Shiva Temples – Blog of Kinjal Bose

Chandranath Shiva Temple, Hetampur, Birbhum

The district of Birbhum houses temples of various types like rekha deul, bangla, chala and ratna but there are a few temples which are octagonal in shape. One such temple is Chandranath Shiva Temple at Hetampur. It is a brick-built east-facing “octagonal-pinnacled” temple of navaratna type built by Raja Krishnachandra of Hetampur in 1847. It also is a state protected monument under Directorate of Archaeology and Museums.

Raghabeswar Shiva Temple, Dignagar, Nadia

There are a number of temples of varying shapes and sizes in Nadia district. Quite a number of them are of charchala (four sloped roofs) type like Palpara Temple, Nadia, Jaleswar Temple and Krishnachandra Jiu Temple both in Shantipur, Rudreswar Shiva Temple at Matiari (1665) and Raghabeswar Shiva Temple (1669) at Dignagar. The latter two temples were built by Raja Raghav Roy (1632-1683), grandson of Bhavananda Majumder, founder of Nadia Raj. Of these Raghabeswar Shiva Temple has exquisite terracotta works.

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.

Dochala Siva Temple

There are a very large number of Siva temples in Kolkata; of which some are pretty old and each follows a distinct temple architecture. Bagbazar situated towards the north of Kolkata has a number of temples of which one temple on the eastern pavement of Kshirode Vidyavinode Avenue drew my attention. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Shiv Mandir

I had gone to Chandannagar a number of times; but last year during Jagaddhatri Puja, when I was going to Bhadreswar from Chandannagar by auto via Grand Trunk Road, I noticed four Shiva temples in an enclosed courtyard. They look more or less like deuls. I was so much interested that I left the auto there and went to see them.

Jora Shiv Mandir, Kalighat

There are a number of temples in Kalighat area of South Kolkata of which Jora (twin) Shiv Mandir of 60, Iswar Ganguly Street, Kolkata – 700026 is pretty old. There are two temples – both of Bengal’s traditional aatchala style built possibly in the late eighteenth century by Baidyanath Halder.

26 Shiv Mandir, Khardah

26 Shiv Mandir at Ramhari Biswas Ghat Road, Khardah in North 24 Parganas by the side of the Ganges is a protected monument under Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Kolkata circle.

Haurihat Shiv Mandir

There are so many old temples scattered all over West Bengal. They were built at different periods and each had a distinct architecture and history. My interest towards those temples led me to search for them. I came to know about Haurihat Shiv Mandir first in David McCutchion’s book entitled “Brick Temples of Bengal.”

Bishnu Rameswar Shiv Mandir & four aatchala temples

Adi Ganga served as a major pilgrim route. A number of temples were built by the side of it. They were dedicated to either Shakti, Shiva and Vaisnav cult. Some of the temples are pretty old and some have undergone renovation