Ramna Kali Mandir

Ramna Kali Mandir’s origins are popularly traced to the 16th century, during Mughal-era Bengal, with some accounts linking its founding to devotees connected to the Himalayan region; this early history is recounted in popular and tourism literature rather than backed by a primary source consulted here, so it should be treated as tradition. What is much better documented is the temple’s more recent history: it was substantially expanded in the early twentieth century under the patronage of Rani Bilashmoni Debi, becoming, by some accounts, one of the taller landmarks in Dhaka at the time.

On 27 March 1971, during the opening days of the Bangladesh Liberation War, Pakistani forces attacked the temple as part of Operation Searchlight, killing worshippers and others sheltering there within roughly an hour — an episode remembered as the Ramna massacre and among the notorious atrocities of that war. A modest shrine stood on the site for decades afterward, until a formal reconstruction project, announced in 2017, culminated in a rebuilt temple inaugurated on 17 December 2021 by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, who described it as a symbol of the spiritual and cultural bond between India and Bangladesh. The temple today occupies a roughly 2.25-acre complex south of Ramna Park.