Charming Dewanji Terracotta Temple of Hetampur Dubrajpur
The Chandranath Shiva temple was good find in our quest for the old terracotta temples in West Bengal. This part of Hetampur town was well known for 3 terracotta temples: one, the Chandranath Shiva Temple, two Dewanji Temple (I am posting on this here) and three, Gol Mandir, which does not exist any more. Thanks to a land shark there!
We walked up and down this lane in search of this Dewanji Temple. Each person we asked said it is little ahead on this lane, but somehow we weren’t able to locate it. It was hidden by tall tress, then from a certain spot we noticed the pinnacle of the temple. I was delighted at the sight.
Observe the pic carefully you can see the dark brown pinnacle behind the orange-ish hut shaped temple in the left side of the picture.
The temple has hardly any breathing space; at one side just one person could pass at a time. The family to whom the temple belonged has erected houses all around it.
As soon as we entered the small place many curious eyes followed our movements. My frantic photographing the structure made them curious about my purpose of visit. I explained it was purely personal interest.
The 19th century temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna. It is tightly ridged Rekha type (Bengal architecture) temple. The door is in a dilapidated condition, it looked prayers and regular worships are still being done there.
So many of the panel figures have worn off. Some of them seemed perfect. There are scenes from Krishna’s life, many women in traditional dresses of those times.
One particular figure caught my attention; it was of a British in an authoritative body posture. During 19th century India was under British rule. Probably this British soldier was standing there nearby while the artisan was at work and saw to it that he too was in the same facade as Lord Krishna!
How to reach Hetampur in Dubrajpur
Hetampur village is located in Dubrajpur Block in Birbhum district, West Bengal. It is 40km from Shantiniketan Bolpur and 167km from Murshidabad. Dubrajpur Railway Station and Chinpai Railway Station are the nearest railway stations to Hetampur.
We hired a private taxi for this terracotta temple trail. Check this map: Shantiniketan to Hetampur to Murshidabad in West Bengal.
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If you are planning to do a similar terracotta temple trail save this blog.
Tale telling pictures..all the best!
Religious Tolerance : Something India forgot en masse today !!
It is seen aplenty here !!
shundor!!! Amar ekhane ekbar nischoi jete hobe!!
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Excellent art! Thank you so much for sharing this with beautiful clicks 🙂
How artfully carved are they… beautiful pics…
Lovely details in every pictuRe! Just wondering how many such beautiful terracota temples are there in W.Bengal. Thanks for taking us to those lovely places!
Thanks so much for the comments friends. 🙂
Hi Aneesh, I have no idea whether this was a willing depiction by the artist or a forced one. Nobody around knew either. I did some google search but there is no mention of exact reason.
What I found interesting was the depiction of a foreigner on Hindu temple facade, speaks a lot about religious tolerance from those days. There is a temple in Thanjavur too which has similar depiction. I am so glad you liked the post.
This is absolutely FANTABULOUS !!
But what intrigues me to a great extent is the PRESENCE OF BRITS carved out as part of the temple.
May be because they were the patrons under whose aegis the temple was built back then which could not have been possible because of resistance from the majority Muslims in the region… The temple management might have showed their gratitude by immortalizing them on terracotta. This is a wild guess !! But it sounds more plausible ~~!!
Perhaps you should check out the history of the place, its demography back then et… all. Im asking for too much here !! Coz its baffling….Would love to see someone take a crack at this mystery !!
Beautiful temple with an interesting history. Lovely narration with awesome captures. Nice virtual tour for me.
The dome has marvelous intricate carving–lovely.
Some Englishman got permanent place in history- in this lovely carving!
Nice one, as usual, Indrani:)
I wonder how you manage to locate such beautiful terracotta gems, Indrani.
Mam u are having good collection of photos of temple
I wonder how you could dig out such hidden gems! Great
Interesting structures. Very intricate designs.
Truly a great find Indrani! Love the intricate artwork and the beautiful heritage 🙂
Nice and rare photos… Your photos always have that unique touch…
Hmmm…the soldier looks rude in the
statue too…I pity the artisan.:)
beautiful clicks and info about a new place
The number of temples we have in our country is uncountable but the feel of each temple is so different as well.
So earthy pictures… I love the shades of brown
Amazing terracotta!!!!
It is a beautiful temple, odd that it is so small! Lovely photos, Indrani!
Lovely temple. Nice that you have explored these temple of West Bengal.
Nice little temple!
Great tour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River.
How patient must the artists and sculptors have been to create this masterpiece.I like the extra information you gave.
Simply magnificent Terracotta Temple,India really have many hidden treasures.. 🙂
What a beauty and all these little sculptures ! Amazing is the British soldier on a temple, that's rather unexpected !
This is a beautiful place Indrani, I always enjoy the places you show us. Thank you very much!
What gorgeous details on the small temple.
Beautiful… both post n pictures.
Wonderful post, Beautiful photos.
I love the carvings on the temple.
a very charming little temple. how could a temple be privately owned? is that possible?
Lovely! And the policeman is amusing.
I do love seeing the details! And the British soldier made me wonder how he got there. 😉
Beautiful temples, and the photos are superb.
What amazing architecture Indrani. I'm also intrigued by the smaller more rustic looking temple in your first picture. Thanks for sharing. Greetings, Jo
Lovely details! I wonder how long it took them to carve all those figurines?
tiny temples are as detailed as any larger structure!
Wonderful details…..good photo's.
Such amazing, intricate carvings, Indrani!! And your photos capture them beautifully!! Interesting that it is so small — a one man temple! Fascinating!! Hope you have a great week!!