The story of Rani Rasmani is of a humble devotee who while will never be tremendously well known, lived bravely, did much good for others, and gained the grace of the divine. Her story is charming to read for those who are lucky enough to encounter it.

Rani Rasmani was born in Kona, a village located about 30 miles north of Calcutta, in Bengal province. Her family were very devout, but faced severe poverty. The devotion of her family sustained them through the poverty they faced. But destiny had singled out Rani Rasmani to become one of the richest and most influential women in Calcutta. She was exceptionally beautiful. One day, a wealthy landlord from Calcutta observed her from his luxury boat. The boat passed, but the man, Rajchandra Das, was stunned and couldn’t get Rani out of his mind. He returned later to ask Rani’s father for her hand in marriage.

Rani Rasmani became the wife of Rajchandra Das, and overnight the poor girl became a multi-millionairess, and lived in a mansion in Janbazar, Calcutta. But her years of marriage did not last long for Rajchandra suddenly fell ill and died. Rani became a widow at age 44 and was left to manage single-handed four young daughters and a vast estate. It was expected by relatives that Rani would not be able to manage this tall order, but she in fact managed very well. She ran the estate and brought up her family with love, intelligence and wit. The main deity that she expressed her devotion to was Kali, the great Mother of Time. Her devotion to Kali made her fearless and she became an outspoken champion of civil rights. She would take up the cause of the poor and dispossessed. When the British Government imposed a tax on fishermen whose livelihood depended on fishing in the River Ganga, Rani was determined to help. She brought the fishing rights of a part of the Ganga (between the towns Gushuri and Metiabruz) from the British, for the then large sum of 10,000 rupees. She erected a barricade by putting chains across the river, so that no ship could pass. When the British demanded that she remove the barricade, she retorted "Your ships disturb my fishing area, which cost me 10,000 rupees. But if you return the money and abolish the fishing tax, I’ll be happy to do as you want." The British Government had to yield. "My Mother Kali will protect me, and if she doesn’t then none in the world can save me," she often said. Fear of punishment and death depart any person who understands Mother Kali. On one occasion, she fought the British over a curb on her religious freedom. She had started Durga Puja at her mansion and as part of the ritual a priest would go to the Ganga and collect fresh water. With the priest a procession of musicians would travel, with drums and cymbals. This was an ancient part of the religious life of the land, but certain British gentlemen complained about the noise, since many wealthy Europeans lived near Janzabar. A ban was placed on this part of the morning ritual by the local government. Rani flouted the ban, and had to pay a fine, which she readily did. But on the same day, she erected a bamboo barricade across Babughat Road which she owned, preventing traffic flow between North and South Calcutta. The British government repeatedly asked her to remove the barricade, but Rani did not give in until the British returned her fine and granted her full religious freedom.

Sri Ramakrishna, the famous saint of those days said about Rani that she was one of the eight companions of the Divine Mother. She had many noble qualities, one of which was her compassion for the poor, to whom she would distribute food and gifts. Yet her name is etched in the history of Hindu civilisation not for these great qualities, but for her most famous act which was the erection of the grand and splendid Kali temple estate in a town along the banks of the River Ganga, named Dakshineshwar. The temple has now become a famous pilgrimage, as the temple at which Sri Ramakrishna lived and worshipped for most of his life, and where Swami Vivekananda got his education in religion. In 1847, she decided to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi. In those days there were no trains or aeroplanes in India, so she prepared to travel by boat, together with her family, priests and servants. But the night before the journey (or maybe at the first stop of the journey, which was at Dakshineshwar), Kali appeared to Rani in a dream and said, "There is no need to go to Kashi. Install my image in a beautiful spot on the bank of the Ganga and arrange for my daily worship and food offering; I shall manifest myself in the image and accept your worship daily." Hence, in the morning, Rani called off her pilgrimage, and began an intensive search for a place to create a splendid temple complex. A 20 acre plot of land was found in the village of Dakshineshwar on the Eastern bank of the Ganga. Rani Rasmani began the construction in 1847, and it took eight years to complete. The complex also included a Vishnu Temple and 12 Shiva temples. She spent 50,000 rupees for land, 160,000 rupees for building an embankment along the river, 900,000 rupees for the Kali Temple complex, and 226,000 rupees for property used as an endowment for the maintenance of the temple. A beautiful black image of Kali was sculptured out basalt, and white Italian marble was used for the form of Shiva.

