Kapil Muni Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at Dum Dum, Kolkata, is the nearest airport.

• By train

  Sealdah Junction is the nearest railway station.

• By road

  From Kolkata, Diamond Harbour Road (NH-12) runs about 90 km south to Harwood Point near Kakdwip, and the island lies about 100 km south of the city. Multiple buses run from Esplanade bus stand in Kolkata.

On the way

• The biggest obstacle to reaching Sagar Island is the Muri Ganga river, which pilgrims cross by ferry.
• Ferry services run between Kakdwip and Kachuberia on Sagar Island for fairs and Ganga bath occasions.

Why devotees come here

Kapil Muni Temple stands on Gangasagar, on Sagar Island in West Bengal. Hindus count the site among their holiest pilgrimage places, and it is believed Kapil Muni performed tapas here.

The temple is linked to the sage Kapil Muni, who is believed to have done tapas on Gangasagar. Legend says he had an ashram there. In one legend, King Sagar's sons wrongly accused him of theft, and in his anger he burned them to ash and sent their souls to Hell.

A Gupta era temple is said to have stood on this spot, but coastal erosion destroyed it. Ramanandi sadhus, or holy men, from Ayodhya later came to control the site. The old temple was made of bamboo, and cyclones destroyed it in the late 50s or early 60s. The first brick temple was built in 1961, and a new temple followed in 1974. The temple is also mentioned in a 16th century Puthi, an ancient Bengali text.

The temple holds sculptures of Ganga, Kapil Muni and Sagar Raja, the king from the legend.

Festivals

• Every year on Makar SankrantiGangasagar fair

  Held at Kapil Muni's ashram on Gangasagar.

Tips for your visit

• Sea and river water sometimes enters the temple and its premises during high tide or cyclonic storms.
• The temple sits near the confluence of the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, at the southern tip of Sagar Island.
• Sagar Island is in the Sagar CD Block of Kakdwip subdivision, South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal.
• The island lies on the continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal.

Questions people ask