The Dhakeshwari (Durga) temple was built in the 12th century, 1100 A.D. by Ballal Sen, a king of the Sena dynasty, and it is said that the city Dhaka was named after the Goddess.[3][4][failed verification] The current architectural style of the temple cannot be dated to that period because of the numerous repairs, renovations, and rebuilding which have taken place over time. It is considered an essential part of Dhaka's cultural heritage. It is one of the Shakta pithas, where the jewel from the crown of the Goddess Sati had fallen. For ages, the temple has been held in great importance. The original 900-year-old murti was taken to Kumartuli, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.[citation needed] During the partition of India, she was brought to Kolkata from Dhaka with millions of Bengali Hindu refugees from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) of Pakistan. The Partition of Bengal in 1947 was a part of the Partition of India in 1947. In 1947, the Bengal Legislative Assembly claimed separate East Bengal (joined Pakistan in 1947) and West Bengal (joined India in 1947) as the home state for the Bengali Muslims and the Bengali Hindus respectively. In 1971, the East Pakistan (East Bengal) Provincial Assembly claimed separate Bangladesh (Bengalination) as the home country for the Bengali Muslims (East Pakistan Provincial Assembly was against the imposition of Urdu language as the national language of Pakistan), and then East Pakistan (East Bengal) became Bangladesh.
By 1950, the businessman Debendranath Chaudhary built the temple of Goddess in Kumortuli area and established some of the Goddess' property for her daily services. The idol is 1.5 feet tall, has ten arms, mounted on her lion in the form of Katyani Mahishasurmardini 'Durga'. On her two sides are Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh. A Tiwari family from Azamgarh was appointed by the royal family for daily worship of the deity. In 1946, the descendants of that family came to Calcutta and were re-appointed, where they still serve the Goddess continuously.
Current presiding deity here in Dhakeshwari Temple is the replica of the original idol.
It is widely believed that the Queen, wife of King Bijoy Sen went to Langolbond for bathing. On her way back she gave birth to a son, known to historians as Ballal Sen.[5] After ascending to the throne, Ballal Sen built this temple to glorify his birthplace. Legends say that Ballal Sen once dreamt of the deity covered under the jungle. Ballal Sen uncovered the deity from there and built a temple, named for Dhakeswari. Whatever the legends describe, Hindus consider Dhakeswari to be the presiding deity of Dhaka, which is an incarnation or form of Goddess Durga the Adi Shakti. The idol of Durga is called Dhakeswari .
