Kali puja this year at the EC Block Kali temple was a grander affair than ever before. A canopy had been erected outside on the pavement. A large-screen TV set was placed outside the sanctum sanctorum which telecast the proceedings of the ritual inside. And a Shiva linga reinstalled outside on a cemented platform attracted a long queue of devotees looking to do abhishek by pouring milk and water on it.
But if the new temple management has its way, Salt Lake’s biggest religious address will soon get a grand makeover.
“We will demolish the building. This will become a spiritual centre. The temple will become a separate structure with typical sloping roof, standing in the front part of the 5.5 cottah plot where it is now. This way devotees will be able to do a parikrama of the temple. There will be a G+3 structure behind the temple,” said Sandip Kundu, the current temple in-charge, told The Telegraph Salt Lake.
Though the building plan has not been drawn up, Kundu has his wishlist ready. On the ground floor, there will be a kitchen where bhog will be cooked and packed. “This will ensure proper hygiene,” he says. The first floor will be an auditorium dedicated to religious discourse. “This should become a haunt for the elderly residents of Salt Lake,” he adds. The second floor would belong to Chitralekha Sarkar, whose family had constructed the building, while Kundu will keep the top floor for himself.
The current sanctum, he pointed out, is too small. “Devotees cannot enter the room so there is always a crowd in front of the narrow door which blocks the vision of those trying to get a glimpse from the pavement,” he added.
The EC Block temple on Kali puja night. Sudeshna Banerjee
This is why he introduced broadcasting of the close-circuit TV feed of the activities inside the temple on a screen outside in case the crowd got too big on Kali puja night.
This is the second Kali puja that Kundu has been in charge of at the temple. He has deployed priests in two shifts and the temple now stays open from 7am to 2pm and from 4pm to 10pm.
The earlier owner, Chitralekha Sarkar, he said, was ill and had moved out to an apartment in New Town. “She will get a floor and come back once the new building is ready,” said the resident of South City, who is now the joint owner. The Telegraph Salt Lake tried to contact Sarkar but calls to her cellphone went unanswered.
Page from the past
The temple was built by Sunanda Sarkar, a lawyer. In an earlier interaction, Chitralekha Sarkar had told The Telegraph Salt Lake that the temple was built in the 1990s in the ground floor of the EC 71 building after her husband saw goddess Kali in his dream. Initially, a priest would come all the way from Kalighat and perform puja here. Two years later, in 1997, Ramvikas Chowdhury was appointed as priest and an evening arati started, she had said. According to Kundu, Sunanda Sarkar expired in 2004.
When The Telegraph Salt Lake had spoken to Chitralekha Sarkar in January 2018, local devotees were worried about the temple shutting down on spotting a banner hung in front of the temple on Christmas-eve. The banner had announced that the temple would remain closed “for a few days” for repairs and the priest had been asked to stop coming.
“A mass petition had come to me. Sarkar was trying to sell off the house and the prospective buyers were unwilling to keep the temple.
But it became a matter of local religious sentiment as it was the only Kali temple in Salt Lake,” recalled Tulsi Sinha Roy, councilor of Ward 40, who was the local municipal representative even then.
Ram Nayan Chowdhury, son of Ramvikas, who was then the priest, had told The Telegraph Salt Lake that the house was up for sale as the owner had told him that she would remove the idol. She later backed out facing local resistance.
Dipankar Chakraborty took over as priest in 2018. “Chitralekha madam had asked me to run the temple. So I introduced bhog coupons for Rs 500 against which bhog would be served in earthen containers. The temple would be run on income from the disciples. There was little grandeur. It was a homely affair.”
He notes several changes that have come over since Kundu took over. “For the first time in 2022, sitting arrangements were made for bhog consumption. The menu is more elaborate now. This year, those who stayed back to offer anjali at night were offered bhog. The next day more items were added. The coupon rate has remained the same,” Chakraborty said. An electronic signage has been set up. The Kali puja illumination is brighter. There is another priest for the evening shift. Things are more organised and on a bigger scale, he notes.
The temple had come under the scanner of the authorities around 2003. The urban development department had raised concerns about earnings at the temple as pranami on a residential plot as well as the excessive number of cars parking in front of the house, which is right next door to the Chinese consulate, a high security premise. The then local councillor Asesh Mukherjee recalls pleading with Dilip Gupta, the erstwhile municipality chairman, to allow the temple to continue.
Future plan
Kundu does not plan to rush into construction of the new temple. “An architect has been engaged to draw up a plan. I hope to start in 2025. I have just invested in ownership of the property. Temple construction is a costly proposition. This will not be a commercial venture. So I need to take my time,” said the financial consultant.
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