The district of Birbhum has a number of temples of varying shapes and sizes of which brick-built temple of Jor Bangla type dedicated to Goddess Kali at Itanda deserves special mention. It is possibly the only jor bangla temple of the district.
Jor Bangla type is said to be an altered and improved style of do chala or ek bangla. The roofs of two ek bangla temples placed side-by-side forms a jor bangla type. Examples of this type are Jor Bangla Temple at Bishnupur, Bankura; Chaitanyadev Temple at the temple complex in Guptipara, Hooghly; Jor Bangla Temple at Birnagar in Nadia to mention a few.
The village of Itanda is located about 15 kilometres from Bolpur railway station. There are a number of temples in Itanda of which Jor Bangla Kali Temple is a state protected monument. A blue plaque close to the temple site states this. The temple has been renovated. This south-facing temple was built in the middle of the eighteenth century. It is on a slightly raised platform with intricate terracotta decoration. Legends say that the temple was once housed by a group of dacoits named as Harkata group and they used to worship Kali.
The temple facade exhibits terracotta figures of extraordinary craftsmanship though some figures got damaged. One will witness some exquisite terracotta panels of war scene between two war ships, rows of soldiers marching with guns, noblemen and soldiers, Goddess Bishnu, Kal Bhairav, dwarpal, Surya in chariot, Sita, Ravana, mrityulata or death-vine, two ladies standing side by side, soldiers on horseback, Shumbha and Nishumba and Chandi and several other figures.
There are plenty of terracotta panels in this temple. I am sharing only a few of them.
References:
- Birbhum Jelar Purakirti – Debkumar Chakraborty
- Kolkatar Mandir-Maszid Sthapotya-Alankaran-Rupantar – Tarapada Santra
Date of posting: 30th June, 2024.
Blog of Kinjal Bose 