Bengal has
been the home of several great civilizations. However, structural records of
these kingdoms, considering the extent of the country, are extremely scanty.
This is largely because of the nature of the soil and the climate, both of
which encourage the rapid growth of thick vegetation which is destructive to
deserted buildings. However, it is believed that hand of man has played a
bigger part in demolishing ancient cities and temples.
Of the ruined
temple in the districts of Burdwan and Bankura, enough remains to establish its
kinship with the arthitectural movement in Orissa that produced the temples of
Bhubaneswar. A group of temples at Barakar provide a connecting link between
Orissan architecture of the 11th and 12th centuries and
its provincial phase in the south of West Bengal. A distinctive feature as of the temples of Barakar.
Barakar is a
small town in Asansol in the Burdwan district of West Bengal. It is at the
border of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
A group of temples in Barakar are
believed to have been built in the 10th and 11th
centuries A.D., by the Pala Kings. These are locally known as the “BEGUNIA” group on account of their fancied
resemblance to the fruit of the egg plant (The Bengali name of eggplant is “
Begun “). All four of them are located in one complex, protected by a big
boundary wall, no encroachment should be possible.
The temples
are numbered 1,2,3 and 4 by A. S. I. Two of them are dedicated to Lord Shiva,
one to lord Ganesha and other to Goddess Durga. Build of black and grey
sandstone not from the usual terracotta. They are of typical The Shikhara
(pinnacles) or Rekh Deul style and are decorated with floral designs and
mythological figures. The inscription on the walls credits a king named
Harishchandra for its construction. The temples were dedicated to
Harishchandra’s queen Haripriya. The two Nandies ( Lord Shiva’s Vehicle) of
temples 3 and 4. The temples face opposite directions. The temple no. 1, This
is the Siddheswari temple; it houses a cell and a vestibule. A shivling, 55
inches in diameter, is worshipped here. This temple is the oldest dating back
to 8th to 9th century. ( It is amongst the oldest
rekh-deul temples in West Bengal). The earliest reference to the temple s can
be found in a book named History of
Indian & Eastern Architecture by James Fergusson. In the book, a
woodcut of one of the temples was mistakenly referred to as the Bankura temple(
Instead of Barakar temple). The complex was correctly identified in print in
1878, in a report prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Many stone
idols have been discovered in the complex. Some are Vishnu idols but others are
Jain idols, possibly belonging to the older fourth temple. Plenty of evidences
were found in this complex that goes to prove that Barakar was once a Jain religious centre. Stylistically, the
temples and the sculptures provide evidence of the cultural and technological
intercourse the local artisans, sculptors and architects had with Bengal
heartland comprising northern Radha, Varendra and Vanga, on the one hand, and
with Orissa, on the other. While the majority of sculptures found from Purulia,
Bankura & and some portion of Burdwan unmistakably bear stylistic
resemblance to those of the Pala-Sena period, a number of nagara-sikhara
temples remind one of Orissan temples of that age.
The cultural
influence of Orissa was not limited to temple architecture alone. The ancestors
of the present day Utkal Brahmans started settling in the south-west of Bengal
with grants of rent free lands, either from the local kings and chiefs or from
their Orissan overlords right from the tenth century and the process continued
till almost recent times.
Photos of Siddheshvara temple at Barakar, Burdwan district taken by J.D. Beglar in 1872-73. Beglar wrote, “ Barakar…contains several very interesting ancient remains, in excellent preservation”. “….. consist of a cell and an antarala, or vestibule. It does not appear to have ever had a mahamandapa in front. The object of worship is a lingam, placed in a great argha, 4 feet 7 inches in diameter. Besides this there are lying , in an out, statues and fragments, among which may be reckoned, Ganeca, a 4-armed female, a 4-armed male holding a sword and a trident in two hands, and some nondescript fragments.”
Source : 1. J. D. Beglar, Report of a tour through the
Bengal Provinces… in 1872-73 &
A.
S. I Vol. VIII, Calcutta, 1878,
Page.151-53.
2. “Paschimbangaer Shaskriti” by
Binoy Ghosh.
3. District Gazetteer of
Burdwan, Purulia by L S S O’mally.
