During one of the wars between Durga and asuras, the goddess was faced by an asura called Raktabij. Raktabij had been granted a terrible boon: every drop of his that touched the ground produced more demons. Durga then created Kali, who stretched her tongue out and drank up every drop of blood spilt by Raktabij. Eventually, she started devouring the demons right as they sprung up from Raktabij's blood.

The Dakshineshwar temple to Kali was built by Rani Rashmoni. She was a widow of immense wealth and piety and a devotee of goddess Kali. Ma Kali is worshipped at this temple as Bharatarini, which means one who takes devotees across the ocean of existence. Ultimately Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa became the head priest of the temple. Devotees flocked to hear his words of spirituality and serenity from Sharada Ma, the consort of Sri Ramakrishna. The most noteworthy disciple was Sri Vivekananda, who later founded Ram Krishna Matt.

Built-in the traditional 'Nava-Ratna or nine-spire style of Bengal architecture, the three-storeyed south-facing temple has nine spires distributed in the upper two storeys, and stands on a high platform with a flight of stairs. The Garbha Gradu has an idol of Bhavatarini standing on a chest of a lying Shiva. The two idols are placed on a thousand-petal lotus made of silver. A series of 12 identical Shiva temples are established within the premises of the Devalaya. Opposite the Kuthi Bari, these temples are on either bank of the river Ganga.

The interior of the temples is done in white and black stone and each of the temples houses Shiva lingas done in black stone. The temples face the east and are constructed in the typical 'Aat Chala' (eight eaves) Bengal architecture.

The temple is one of the 51 Adi Shaktipeeths in Hinduism. Sati’s right toe is believed to have fallen at the very spot where the Kalighat Temple stands now. Shakti is known as Dakshina Kali (Benevolent Mother) here and Bhairava as Nakuleshwar Mahadev.

Sevas and pujas: 
Morning: 6:30 am to 12.30 pm
Evening: 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Utsavs:
Diwali, Kalipuja, Durga Puja, Bengali New Year, Akshaya Tritiya, birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna and Sharada Ma.

Best time to visit: October to March.

Places nearby:
Gaji Tala: Sri Ramkrishna explored Islam here. When the Dakshineswar Kali temple was built Rani Rashmoni did not disturb the Gaji Tala but marked it as a place where both Hindus, as well as Muslims, offered prayers 
Chadni: Sri Ramakrishna's Vedantic guru Sri Totapuri alighted from his journey here. 
Nat Mandir: Where Sri Ramakrishna was proved to be an avatar.