01Vibhash and the left ankle
The Stotram’s line reads: at Vibhash the left ankle, the Devi Kapalini, Bhimarupa, and the Bhairava Sarvananda. Tamluk is that Vibhash. The temple stands on raised ground, up some twenty steps, in four parts in the Bengal manner: the deul where the Devi sits, the jagamohan, the natmandir and the yajna mandap. The Bhairava near the stair is called Bhutnath by the town. A kadamba tree in the yard carries the threads of women praying for a child. The old texts of the place speak of a Kapalmochan tirtha here, where Shiva was freed of Daksha’s skull.
02The fisherman’s well
The temple’s katha begins with a fisherman who brought shol fish to the king of Tamluk. One day his fish were dead, and the Devi showed him a well whose water brought them back to life. The king found the well, found the Devi’s stone beside it, and raised the temple round her. That is why shol fish is still cooked for her bhog every day. Animal bali has been given up. The town also remembers that the Rupnarayan in flood grew still near the temple, and that the freedom fighters of Midnapore took their oaths before the Devi; Khudiram Bose came here for puja.
Tamluk is about 85 km from Kolkata by NH 116 and has a station on the South Eastern Railway. Durga Puja, Kali Puja and Pahela Baishakh are the crowded days.
