Rashmoni was born in Kona Village of what is Halisahar in North 24 Parganas on 28th September 1793 (11th Ashwin, 1200 BS). She was married in the tender age of eleven to Babu Rajchandra Das, the Zamindar of Jan Bazar of central Calcutta. They had four daughters.

Rajchandra Das died prematurely at the age of 48, forcing the young widow to take on the reigns of the zamindari from behind the purdah, to which society confined her. Being extremely pious from her childhood, Rashmoni continued to lead a religious and austere life, even as she metamorphosed into Rani Rashmoni - taking on the might of the empire; shaking the very foundations of a callous, ignorant and superstitioussocial order; planting the seed of the spiritual renaissance in the land and winning the universal admiration of her subjects as a just and kind ruler. At a time when women were forbidden to cross the threshold of their bedrooms, Rani Rashmoni, who was denied the enlightenment associated with formal education, was not only known for the justice that she meted out, but was also acknowledged as an able ruler who was extremely well versed with all matters relating to the administration of her estate and the economic well-being of both the ruler and the ruled. As a matter of fact, not only was she aware of the laws of the land, but also had the courage to implement it with an iron fist. Daring, on several occasions, to take on the might of the British establishment to uphold the rule of law. One inci- dent that has moved into popular folklore, relates to how she had taken up the cause of some of her subjects - fishermen, on whom the Company had imposed an unjust tax. Legend has it that Rani Rashmoni spent a huge amount to acquire a particular stretch of the Ganges and cordoned it off, so that British ships could not enter the then capital of India, Calcutta and allowed the fishermen to continue with their trade unhindered, without paying the British the taxes that they hated. The Britishers were forced to eat humble pie as they were compelled to withdraw the taxes that they had imposed. The fishermen of the Ganges enjoy the facilities that Rani Rashmoni had bestowed on their forefathers, till date. A similar incident relates to the fishermen of Madhumati, a river in erstwhile eastern Bengal, now Bangladesh, who too could ply their traditional trade without having to pay the British the taxes that were imposed. Similar is the famous spat that the Rani had with the cruel Indigo planters who were hell bent on pillaging the land and forcing the people to untold miseries for their own vested interests. However, the most celebrated of all of Rani Rashmoni's victories against the East India Company Rulers had come when they had obstructed the ceremonial procession (organised from her residence in Jan Bazar, in Central Kolkata) leading the KolaBou to the Ganges for the ceremonial dip on the charge of disturbing the peace. Rani Rashmoni retaliated by enclosing the entire stretch of the road from her palace to the Ganga's ghat by a wooden barricade, which was within the precincts of her zamindary, leading to a showdown. British orders were defied, leading to the imposition of fines, which led to fierce public opposition and rioting in her favour, forcing the British to beat a retreat by entering into a treaty with Rani Rashmoni. It is not that there were no landlords that were richer or were mightier than her in those days. What made Rani Rashmoni universally respected was her political consciousness, diplomatical aptitude her uncompromising patriotism and her principled faithfulness to matters just and equitable. For a woman confined to the inner precincts of the household, with no formal education, that too, in a male dominated, anachronistic world, her feats were remarkable, to put things mildly. Rani Rashmoni's contribution to social causes are also legion. She had the road from the river Subarnarekha to the temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri for the benefit of the pilgrims. The ghats that dot the Ganges - Babughat (built in the memory of her Late Husband Babu Rajchandra Das and formally inaugurated by Lord Bentinck, the then Viceroy of India), Ahiritola and Nimtala were constructed with her funds for the benefit of the daily bathers. The then Imperial Library (now National Library), the Hindu College (Presidency College) and the Metcalf Hall are mute testimonials of her generosi ty. The development of huge infrastructural facilities in what is now greater Kolkata and rest of Bengal, also owes their origin to her foresight and largesse. However, it was her unwavering support to the abolition of Sati and woman education, widow-remarriage like issues - a movement led by Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and that has made her name immortal. As a matter of fact, the Bengal Renaissance, which was to a very great extent the spirit that led to the thought that is modern India cannot be cited without acknowledging the contribution of Rani Rashmoni.

The greatest contribution of Rani Rashmoni to the world as we know it today, was however, the setting up of the Dakshineswar Temple, which had provided the spiritual impetus to history to play out its defining role. The story of the temple, the legends that grew around it, the saints that led the temple to the pinnacle of spiritualism and the way it shaped the destiny of a people, are no less exciting than the revered Rani ed it all and had set it on its sacred course. Read More