India’s leading producer of Green Cement JSW Cement has constructed the new Maa Kali Temple at JSW Ankur Township in Salboni, West Bengal, which was inaugurated and opened for public in early July 2022. The company has dedicated the Temple to her devotees in West Bengal. The new temple echoes the centuries old world famous Bishnupur architectural style in a contemporary way. The core idea was honed and turned into reality by Kolkata-based architecture firm, Dulal Mukherjee and Associates. The construction of the new temple was funded through the CSR spends of JSW Cement.
The new Maa Kali temple has a pyramid-like form with four sides divided into three steps and three levels. Each side has three all-embracing arches on the ground floor followed by two on the first and one at the very top. The pinnacle is crowned by a castellated Steel ornament, a stylized form of the Kalasha found in Temple architecture. Similar to the Taj Mahal, it is approached from the sides of a reflecting shallow water body along the central axis. The structure stands on a raised plinth clad in local terracotta tiles with entrances through wide staircases. At the plinth level, there are secondary water bodies at the temple entrance for ablution before setting foot into the holy quarters.
The interior space is followed by a shaded Parikrama which encloses the Garbhagriha. The statue was designed in a stylized fashion taking inspiration from the pattachitra paintings at Kalighat and from stone idols of Jagannath. The final statue made in stone sits under the shade of an intricate Shola work by artisans of Bardhaman and enclosed with the backdrop made from Bishnupur Silk.
