Kiriteswari Temple

Kiriteswari Temple is the oldest, holiest, and a famous religious place of Murshidabad district and is also known by the name Mukuteshwari temple. It is located in Kiritkona village, near Lalbagh court road, in Murshidabad district, West Bengal.

This is one of the major Shakti peetas among the 52.  According to belief, the “crown” or the kirit of Sati had fallen here. Here Devi is worshipped as Vimala or pure and Shiva as Sangbart or Sambarta. The Shakti Peet at Maa Kiriteswari temple is considered as an Upapeeta, as no limb or part of the body fell here, but only a portion of her ornament fell here. It is one among the handful of temples in Bengal where no deities but an auspicious black stone is worshipped.

History and Significance

In order to make people of the Earth remember about the incident for life time, Vishnu severed the body of Sati into several pieces with sudarshan chakra. The body parts of sati which have fallen down in different parts of the earth have formed Shakti peethas. Sati had blessed by placing her crown at Kirit Shakti peeth.

The previous name of Kiriteswari was Kireetkana. Kireet means the crown. Kireetkana or Kiriteswari is mentioned in the Vabisyapuran, a literature written in the medieval period. And it is also heard that in the time of Shankaracharya and the Gupta age the Kiriteswari had the existence.

The construction of the temple is more than 1000 years old and this place was considered to be the sleeping place of Mahamaya. Local people call this temple as “Mahish Mardini” and this is the oldest mark of Architecture in Kiriteswari.

Maa Kiriteshwari temple was built by King Darpanarayana Roy during the 19th century. Yogendranaryan Roy, the late king of Lalgola had renovated and taken care of the temple built by Darpanarayan Roy. It is heard that the old temple was destroyed in 1405. It is said that Maa Kiriteshwari was the presiding deity of the ruling house of Murshidabad. When the ruling families of Murshidabad capital were at the height of glory, Kiriteshwari Devi was worshipped by hundreds of devotees every day.

In this complex 16 temples of different deities are at present surviving. Adjacent to the temple ‘Bhairav’ is situated in an unclean and filthy small temple, on the banks of the river Bhagirathi. The temple remains locked for hours.

Temple Festivals

Festivals are held on the day of Durga Puja, Amavasya and Kali Puja. A special ritual is held during every new moon. Fruits and annabogh are offered to Goddess Kiriteshwari with the whole night yagna.

Besides, the festivals, Kiriteshwari Fair is held every Tuesday and Saturday in the month of Poush (December-January) on the banks of River Bhagirathi with other special customs since the time of Darpanarayan. This fair attracts many pilgrims who bathe and offer prayers, as well as picnickers.

Info on the deity – Specific to the temple deity

The unique feature of this Kiriteswari Temple is the absence of any image or deity.  Here Goddess Maa Kiriteswari, also known as Mukuteshwari, (as her mukut or crown fell) is represented only by a Red coloured stone which is worshipped by devotees.  The Red coloured stone is covered with a veil and is changed only on Ashtami of each Durga Puja and given a sacred bath. The Kirit or crown has been worshipped through ages. At present, the headdress is preserved at Rani Bhabani’s Guptamath opposite the temple. There is a high altar on which a small altar is seen. Here the face of Maa Kiriteshwari is indexed.

Rani Bhabani was a zamindar of Rajshahi (now in Bangladesh). She was known for her philanthropy and generosity. She is believed to have constructed over hundreds of guest houses and temples across Bengal.  She has contributed generously to the construction of water tanks and educational institutions.

Temple Pooja Daily Schedule

Kiriteswari Temple is open from 6.00 am to 10.00pm. Daily anna-bogh is offered to Maa in the noon.

How to Reach

Nearest Bus Stand: Dahapara.

Nearest Railway Station: Dahapara Railway station.

Nearest Airports: Dum Dum, Kolkata.