01Where the nala fell
The Stotram says it plainly: at Nalahati the nala fell, Yogisha is the Bhairava, and there Kalika Devi grants every siddhi. Nala means a tube, and most read it as the windpipe; some write the throat, others a long bone. Our list gives the windpipe. The name of the town, Nal-hati, carries the word. The temple stands on a low hill inside the town, not far from the Brahmani river, and you climb a short flight to reach the Devi. Shakti Peetha lists differ in details, but none disputes Nalhati itself.
02On the Tarapith road
Nalhati sits where the red laterite of the Chhotanagpur plateau runs down into the Rarh plain of north Birbhum. It is a railway junction, and many pilgrims bound for Tarapith, 22 km away, stop here first. The Devi is worshipped as Kali, and Kali Puja on the new moon of Kartik is the great night of the year, and Navratri brings the villages of north Birbhum to the hill.
Nalhati Junction is on the Howrah–Rampurhat–Malda line; the temple is a short ride from the station. Rampurhat is 16 km and Tarapith 22 km.
