Surul Rajbari and Terracotta Temples in Bolpur, West Bengal
As per plan we spent day 7 and day 8 of our road trip through top places of attraction in West Bengal in Bolpur. After a good memorable stay in Shantiniketan we set off on road again. From Bolpur we made a day trip to Surul to see the famed Surul Rajbari and terracotta temples.
Day Trip to Surul from Bolpur
Bolpur proved to be a good base to make day visit to various sightseeing sites nearby. Surul, less than 5 km away from Shantiniketan, has exquisite terracotta temples belonging to 18th century.
We went searching for the temples; it was hard to find the exact location because there is no board indicating the directions. Very thoughtfully we had taken a print out of the google map and that helped us. With so many narrow crisscross lanes and bylanes, it was a difficult approach.
Terracotta Temples in Surul
Finally after asking several passersby we could locate the temples. I expected to see ruins, but the two Shiva temples in rekh-deul pattern were looking brand new structures. The white contrasting the deep red terracotta made them look grand.
These temples are not taken over by Archaeological Society of India yet. They are privately owned by the Sarkar family, but there was no gate and looked ‘free for all’ kind of place.
Terracotta panel on Door arch Surul
Doors of Terracotta Temple in Surul
The last terracotta temple constructed here was Purba Para Mandir in 1837. We tried hard to locate it but failed. I had read it was in a derelict condition and now I suspect it has been reduced to rubbles. Hope I am not correct though.
Years back in 1936 Rabindranath Tagore had taken up the task of preserving these temples personally. Sadly no one after him followed it up.
Lakshmi Janardhan Temple Surul
The Lakshmi-Janardhan temple nearby, still stands in its old form. It is the oldest temple in the rajbari complex. I visited these temples in Apr 2013; hopefully some face lift has been given to this temple too. I seriously think West Bengal tourism should take some concrete steps to protect these old heritage structures.
Lakshmi Janardhana Temple in Surul
This temple is made in the typical Pancharatna style of the Bengal school. The five-pinnacle temple has a carved facade supported on three arched gates.
Terracotta Temples at Surul Birbhum West Bengal
Ramayana is a common theme depicted on the wall panels of terracotta temples; in Surul too it was no different. The terracotta panels depict stories from this epic. Below, I have the picture of Ravana, the ten headed demon warring. Ravana, is depicted with such details. It is hard to imagine the expertise in the fingers of artists who lived then.
Ravan on terracotta panel Surul Birbhum
Surul Rajbari Birbhum
Surul Rajbari tops the list of Rajbari in West Bengal. No way we wanted to drop it from our itinerary. It is interesting how the house, rajbari, as it is known today evolved from residence place of Sarkar family to a popular tourist destination.
Sarkar Family History
The first well known ancestor of Surul’s Sarkars was Bharat Chandra. Upon the advice by their Guru Sri Basudev Bhattacharjee, he along with his wife Srimati Bimala settled in Surul. Krishnahari Sarkar, their son, had three sons- Jadavendra, Madhavendra and Kalicharan.
Some kind of family partition took place among them. Residence of descendants of Jadavendra Sarkar and Kalicharan came to be known as Surul Borobari and the descendants of Madhavendra stayed at Surul Chotobari.
Jadavendra Sarkar had two sons – Brajaballav and Rajballav. Brajaballav had five sons of which his third son Sri Srinivas Sarkar gained more prominence because of his praiseworthy contributions and played a major role in the well being of the Sarkar family.
This is really a great place to get the feel of Bengal of 19th century. The mansion we saw was once a King’s palace. The three temples are in the vicinity of this palace. You can visit all of them in one go in a span of half an hour to one hour. The aura around this place is so calming that I felt Surul deserves more than a single day stay.
There was a time when the Sarkar family held reigns of this little kingdom of Surul. Of course they were hand in glove with the British East India Company. So they were known as Zamnidars (landlords) and not Kings. Some locals therefore like to refer to it as zamindarbari and not rajbari. But it cannot be ignored that the zamindars worked for the welfare of the communities that lived there.
We were surprised it was free to enter with no one asking for any tickets.
Surul resident
Thakur Dalan Surul Rajbari / Surul Sarkarbari / Sarkar Rajbari
Durga Puja at Surul Rajbari
What I read about this family is: one Srinivas Sarkar, resident of Surul, acquired great wealth by selling sails for ships sailing from neighboring port of Ilambazar (from Outlook Traveller). He made these temples and a rajbari (palace) too. Picture of facade of the palace below. Even today this rajbari is a venue for Durga Puja.
