Gopinath Mandir, Dasghara, Hooghly

 

Terracotta Temple

A member of the Biswas family, Sadananda Biswas built a five-pinnacle Gopinath temple in 1729 on the property. Situated just behind the mansion, the temple houses an idol of the Biswas family’s presiding deity, Sri Sri Radha-Gopinath Jiu. The temple is decorated in intricate terracotta work, its beautiful panels featuring scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as scenes from daily life. It has a triple-arched entrance like other terracotta temples in Bengal.

The left arch has scenes of Krittibas Ojha’s Ramayana, a prominent panel depicting a scene where the mythical bird Suprasha attacks Ravana’s chariot. Sadly, most of the panels on the left arch have been ruined over time. The central arch of the temple is in excellent condition and features the Rama-Ravana battle of the Ramayana in great detail. Rama, Laxmana, the ten-headed Ravana and the monkey army are beautifully depicted in the terracotta panels of the central arch. The right arch also carries scenes from the Ramayana. A prominent panel here features a scene where Kumbhakarna is devouring monkeys.

The panels also depict rare sequences from the Mahabharata. For instance, one sequence shows Arjuna sitting near the feet of a sleeping Krishna while Durjodhan sits above. This depicts the story of their arrival at Dwarka to pledge Krishna’s allegiance. Another panel depicts a child Krishna pulling apart the beak of Bakasur as he tries to swallow Krishna.

Lord Shiva playing tanpura and Gopinis crying as Krishna and Balaram leaving for Mathura in Akrur’s chariot are another unique terracotta panels of this temple. The other panels depict exquisite terracotta works including Mohisasuramardini Devi Durga, Goddess Saraswati with veena, scenarios from Krishnalila, performances of the musicians, hunting scenes, glimpses of regular life, and floral motifs, etc. Few terracotta plaques of this temple were supposedly included at a later stage, although these are distinctive in all over India.