the Birla family is Shiv Narain Birla, a member of the Marwari community from Pilani, in the westerly state of Rajasthan. He moved to Bombay around 1857 to establish a trading house. His son, Baldeodas Birla moved...

. This temple is open in the morning from 5.30 A.M. to 11 A.M. and in the evening from 4 .30 P.M. to 9 P.M. On Janmashtami, the birthday of Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

, devotees come from far away places to pay their respect to the deities.

History

The construction of the temple began in 1970. It took 26 years to complete the entire structure. On Wednesday, the 21st of February, 1996, the Pran Prathistha was done by Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj in the morning. Dr. Karan Singh inaugurated the temple the same day.

Temple

• The main temple houses statues of deities Krishna
  Krishna
  Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
  
   and Radha
  Radha
  Radha , also called Radhika, Radharani and Radhikarani, is the childhood friend and lover of Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gita Govinda of the Vaisnava traditions of Hinduism...
  
  .
• The left side temple shikhar (dome) houses goddess Durga
  Durga
  For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
  
  , the Hindu
  Hindu
  Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
  
   goddess of Shakti
  Shakti
  Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
  
  , the power.
• The right side dome of the temple houses Shiva
  Shiva
  Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
  
   in meditation mode.
• Spread on 44 kathas of land, this temple built of white marble bears resemblance to the renowned Lingaraj Temple
  Lingaraj Temple
  Lingaraj Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Harihara, another name for Shiva and is one of the oldest temples of Bhubaneswar, a revered pilgrimage center and the capital of the state of Orissa, India....
  
   of Bhubaneswar
  Bhubaneswar
  Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...
  
  . Birla Mandir also showcases pictorial depiction of scriptures of Bhagavad Gita in its stone engravings and some intricate Rajasthani temple architecture.