Nabaratna Depara Temple Joypur, West Bengal

On to my next destination Depara Nabaratna temple (nine pinnacled temple)  of Joypur, the pinnacles were visible from the bylane. A small gate to De Family’s house and the temple is in their courtyard measuring approx. 30feet by 40 feet. ‘De’ is Bengali surname. This family was one of the reputed and influential cloth merchants a couple of centuries back.

Temple description

There are columns all around; they have arches rich with terracotta panels. Each of them is themed and tells a story. There are scenes from Dashavatar, Krishnalila, hunting scenes, and daily life scenes. The sub panels depicting individual characters are so detailed, you can see the fingers too.

This particular panel in the right of the main entrance to the temple depicts the scene of Lord Krishna leaving for Mathura, and gopikas blocking his way. One of them can be seen lying on the ground to stop him from going away. If you observe carefully there is one Prathishalipi ( Foundation stone ) which indicates the date of construction as year 1250 in Bengali (lunar) calendar which reads year 1843 in solar calendar.

The nabaratna depara temple has hardly any space around it, measuring may be 10 feet to one side and less than two feet at other. The little master of the house was enjoying a game of cricket in that space. You can see the half surprised and half annoyed look on his face for disturbing his game. He was waiting patiently for me to get over with my photography. Such is the craze of cricket in my country.



Our World Tuesday
My previous post on Joypur:

Unnamed Forgotten Terracotta Temples, Joypur, West Bengal

Facade of Depara Temple, West Bengal
Bangalore Sunset - Fire Clouds in the Sky

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