You best get a driver to get you there. If you are white you get hooked up by a knowledgeable local "guide" that helps you finding your way through the temple as hundreds of pilgrims are in line praying, singing, waiting.

You shall wash your hands and put off your shoes, you get some flowers and get pulled along the waiting line of pilgrims to the temples door with god Kali inside where you through your flowers in, Kali the good with three eyes.

You can glance into the holi kitchen where over 2.000 homeless get fed every day and cooking takes place in the great style. You get pushed on to the tree of fertility, where infertile woman tye stones onto its branches for fertiliy and after they gave life to their baby the return for thanking. You can do a prayer, put flowers down, hang your rings (handed over before) onto a branch of the tree.

You are kindly asked for donation that goes to the kitchen of the poor which is a good thing, you write your name into a book that somebody passes along.

Then you are shown the sacrifice of black baby goats, the symbol for evil that get slaughtered every day, blood and bone splinters on the floor, the tilestones burning hot from the sun reaching the zenith - remember - you are barefoot and you are so wrapped by the scenario that I almost forgot to breath and only had a very short look onto the scacrificed goats, one on the floor without head, but lucky me, no action was ongoing at the moment where I was asked to look at the place. Try to find the whiter tilestones as they are not so hot as the dark ones.

You pass the crowed of holi pilgrims again, find eventually your shoes, hand the guide some money for the tour on the fast track as without him I would have lost conscious after five minutes queuing in the overly packed line of hindu pilgrims.

For preparation read writeup about god Kali, that is helpful in the sea of godesses in India, I guess about 2 millions they have I was told.

When you leave the place you need some time to recover, I got so wrapped in the atmoshere and ongoing things there, I could not associate the writeup in my travel guide to what I experienced there.

A MUST IF YOU ARE IN KOLKATA; THAT IS THE REAL THING! When I left with my dot on the forehead I felt a bit overprivileged as I got to bypass all the patient pilgrims but I was grateful for the help and guidance and explanation there. Consider your donation beforehand and have the money ready, I was taken by surprise, spent 20 USD only and felt bad afterwards, not giving more to that selfless institution.

Unfortunately I missed Mother Theresa hospice that is only around the corner, that I got to know when I was already miles away. Try to combine to see her bequest.

No photos attached, no photographing allowed, you can leave your camera in the room, your hands are full with the donations and you are too busy to handle a camera.