Hetampur located about three kilometres east of Dubrajpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal houses a number of temples – the most prominent among them are Dewanji Shiva Temple and Chandranath Shiva Temple, Hetampur, Birbhum.
The brick-built south-facing “ridged curvilinear ” rekha duel stands on a slightly raised platform with a flight of stairs in the middle. There is one tulsimancha just by the side of the stairs. The temple has exquisite terracotta decorations and is well maintained. It is a state protected monument. The temple is devoid of any prathisthalipi or foundation plaque, and, as such, it is hard to say when the temple was built but it may be assumed that it was built in the nineteenth century. The temple has a single entrance in the front. If you look at the above photograph you will find that there is a house on the eastern side of the temple. It is difficult to photograph that side due to lack of space. There are decorations on the western side also.
The temple has excellent terracotta works on its wall and most of them are intact. A close look at the panel (see photograph) shows Ram and Sita at the court. Human figurines in different postures appear on both the sides and at the top, though some are missing particularly at the top and at the left. Death vine or mrityulata appear on the sides of the temple.
The top panel has wonderful terracotta decorations. It portrays the mourning gopinis at the sight of Krishna leaving for Mathura in the rath or chariot. Above it there are decorations with floral motifs.
Going there:
The nearest railway station is Dubrajpur located at a distance of 5 kilometres from the temple. For a comfortable journey, one can board Hool Express from Howrah station and reach Dubrajpur at quarter past ten in the morning. During my visit, I personally hired a car from Bolpur Shantiniketan and covered Hetampur, Dubrajpur and Rajnagar and boarded the Hool Express from Siuri at 1:40 pm.
References:
- Birbhum Jelar Purakirti – Debkumar Chakraborty
- Brick Temples of Bengal – David McCutchion
Date of posting: 4th July, 2026
Blog of Kinjal Bose 