May 01, 2026 09:14 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Bangladesh MP warns of refugee crisis if BJP wins West Bengal polls | Diplomatic row: Bangladesh summons Indian envoy over Himanta Biswa Sarma remarks | Supreme Court grants Pawan Khera anticipatory bail in case over allegations against Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife | ‘Not necessary to humiliate me with arrest’: Pawan Khera to SC over remarks on Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife | ‘Let’s not choose for people capable of choosing’: Supreme Court to Centre on teen pregnancy termination | I-PAC co-founder Vinesh Chandel gets bail after Bengal polls conclude | Exit Polls Give Bengal to BJP—But One Survey Begs to Differ | Big defence push: Rajnath Singh to hold high-stakes talks with Italy’s Defence Minister | “Voting without fear”: PM Modi hails record turnout in West Bengal polls | Mamata Banerjee trying to intimidate Hindu voters, alleges Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur
Kaali Poster

Kolkata's Dakshineswar Kali Temple condemns Kaali film poster, backs Mahua Moitra's statement on goddess

| @indiablooms | Jul 07, 2022, at 09:59 pm

Kolkata/IBNS: The Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata has condemned the controversial film poster featuring goddess Kali as a cigarette smoker, stating it "is hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community".

However, the temple has backed Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra's comment where she called goddess Kali "meat-eating, alcohol-accepting goddess".

The temple has put up a tweet which reads, "We are all worshipers of Maa Kali. Holding a cigarette in her hand is hurting the sentiments of the Hindu community. In many places, maa is given alcohol and goats are sacrificed. But holding a cig is highly reprehensible. We are strongly opposed to it."

"As we said before, we still say that there are many places where worship is done with wine, that is the rule there. But what is shown in the much-discussed poster is never acceptable. The Dakshineshwar Kali Temple strongly condemned the incident. We made our position clear," another tweet reads.

What is the controversy?

The poster of a documentary titled Kaali is creating quite a stir online for showing the Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette.

It all started after the director, Leena Manimekalai, shared the poster of the film on Twitter.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2022, Moitra, who is an MP from West Bengal's Krishnanagar, said Tuesday, "Kaali to me, is a meat-eating, alcohol-accepting goddess. You have the freedom to imagine your goddess.

"There are some places where whiskey is offered to gods and in some other places it would be blasphemy."

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.