Check here: for Dates for Durga Puja: The most Awaited Festival of Bengali
Try and plan a visit to Surul during Durga Puja to see the real grandeur of the place. The thakur dalan (podium where the idol of Goddess Durga is placed) and the lawns are done up beautifully with lovely Bishnupur art. Grand mansion of Surul comes to life then.
Surul Rajbari Birbhum
Surul Rajbari Location
Surul is easily accessible by roads. However if you plan to come by train Bolpur is the nearest railway station. We halted in a resort near Shanti Niketan and made a day trip to Surul from Bolpur.
Didtance from Bolpur to Surul Rajbari is 5.5 km. Surul is around 15 minutes by road from Bolpur. You can hire private taxis or public transport buses which may take slightly longer time but definitely easy on pocket.
Bolpur to Surul by road – Google Map
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The old ones are just as beautiful. It is almost like there is one for the men and one for the women. Thanks for sharing the older photos with us. It makes the post all the more interesting genie
Very nice pics and details!
I love the old and new contrasts in these photos.
You took the Path Rarely Taken and across these beautiful temples/monuments. I wish that you continue to travel and shed light to invisible parts of our world 🙂
And yes, the pics are beautiful
Such wonderful temples. Nice post, Indrani.
beautiful
Beautiful pics
The Shiva temples are lovely-so unique!
I'm impressed that so many Indian treasures are being so well preserved. At least that's how it appears from my side of the world.
Red and white seemed to be the colors of the day and how glorious the temples looked.
So beautiful …
Very well captured pictures Indrani.
BTW you've been nominated in my blog for a photo contest. pls check.
Interesting! And very nice photos of the beautiful temples!
Thank you so much for the comments friends.
Ritesh, that will be great if you can put in a word in my favor to Mamtadi. 🙂 😛
Beautiful images of India.
There are several places in bengal which can turn into hot tourist spots, provided they are marketed….u can become a brand ambasador for the state….should i talk to mamta di? 😛
beautiful temple 🙂
very bful temple:-)
Very interesting and beautiful temples.
These are definitely beautiful and well-worth being taken care of. I felt so sad to see some of the beautiful haveli in the Shekawati region really falling into disrepair.
Beautiful are this temples and they are photographed beautifully too.
I have never seen anything like this before. A beautiful place and interesting post. Thank you Indrani!
Hello from Germany! This is the first time I have been able to get on line as I am using my niece's wi-fi connection and after a week of merriment celebrating her wedding, we are finally slowing down.
The temples are beautiful. I am glad they are being well cared for. Lovely details and photos.
Gorgeous Temple! thanks for sharing a nice visiting site …
Such beautiful architecture, Indrani. Incredible India has lot of amazing places of visit!
Lovely temple. Carvings are exquiste . Thanks for sharing these lovely temples.
Oh my – how absolutely stunning!
nice writeup … well maintained temple.
Beautiful temples. We were planning to visit West Bengal during the Dussera holidays but had to change the destination due to the nonavailability of tickets.
maybe newly renovated? it's really gorgeous.
Truly the essence of Indian culture. Each monument speaks so much about the heritage and the bygone era. Nice pictures Indrani.
Just beautiful. The almost look like they are gingerbread mansions made of candy.
Great shots of temples. I like those carvings.
The terracotta temples are absolutely beautiful. I, too, hope the other temple can get some tender loving care.
Welcome Indrani!
Great zdjęcia.Zabytki delightful.
They are so beautiful. Excellent post.
I send greetings from distant Polish.
Lucia
India is really amazing..I always love to see temples and religious place of different traditions and In India I guess there is no end of it..:D
Nice to see that they have at least maintained the temples …
Nice photos and post.
It seems the private owners are maintaining the temple well from the pictures,atleast the first one.The archeological department possibly takeover temples and monuments built by kings.The private temples are perhaps out of its radar.
Thanks for telling us about these temples
Fantastic renovations! Wonderful captures and a great post for the day as always, Indrani! Hope you have a lovely week!
Wonderful pictures of a beautiful temple!
very pretty!
Beautiful photos and post.
Beautifully renovated temples! The paintings well highlighted the details… I too hope the other one also get facelift soon. Well captured images
Very good photographed…..i like the detail shots.
Greetings, Joop