Since the day of the temple’s consecration was to be a big day in Rani’s life, she prepared for it by practising strict austerities and spending long periods in japa (repetition of names of God) and meditation. Rani had not fixed a date for the consecration. One night, in a dream, Mother Kali appeared and said "How long will you keep me confined in this way? I feel suffocated. Install me as soon as possible." When the box which stored the image was opened, the statue was found to be moist with perspiration. To many a modern and questioning mind, who have not a great experience in Indian spirituality, such stories seem far fetched. But to an experienced Sadhak (spiritual seeker), the Hindu deities, which portray the awesome powers of the cosmos (Kali being the deity of time which is the primeval energy of creation and destruction), are real consciousnesses that can be communed with by intense devotion and spiritual practice.

There was an obstacle in the consecration (which had been set for the day of the snana-yatra, the bathing ceremony of Sri Krishna). This obstacle was caste. The caste rules which were prevalent at the time, and still persist in some of the Hindu world, would not allow a person of the lowest caste, like Rani to own a temple and cook food for Brahmins. The Brahmins had great love for her, but the society was steeped in such rules at the time. These casteist rules, where much emphasis on birth is placed, arised out of the ideas of law-makers in medieval India, as a reaction to the conditions and challenges of the time. These law books themselves are not classed as scriptures or endowed with religious authority, but nevertheless have held tremendous sway over the lifestyles of the people. A way around this problem was planned, which was to consecrate the temple in the name of Rani’s guru, Ramkumar. Hence the temple was consecrated on Thursday 31 May 1855. It is recorded by contemporaries that Rani desired the temple to be of benefit to all, irrespective of caste and religion. Her wishes were quickly fulfilled, as all portions of society would attend the huge temple complex. There was readily available food for all as well as secluded areas for intense meditation.

The 19-year old Sri Ramakrishna was also present at this occasion. He was a younger brother of Ramkumar, in whose name the temple was consecrated. Rani, and her son in law requested him to become a priest, which after some hesitation, he accepted. Ramkrishna’s worship was unique. Whenever Rani got a chance she would try and listen to Ramakrishna’s devotional songs to Mother Kali. One incident which passed is worth recounting here. One day, Rani sat inside the shrine, whilst Ramkrishna sang a song of devotion for the Divine Mother Kali. Suddenly he stopped and slapped Rani’s face. "What," he shouted. "You are thinking worldly thoughts even in this holy place." The temple guards rushed forward, to drag Ramkrishna out of the temple, but Rani stopped them. "No, don’t disturb him," ordered Rani. She said that the Divine Mother herself had issued the punishment. She wondered how Sri Ramakrishna knew that she was in fact thinking about a lawsuit at the time.

Rani fell seriously ill in 1861. The best doctors of Calcutta tried their utmost to cure her but at last gave up hope. Shortly before her passing away, she was brought to the bank of the Ganga. Seeing some lamps lighted in front of her, she exclaimed: "Remove these lights. I don’t care for this artificial illumination anymore. Now my mother has come and the brilliance of her form has illumined the whole place." After a short pause she passed away, saying "Mother, you have come." Rani Rasmani was a farsighted woman and had purchased a huge property for the temple’s maintenance, the rent from which was intended to support the temple activities after her death. Yet she could not foresee the 1947 partition of India. This land was in a part which fell in East Pakistan (today Bangladesh). All of her property which was on the wrong side of the border was confiscated by the government. From then on, the Dakshineshwar Kali temple has had to be maintained through its own income.

The information for this article was taken from the book "Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineshwar," by Elizabeth U Harding.