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Saturday, June 15, 2019

Kalachand Temple, Bishnupur, West Bengal

Kalachand Temple, Bishnupur, West Bengal
Kalachand Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Bishnupur Town in Bankura District of West Bengal State, India. The Temple was built in 1656 AD by Malla King Raghunath Singha. The Temple is located at about 2 Kms from Bishnupur Bus Stand, 4.5 Kms from Bishnupur Junction Railway Station and 2.5 Kms from Bishnupur New Bus Stand.




History
For brief details, please refer below link;
The Temple
There are seven Eka Ratna (meaning single pinnacled) temples located in Bishnupur. Kalachand Temple is one among them. In earlier days, all these laterite temples were all covered with stucco images. However, with passing of time, most of the stucco works are lost. Kalachand Temple is a beautiful laterite temple built as per Ek Ratna temple architecture style. Like most of the other temples in Bishnupur, this is also dedicated to Lord Krishna. However, there is no deity found in this temple currently.




The temple is square on plan. It has a sloping roof surmounted by a single sikhara, thus making them as Eka Ratna. Kalachand Temple is special for its towering pinnacle. This design of the lower storey of this ‘Eka-Ratna’ laterite temple is based on the thatched hut style of Bengal. The square base of the temple is 11.1m X 11.1m and its height is 9.2m above the platform. There is a circumambulatory corridor around the main shrine.




The structure has three arched openings on each of the four sides. This is probably the earliest 'Eka-Ratna' temple in Bishnupur. It was once covered with stucco decoration, only traces of that elaborate decoration remains now. It has few bas-relief carvings in the front side wall depicting the scenes from Ramayana and Krishna Lila mainly. It was built in 1656 AD by Malla King Raghunath Singha. There is an inscription on southern façade mentioning this fact.




Connectivity
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Location

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