Dakshinkali Temple
The goddess Kali consecrated Dakshinkali Temple ( Nepali दक्षिणकाली = "Southern Kali Temple") is one of the most important and most visited Hindu shrines in Kathmandu valley in Nepal .
location
The Dakshinkali Temple is located in a valley near the village of Dakshinkali near Parphing about 20 km southwest of Kathmandu at an altitude of about 1450 m . The temple can only be reached via an approximately 200 m long staircase lined with countless bells on the sides.
history
According to tradition, the history of the temple goes back to the 14th century, when the goddess Kali gave the then reigning king of the Malla dynasty in a dream the order to build her a secluded temple. When a suitable place was chosen, it turned out that there was already a cult image of Kali and the foundation stone of a temple - and the temple was built at this exact spot. It was expanded and renewed several times later.
Potash
Kali is considered an extremely powerful goddess, especially among the common people, who also fulfills wishes, which is usually not the case with the Hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu and their family members (e.g. Parvati , Ganesh or Lakshmi ) - lives here thus, pre-Hindu or pre-Brahmanic ideas continue. The human and animal sacrifices of earlier times were often based on the idea that death and life are inextricably linked - only the death of a living being enables new life or the healing of deadly diseases. It was not until 1780 that human sacrifices were banned in Nepal, which does not necessarily mean that such rites were previously common practice.
Cult practice
Many Nepalese make pilgrimages to the temple on Tuesdays and Saturdays; Hundreds of uncastrated male animals (mostly billy goats or roosters) are sacrificed there - their heads are cut off by a brahmin or his assistant with a practiced knife cut. Often one waits until the sacrificial animal makes an "approving head movement". The cult image of Kalis is splashed with his blood, which is cleaned with water after the ceremony and hung with a glittering cloth; part of the blood is rubbed on the tiled floor in front of it. In a butcher's shop attached to the temple, the animals are skinned or plucked and cut up on request and against payment; the cut heads remain in the temple. The bodies of many animals can also be gutted and cleaned by the sacrificers in the nearby stream; Then they are prepared and consumed at a picnic in the forest in the presence of the whole family or they are brought home.
architecture
The art-historically rather insignificant temple complex consists essentially of a courtyard with a few small buildings or shrines grouped around it. The open space in front of the cult image of Kalis is sometimes covered with a large cloth, which protects against sun and rain.
See also
The traditional practice of mass animal sacrifices (approx. 300,000) was also practiced in Bariyarpur ( Terai ) until 2009 at the Ghadimai Festival , which takes place every five years , but was stopped for the first time by the government in 2015 following international protests. In other Hindu temples in Nepal and India, especially in rural areas with strong tribal traditions, animals are still regularly ritually sacrificed today.
literature
- David Kinsley: Indian Goddesses. Female deities in Hinduism. Insel, Frankfurt 1991, ISBN 3-458-16118-X , p. 160 ff.
- Anneliese and Peter Keilhauer: The Imagery of Hinduism. The Indian world of gods and their symbolism. DuMont, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-7701-1347-0 , p. 207 ff.
Web links
- Dakshinkali temple - photos + information
- Dakshinkali temple - photos + information
- Dakshinkali temple - photos + information
- Dakshinkali Temple - Photos + Information ( Memento from October 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 27 ° 36 ′ 18 ″ N , 85 ° 15 ′ 50 ″ E