A nineteenth-century Hindu mystic, his devoted nephew, and a powerful, generous woman philanthropist are at the center of this biographical novel. Rani Rashmoni, widowed with a vast fortune, follows a higher order to build Dakshineswar Temple on a Ganga tributary to serve Kali, the many-limbed, dark-skinned goddess of destruction and creation. Here, the mystic who will become known as Sri Ramakrishna will undergo his dozen years of ecstatic trances and become the temple's spiritual guru and main attraction for pilgrims and followers. Much of the master's story is told through journal-like entries from his nephew, Hridayram.