Sri Ramakrishna
Rani Rasmani
The Kali temple at Dakshineswar, four miles to the north of Calcutta, on the eastern bank of the Ganges, was founded by Rani Rasmani. She died before Naren came to Dakshineswar.
Kali temple at Dakshineswar
Rasmani was always ready to help the poor and the persecuted. At one time the government imposed a tax on the fishermen who made their meager living by fishing in the Ganga. The fishermen requested various prominent people to help them, but no one would come forward to their defense. At last they went to Rani Rasmani and she promised to do something. Paying ten thousand rupees to the government, she discreetly took the lease of the fishing right of the Ganga, from Ghusuri to Metiabruz. She then asked the fishermen to barricade that area of the Ganga, from shore to shore, with bamboo poles and catch fish there without paying any tax. As a result, the water traffic was stopped and the commercial boats could not reach their ports. A 'Show Cause' summons came from the government along with an order to remove the barricades. Rasmani replied that the big steamboats frightened the fish, causing them to run to and fro, and this made it difficult for them to lay their eggs. The poor fishermen were therefore not able to catch many fish, which was their only source of income. Furthermore, she replied, that with a view to protecting the fishermen she had paid the government a large amount of money, and legally she had every right to put up a barricade in her own area. At last the British Government settled the case with Rasmani by returning her money for the lease of the land and rescinding the tax from the fishermen.
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- www.vivekananda.net edited by Frank Parlato Jr.
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