A team of around 100 guards will be deployed around the entry points, in the courtyard and near the Panchavati garden of the Dakshineswar temple, as well as along the banks of the Hooghly, on Kali Puja (Thursday), the temple authorities said.

The puja ritual will start at 10.35pm with a shot being fired in the air — that's how it has been for more than a century — and a procession towards the Hooghly banks to bathe the narayan shila.

The puja will start with priests sprinkling coconut water on the narayan shila and end with a homa yajna around 3.30am, followed by pushpanjali.

"By 4am, we expect to complete the rituals, including offering the bhog to the goddess. The temple will remain shut for some time and reopen at 4.15am on Friday for the mangal aarti," said Kushal Chowdhury, secretary of the Kali Temple and Debottar Trust. "On Thursday, the temple's doors will be open from 5.15am...."

"Two control rooms will function with police officers and personnel from the fire and emergency services and other departments," said an officer.