The Chinese Kali Temple: Where Noodles Are Praised

Lisa Roy

The Chinese Kali Temple: Where Noodles Are Praised

India is a land with rich cultures and traditions which draw tourists from all over the world. The main attraction of India is its diverse culture, worship style, and festivities. When it comes to worship at every religious site, priests across the country distribute various types of prasad or offerings to visitors and devotees. Laddu is the most common prasad served in temples. But do you know there is a temple in the capital of West Bengal, Kolkata where noodles are served as prasad to worshippers?

The only temple of India that serves noodles as a Prasad; Image Source- Curly Tales

If all of the world's cultures are rivers, Kolkata is the basin where they all meet. The Chinese people who live in Tangra, India's only Chinatown, appear to worship Goddess Kali in their spiritual essence fervently. It's no surprise that India's only Chinese Kali Bari is noteworthy, with noodles served as holy prasad.

People who study cultural books and heritages never believe the difference we see. It's all part of our belief, a tiny fragment of our faith emulsified with religious doctrines that sometimes forbid or even allow us to pursue a different philosophical path. One of the best examples of such harmony confluence can be found in Kolkata's one and only Chinatown. Tangra's Chinese Kali Bari recounts the convergence of two opposing cultural theologies at this holy shrine.

The idol and the temple are the same as in any other Goddess Kali temple in the country. What makes the difference is its unique Prasad, which is first offered to the Goddess and then distributed to devotees. Noodles, chop suey, sticky rice, and other Chinese dishes are served to the goddess Kali as a prasad.

There is a famous mythological tale which states that a 10-year-old Chinese boy had suddenly fallen sick. Nothing was improving his health and no one could cure him. His parents became despondent as all of their efforts were futile. They were so depressed due to the bad health of their son that they laid near a stone and started calling upon God for blessings. It was nothing less than a miracle for them and the locality that their son got cured within a couple of days. Since then, this site has become an important religious spot for the Chinese and many others.

Although Buddhism and Christianity are the major religions in Tangra Chinatown, the cultural divide becomes obsolete during Kali Puja. Each and every Chinese family contributed money towards the construction of this famous entire granite temple in 1998.

Until and unless you visit this unique and renowned temple, you can never understand the intensity of religion and uniformity of culture. Their worship is always ambiguous and you are free to draw your own conclusions. This temple is a symbol of cultural harmony in Kolkata and from their Prasad to their Idol, this temple has made a fine place in the heart of Kolkata people, on one of the main roads of India's thriving Chinatown.

Interestingly, a Bengali priest worships the Goddess here and handmade papers are burned to ward off evil spirits. The aroma at this temple is very different from that of the country's other temples. During festivals like Diwali, tall candles are lit with a Chinese incense stick to worship the Goddess.

According to some reporters, this famous temple is said to be 80 years old. But around 60 years before this temple was built, people of the Hindu religion used to worship two granite stones with vermilion beneath a tree at the site. Finally, approximately 20 years later, people from both Chinese and Bengali communities came together and built this Chinese Kali temple in Tangra of Kolkata.