Siliguri: The foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Mahakal Temple in Siliguri has become the most talked-about development across North Bengal. While the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee formally launched the historic project, an emotional human story has quietly emerged at the heart of this grand announcement — the story of 87-year-old Leela Dutta.
The very land where the Mahakal Temple is set to rise belongs to Leela Dutta, the land of Chandmani tea garden. For her, Chandmani was not merely a tea garden, it was her world. She once served as a member of the Board of Directors of the estate. Her late husband, Binay Kumar Dutta, was the chairman, and together they managed the garden for nearly 25 years. The lives of thousands of workers, the future of the estate, and every inch of that land were deeply intertwined with the family’s identity.
However, political turmoil and prolonged land disputes dramatically changed everything. During the Left Front regime, controversies erupted over the ownership of Chandmani Tea Garden. Legal battles followed. Allegedly, the management was forced to surrender the land under intense political pressure. During the workers’ movement to protect the garden, several labourers lost their lives in police firing. At that time, Leela’s son, Bedabrata Dutta, was serving as the garden’s chairman. Eventually, the family lost the legal battle.
With time, Chandmani’s landscape transformed. The once-lush tea garden gave way to multi-storeyed buildings worth crores of rupees in today’s real estate market.
Then came a moment that rekindled Leela’s emotional bond with the land: she learnt that the Mahakal Temple would be built there. Chandmani has long been considered a sacred land of Lord Shiva, with the Chandmani Shivratri fair attracting lakhs of devotees every year. The announcement that a grand Mahakal Temple would rise on this very soil felt to Leela like a divine restoration after a lifetime of loss.
Overwhelmed with emotion, she penned a letter to the Chief Minister, expressing gratitude for the decision. “This temple will restore the dignity of Chandmani’s sacred soil. Local people will be blessed,” said Leela. Today, her only wish is simple yet profound — once the Mahakal Temple is inaugurated, she wants to visit the shrine with her son, fold her hands before Lord Shiva, and offer prayers on the land that once carried her family’s dreams.