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Saturday, June 15, 2019

Shyam Rai Temple, Bishnupur, West Bengal

Shyam Rai Temple, Bishnupur, West Bengal
Shyam Rai Temple is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Bishnupur Town in Bankura District of West Bengal State, India. Shyam Rai Temple was built by the Malla King Raghunath Singh in 1643 CE. Shyama Raya Temple is also called as Panch Chura Temple. This temple is one of the best examples of Pancha Ratna Style of architecture. The Temple is located at about 2.5 Kms from Bishnupur Bus Stand, 4.5 Kms from Bishnupur Junction Railway Station and 3 Kms from Bishnupur New Bus Stand.




History
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The Temple
Shyam Rai Temple is one of the most beautiful temples of Bishnupur. The temple is entirely built of brick. It has profuse terracotta ornamentation on both interior and exterior walls. This temple is the best example for a brick temple in Pancha Ratna architecture style. It has five sikharas (pinnacles) on a typical Bangla style curved Chala roof. The central sikhara is octagonal. The central tower is also different in terms of its roof. While the corner towers had single roofs, the central tower has a double roof built in two levels. This is very similar to the ‘8 Chala’ or 8-sided roofing in Bengal.




Also, unlike the corner towers, the central tower has a smooth dome at the peak. The doom was also built of brick. The top of the central tower is 10.7 meters high from the base. The remaining four corner sikharas are square shaped. The four sikharas are of Pidha type resting on curved roof in the four sides. The corner towers have a lined sloping roof (a close variation of the ‘Deul’ type of roofs). On each direction of the corner towers, an arched window is created, and the surface of the tower is also decorated with intricately decorated terracotta tiles.



The temple is square in plan with a dimension of 11.4 meters each side and is surrounded by triple arched gateway on its four sides. Not only the interior and exterior wall, but even four of five sikharas have extensive terracotta artworks. One of the sikharas fell down and it was rebuilt by ASI Hence, it does not have any artwork. You can easily make out of difference. Instead of making the sikhara curvilinear form, the ASI had made it straight.



The intensively carved sculptures include the hunting scenes, battle between Ram and Ravan, Krishna romancing Radha, Krishna playing flute, different scenes of Krishna Lila, various animals, birds, floral designs, scenes from the Puranas and epics, etc. There is a huge Ras chakra which is the major highlight among all terracotta works in this temple. It depicts Krishna and Radha in the middle surrounded by Gopis in many concentric circles.



The temple is dedicated to Radha and Krishna, but there is no deity found in the temple currently. This is the only temple in Bishnupur in which we find some influence of Islamic architecture in its curved ceiling. While Rasmancha, the only temple built before the Shyam Rai temple, has a very high plinth (It can also be found in temples built later), this temple has a very low plinth.



Connectivity
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Location

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