The Dakshineswar deity on her old throne .The 148-year-old throne of
the Kali image at the Dakshineswar temple — before which both
Ramakrishna and Vivekananda meditated for hours — will be
replaced by
a new one on Saturday.

The new 10-foot-high throne will replace the old wooden structure
encased in silver. Trustees had decided to replace it with a new one
of similar size and design when, 10 years ago, it was discovered
that the structure had become weak after years of daily puja and
other rituals. A reputed jewellery company, which was given the
charge of making the new throne, took more than three years to
complete it.

Kusal Chowdhury, secretary, Dakshineswar Kali Temple and Debottar
Estate, said: "Devotees will witnesses a historic moment tomorrow.
The process of replacing the throne will be accompanied by day-long
rituals." Among those expected to witness the change are Union
tourism and culture minister Jagmohan, minister of state for
northeast development Tapan Sikdar and the general secretary of
Ramakrishna Mission and Math, Swami Smaranananda. A number of state
ministers have been invited.

The temple authorities have decided to put on display the original
throne in the temple.

According to Chowdhury, the throne was first installed in 1855, when
Rani Rashmoni established the temple. Ten years ago, trustees had
detected that the wood inside the silver casing had started to rot
and the 12 wooden columns were feeble. Since then, the temple
authorities had used external support to prop it up.

But even after the decision to replace it was taken, seven long
years passed for the temple authorities to get the necessary
clearance. Soon after noticing the cracks, the trustees held a
meeting on July 23, 1993, and adopted a resolution to change the
throne. Then, board of trustees' chairman Tapas Banerjee, who was
appointed by Calcutta High Court as special officer, was approached.

Based on an appeal by the trustees, Justice Umesh Chandra Banerjee
of the high court directed that the work start on September 20,
1993. Artisans were finally engaged in 2000 to rebuild the throne.

"From the beginning, we gave priority to two points. We told the
agency making the new throne that it must be of the same size and
design as the original. The second point was that silver must be the
key material," Chowdhury said.

The artisans took three years to make the new throne, as they
meticulously maintained the design and detailing of the original
one. "All the 12 columns are encased in silver. We have used Burma
teak for the frame on top. So, it is expected to last another
century without any problem," the secretary added.

Reported by "Sri Janaardana Kalianandaswami" of Kali Peetham Yahoo
Group on Mon Mar 31, 2003 at 4:46 am.