Kankalitala Temple

Kankalitala, situated on the banks of the Kopai river near Bolpur, is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas — believed to be the spot where the 'kankal' (waist/skeleton portion) of Goddess Sati fell. The goddess is worshipped as Maa Devgarbha (also called Kankaleshwari) and her Bhairava is Ruru. Unlike most Shakti Peethas, there is no idol inside the main sanctum; instead, a framed painting of the goddess is worshipped. The actual sacred relic is believed to lie submerged in the holy kund (pond) beside the temple, which never dries up completely. Devotees hold that the pond is mystically connected to the Manikarnika Ghat of Varanasi, and its water is considered deeply sacred. The temple sits amid a peaceful rural landscape of red soil and paddy fields, and the adjacent cremation ground has long been a seat of Tantric sadhana. Kankalitala is only about 9 km from Santiniketan, so most visitors combine both destinations in a single day trip from Tarapith, experiencing the spiritual and cultural heritage of Birbhum together.