Supur, a village south of Surul in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district of West Bengal is just a little over five kilometres from Bolpur Shantiniketan railway station. It is also close to River Ajay.
There are a number of brick-built temples in this village but mention may be made of two south-facing twin duel-shaped temples at Lalbazar area. The temples are by the side of a road and are in an enclosed area. One will spot these deuls on the right side of the main road. I covered them on my way back from Surul Rajbari on Mahanavami this year. I hired a toto from Surul and reached Supur to cover these temples and took photographs and, from there straight to Bolpur railway station to board Shantiniketan Express to Howrah.
Here one will notice two ridged rekha deuls side by side – an octagonal structure on the eastern side while the other is a standard deul. The octagonal temple is a state protected monument under the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, West Bengal. Lord Shiva is worshipped in both the temples on a daily basis. This brick-built deul has intricate terracotta decorations on all the sides but I could take photographs only on the three sides and, that too, on the back. It is because of the fact that a Durga Puja is going on in front of the temple. It is not known for sure as who built this temple and when; but it is assumed that they were built sometime during 18th-19th century.
An interesting thing to note here on the right is a bathing scene where Krishna as a kid is being bathed on a water-filled tumbler. The figures are all more or less prominent and art work have survived till date. I noticed one thing that a few figures have discoloured but still then whatever remains is unique.
In the upper panel you can easily see the soldiers on elephant (left) and on horses (middle). Another thing to mention here is the repetition of the lower panel – the reason remains unknown. We can also see the scene where the soldiers are marching in one row. There is a figure of a five-headed man in the middle who is dancing with others. I could not make out who the person is.
The floral designs and art works on the three sides of each panel is also a thing to mention. The temple has several arch doors and is coloured white (may be it is done at a later stage). The arch panel is again subdivided into three separate sub panels and one will easily notice the repetition of the lower panels.
The deul next to the octagonal structure is devoid of terracotta works, may be it has some decorations at the front which I fail to capture. It is not known whether both the temples are built at the same time or there is any gap in between. I could spot that the top of both the deuls has a trishul and a chakra but the one in the octagonal deul has some growth of vegetation.
Going there:
The best way to reach Supur is to take the morning express train either from Howrah or Sealdah and get down at Bolpur station. From there you can take a toto and reach there. Alternately it can also be reached by car. I personally boarded Maa Tara Express from Sealdah station at 7:20 am and reached Bolpur at 10:40 am.
Date of posting: 16th December, 2023.
Blog of Kinjal Bose 