Kolkata, Jan 24 (.) American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg was deeply engaged with Hindu spirituality during his later years and was once seen worshipping Goddess Kali with ritual devotion in New in his New York apartment, eminent Bengali poet Subodh Sarkar recalled on Saturday.
Recalling his meeting with Ginsberg in the US, Sarkar said he was taken by surprise.
“I walked into his room and saw him worshipping Goddess Kali’s picture, the one from Kalighat. He was offering sweets and there was a small harmonium near the bed,” he said.
Speaking at the Exide Kolkata Literary Meet 2026, Sarkar said the scene stood in sharp contrast to Ginsberg’s public image in the United States as a rebellious and controversial figure.
“The controversial figure associated with Howl was not the person I met. What I saw was a man searching for answers, thinking constantly about death and faith.”
According to Sarkar, Ginsberg’s fascinating with India began during his travels in the early 1960s, when he spent months in Calcutta and Benaras, spending time with local people, fakirs and immersing himself in everyday life.
“He was a tormented mind who came to India in search of wisdom, in search of a power that comes from eternity. That was the real Allen Ginsberg.”
The discussion also touched upon Ginsberg’s influence on modern Bengali poetry and his close association with poets such as Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shakti Chattopadhyay and Malay Roy Choudhury. His poems were widely translated and published in Bengali little magazines, giving him a new readership far from America. . . .