Nadia, a district of West Bengal, has its own significance in the history of Eastern India. Located on the bank of river Hooghly, the district housed the capital of the Sena Dynasty. The land of Nadia is the holy birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Surprisingly, Nadia does not have any living ancient temples of that era.
What was the oldest temple of Nadia District? Or is there any ancient temple in Nadia? The questions popped into my mind at various times. Few years ago, I went through a book named ‘Nadia Jelar Purakirti’ by Mohit Roy. After a logical derivation, Mr. Roy stated the old ‘charchala temple’ of Palpara is the oldest living temple of Nadia.
Next day I started my journey towards Palpara. I boarded a main line train from Sealdah Station and after a journey of one and half hours I reached Palpara. Alternatively, I could have travelled by road but train is always my first preference. Or you can say, I was adamant to make another “100 rupees trip from Kolkata”.
Deboarding from the train, I started walking towards the west. I took the left turn from the next T-junction and further towards Lokenath Bhavan and Durganagar Tarakdas Vidyamandir. Palpara Temple is a short walk from the Vidyamandir (school).
The temple is surrounded by a brick wall of approximately 5 ft. high. A board of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has been placed outside the gate where the brief history of the temple has been written.
I went inside the temple complex. This brick-built south facing charchala temple (where the four sloped roofs form a pinnacle) stands on a raised plinth. The brick temple is approximately 26 feet 8 inches in height. The frontal facade of the temple is richly decorated. The multi-cusped arched entrance is flanked by two door pillars and an ornamental spandrel above it depicting the fighting of Rama & Ravana and worshippers in the temples in terracotta. The doorframe has been decorated with floral & geometric designs along with dragon motif, there are lotus medallions, of varying sizes at different places of the frontal facade adding beauty to the temple. However, most of the terracotta panels have been lost.
The upright six-row geometric design on the left side of the temple is also noteworthy. A similar decoration on the right wing has probably been lost during renovation. So many geometric designs! I think the temple may be a rare example of “Terracotta”-temples in any district.Especially, the panel depicting the battle of Rama and Ravana is a rare piece of work.
The foundation stone of the temple is missing. It is believed to have been built by the landlord Gandharba Roy in the 17th century, although the plaque containing information such as the name of the founder and the year of foundation has long been lost.
The time of the landlord has gone, the temple has also lost its glory, but the temple echoes the richness of Bengali Architects.
Tips:
- Palpara can be reached by local trains from Sealdah. Ranaghat, Santipur, Krishnanagar and Gede local trains pass through Palpara.Ticket fare: INR 30 (including return fare).
- There are few sweet shops and street food corners at the station.
- The temple stands a walking distance from the station. Please follow the map given in the post.
References:
- Nadia Jelar Purakirti by Mohit Roy
The Tramp 