Bishnupur (Bankura) and the Madanmohan Temple

Bishnupur (132 km from Kolkata), the headquarters of the Bishnupur subdivision of Bankura district (WB), is known as a seat of crafts and culture. Bishnupur literally means ‘city of Lord Vishnu’. The Malla kings of Bishnupur were devout followers of Vaisnavism and thus they named their capital after Lord Vishnu.

According to historian Romesh Chunder Dutt, “The ancient Rajas of Bishnupur trace back their history to a time when Hindus were still reigning in Delhi . . . . they could already count five centuries of rule over the western frontier tracts of Bengal before Bakhtiyar Khilji wrested the province from the Hindu rulers. The Muslim conquest of Bengal, however, made no difference to the Bishnupur . . . . the kings of Bishnupur were supreme within their extensive territories . . . .  Murshidabad Subahdars never had a firm hold over the Rajas of Bishnupur. Slowly the Bishnupur family fell into decay; Maharaja Burdwan attacked and added to his zamindari large slices of his neighbour’s territories. The Marathas completed the ruin of the Bishnupur.’’

The base panels with mythological scenes

The Rajas of Bishnupur and many of their followers have laid claims to their being Kshatriyas, though they are known as ‘Malla’ and their kingdom ‘Mallabhom’ (মল্লভূম). ‘Malla’ means ‘strongman’ or ‘wrestler’. The patronage of Malla king Veer Hambir and his successors Raja Raghunath Singha Devand Bir Singha Dev made Bishnupur one of the principal centres of culture in Bengal. Most of the exquisite terracotta temples for which town is justly famous were built during this period.

Stone was in short supply in Bengal. May be beacuase of this most of the temples are built with laterite blocks, red backed bricks and covered with elaborately decorated terracotta panels.

Since 1997, the temples of Bishnupur is on UNESCO World Heritage Site’s tentative list.

THE MADAN MOHAN TEMPLE

The Madan Mohan Temple is a ‘live’ temple, enshrining the metal idols of Krishna and Radha, unkile many others of the town. Lord Madan Mohan (Krishna) is the presiding deity and puja is offered daily. It is believed that this particular deity saved Bishnupur town during Maratha attack. by Bhaskar Rao,by firing the grand Dalmadal cannon.

Intricately designed terracotta panels

Details of Terracotta tablets cladding the walls

The portion of a pillar depicting the scenes from classical Hindu epics

The temple was built by the King Durjana Singh Dev in 1694 AD. The main temple is square on plan and stands on a high plinth of 16m made of laterite blocks. It has three arched entrances on three directions. There are 6 high steps from the ground level to get into the main temple.

Star attraction at the Temple: Intricately designed terracotta covering layers of the pillars 

The temple was built in the ‘Eka Ratna’ style (having one top tower or ‘Shikhara’) of temple architecture with a square flat roof, cornices that are curved and a pinnacle on the top. This style is also know as ‘Ek-Chala’ in traditionally Bengali architecture. The temple is also one of the largest old temples in town.

The ‘Nabanarikunja’ (nine females forming an elephant) sculpture can be seen in middle

Splendidly designed Terracotta tablets cladding the walls

An intricately designed terracotta panel

The temple ceilings are carved with different designs. The outer walls (artwork on only two sides remain) and the pillars are all full of extremely beautiful intricately carved terracotta sculptures, depicting various scenes from the ‘Puranas’, ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’. Most of them are related to Krishna. The most notable sculpture is ‘Nabanarikunja’ (nine females forming an elephant).

An execusite terracotta panel

A terracotta panel depicting ‘Ras Leela’

A terracotta portion of a pillar

A mandap is situated opposite to the temple is also an example of Bishnupur style of architecture, with a sloped chala type roof, called ‘Chandi Mandap’.

The back of the temple without any decorative panel

The Chandi Mandap

Related reading:

https://rangandatta.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/bishnupur-temple-town/

http://www.asikolkata.in/bankura.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishnupur,_Bankura