TRAVEL| PHOTOGRAPHY| ARCHITECTURE
A Summer Photo Trip Through Historical Art and Architecture
In response to Dancing Elephants prompt 10 of DEP LIFE
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Architecture always intrigues me. And if I talk about Indian architecture, the greatest artistic glory has a long rich history, dating back thousands of years.
The Indian subcontinent boasts of a treasure trove of several temple architectural styles.
No wonder it has been and will continue to be a fascinating subject of research to delve upon for years to come.
Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness- Frank Gehry
I am sharing my heartening snapshots of visiting Hangseswari Temple and Ananta Basudeba Temple a couple of summers back.
Both the temples are at Bansberia, Hooghly, in the Indian state of West Bengal, around 50 km (about 31 miles) from Kolkata.
The temples are significant for their distinctive architectural styles under the world famous Bengal terracota work.
Terracota work of Bengal
The terracotta work of Bengal flourished primarily from the 16th to 19th centuries under the influence of the Sultanate, and Mughal eras followed by the Nawab and Zamindar periods.
There are basically three main styles of Indian temple architecture and they are the Nagara or the Northern style, the Dravida or the Southern style, and the Vesara or Mixed style.
Interestingly, there are some regional temple styles of Bengal, Kerala, and the Himalayan areas parallelly, which are equally famous and significant as well.
Endowed with fertile alluvial plain of the River Ganges/Hooghly and River Brahmaputra as well as a number of tributaries, Bengal has been a seat for vibrant cultural and architectural development.
The Bengal temple style is predominated by mud-plastered branches, or air-dried clay bricks and the roofs of straw or reeds. This style has emegered due to the presence of the region’s humid climatic conditions and lack of abundant stone resources.
You would notice that the ancient temple buildings are built of bricks in abundance. The figurative and decorative relief terracota plates are used liberally in temple structures and dwelling places.
Hangseswari Temple
I caught the first glimpse and ended up thinking as somewhat a striking replica of the famous St. Basil’s Cathedral of Moscow!
The 21-meter-high spectacular Hanseswari temple is adorned with 13 minars (towers) or Ratnas, the peak of each minar/tower/Ratna is shaped as a blooming lotus bud.
The temple has a unique architecture different from the usual pattern visible in that area.
The blue neem-wood idol of the temple is a four-armed goddess, Hangseswari, a manifestation of Goddess Kali. ‘Hong’ manifests ‘Shiva’ and ‘Saa’ represents ‘Mother Shakti’.
It is believed that the central deity placed on a lotus, Goddess Hanseswari, once appeared in Raja Nrisingha Deb Roy’s dream and hence he took up the task of building the temple.
This five-story shrine temple, though started by Raja Nrisingha Deb Roy, was later completed in 1814 after his death by his wife Rani Sankari.
Ananta Basudeba temple
The Hangseswari temple complex has another temple just adjacent to it named Ananta Basudeba temple. The deity of this temple is Lord Krishna.
With an octagonal tower top, this architectural marvel also holds a very special mention in the list of terracotta temples of Bengal.
The temple boasts exquisite terracotta works on its walls depicting stories from the epics — Ramayana, and Mahabharata to name a few.
It was built by Raja Rameshwar Dutta in 1679 in the traditional eka-ratna (one tower) style, with curved cornices.
The temple is renowned for its contribution to Bengal’s famed terracota artistry.
The use of burnt clay to create intricate patterns and sculptures on the walls of the temple is simply praiseworthy.
I could not help but feel awestruck to witness how simplicity could hold on such enduring ancient beauty.
Be it mud-plastered branches, or air-dried clay bricks and the roofs of straw or reeds, it all felt a deep connect to earth.
It was so humbling to witness the extraordinary craftsmanship to transform something as simple as clay into intricate masterpieces. Those hands must have been guided by some spiritual connection.
I clicked several pictures of both the temples and was feeling grateful to the cosmos for creating such a golden opportunity to visit these architectural wonders surrounded by lush greenery in a quaint tiny town of Bengal.
This is a must visit for those who are keen on traveling to historical destinations, seeing the unseen, knowing the unknown, and capturing the timeless memory to be cherished forever.
This is a humble response to Dr. Preeti Singh’s Dancing Elephants prompt 10 of DEP LIFE.
Here are a couple of amazing storytellers:
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Go on a high-quality art fair trip with Joyce Nielsen and have fun and learn-
Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Gabriella Korosi for a wonderful publication and her stupendous DEP editorial team comprising Dr. Preeti Singh, Annelise Lords, DR Rawson - The Possibilist, Libby Shively McAvoy, Warren Brown, B.R. Shenoy, Gabriela Trofin-Tatár, and Buddhi Ruparathna.💐✨🙏
Photos and post ©️Sanghita Pal, 2024. All rights reserved©️.💐
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. ✍ — Published by Dr. Preeti Singh at Dancing Elephants Press. Click here for submission guidelines.
