Blog of Kinjal Bose

Temples of Jhikira, Howrah

This year in February I had been to the village of Jhikira in Amta II block of Howrah district to witness the terracotta temples of the region. After visiting the temples of Rautara, I crossed the road and came to the other side. I had to walk through the village road in search of temples. This area has a number of temples and according to David McCutchion “the temples of Howrah are an extension of those predominating in the adjoining district of Hooghly”.

Rathayatra in Akshay Tritiya at Telinipara, Bhardreswar, Hooghly

Bhadreswar, a municipal town of Hooghly district of West Bengal can be reached both by road and rail. It is roughly forty minutes from Howrah by train in the Howrah-Bandel section of Eastern Railway. This industrial town finds mention in Bipradas’ Manasamangal. During the medieval times this area was a renowned seat of Sanskrit learning.

Rathayatra of Dasghara

Hooghly district of West Bengal is famous for Rathayatra – Mahesh in Serampore, Guptipara and Dasghara to name a few. Last year I was pretty lucky to visit Dasghara in the afternoon. It was a very hot and humid day. I took a train from Howrah and reached Tarakeswar at about quarter to two in the afternoon. Then I went to the bus stand and boarded a bus going to Dasghara. I sat by the window and when the bus started, I found after some time the landscape changed from urban to rural. Yes, we are leaving the temple town of Tarakeswar. The bus was more or less packed; but nobody was standing. After some thirty minutes I got down at Bazaar para and started walking towards my destination.

Henry Martin’s Pagoda

Serampore, a sub-divisional town in Hooghly district of West Bengal is only about 18 kilometres from Howrah. It is the eight station in Howrah-Bandel line of the Eastern Railway. The Grand Trunk Road passes through this town. The town can be reached either by road or by water; other than the rail route. This town has a rich history to offer. The Danes named this town as Fredericknagar in 1757 in the name of the then King Frederick V of Denmark.

Shandeswartala Temple, Chinsurah

Chinsurah or Chuchura is the district headquarters of Hooghly. It is situated about 37 kilometers north of Kolkata by the western side of the Ganges. This town was previously a Dutch settlement till 1825. The town had a number of heritage monuments.

Bhukailash Temple, Khidirpur

Situated in Khidirpur, in Ward No 79 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Bhukailash Rajbari is a prominent place where one will witness two big aatchala Shiva temples – Raktakamaleswar and Krishnachandreswar standing there from 1780 onwards and which have archaeological, architectural and historical significance. The temples along with the thakurbari including gateway of Bhukailash Rajbari is a Grade-I Heritage of the KMC.

Jateswara Shiv Mandir, Mahanad

Mahanad, a village about 13 kilometers from Tribeni in Chinsurah sub division of Hooghly district of West Bengal has a historical importance. Apart from the famous Mahanad Kali Mandir, there is another Shiva Temple dedicated to Jateswara Shiva. The god of Nath sect of Mahanad is Jateswara Shiv. It is not known as to when the Jateswara Shiva Temple was built; but considering the temple architecture it is assumed that it was built in the middle of the eighteenth century; though later the temple was renovated by Tarak Chandra Saha.

Tulsimancha

Manchas are of three types – rasmancha, dolmancha and tulsimancha. In my previous blog posts I have written about Rasmancha and Dolmancha. Today I will concentrate on tulsimancha. Of the three manchas, tulsimancha is the smallest and is mainly found in domestic households and also in many temples of West Bengal. A tulsimancha is built centering a tulsi tree.

Dolmancha

Manchas are of three types – dolmancha, rasmancha and tulsimancha. Of these tulsimanchas are present not only in domestic households but also in many temples of West Bengal. Of the three a rasmancha is larger than a dolmancha while the latter is larger than a tulsimancha. According to David McCutchion, “The dolmancha was most commonly built in the eighteenth century, …… they are spread over the whole of Bengal, wherever Krishna was worshipped.”

Dadhimadhav Temple, Amragiri, Howrah

There are a number of temples rich in terracotta in Amta II block of Howrah district of West Bengal namely in the villages of Jhikira, Rautara and Amragiri. Coming from Howrah, the first village is Amragiri on your right.