Maluti Temples – History

Maluti Temples – History

Maluti is famous for its 72 ancient temples. It is said that the Maluti village once housed 108 temples but lost around 36 temples due to nature’s fury and negligence in maintenance. These temples were built by the Kingdom of Maluti dated between the 17^th and 19^th centuries CE. The Kingdom of Maluti was also called as Nankar Raj (tax-free kingdom).

This kingdom was granted to a Brahmin named Basanta by the Muslim ruler Alauddin Husain Shah of Gaura (1495–1525) for having saved his hawk (Baj) and returning it to him. Further, he was given honorary suffix Raja and came to be called as Raja Baj Basanta. As Basanta was a religious person, he preferred building temples instead of palaces.

Subsequently, his family divided into four clans and they continued to build the temples in Maluti, their capital, in clusters, inspired by goddess Mowlakshi, their family deity. The name Maluti is said to be derived from Mallahati, the Malla Kings of Bankura. The abundance of Shiva temples at Maluti is due to competition between the four houses of Maluti Kingdom.

Also, the Rajguru of Maluti Kingdom belong to Sumeru Math of Kashi. They might have influenced the kings of Maluti Kingdom to construct more Shiva temples. The Maluti temples were not known to the outside world until A.K.Sinha, Director of Archaeology, Government of Bihar, publicized them, for the first time in 1979.

The first steps taken to conserve the Maluti temples were taken by an NGO called Save Heritage and Environment (SHE). They approached the Global Heritage Fund (GHF) to provide support. The GHF has now included the temples and the village among the world’s twelve vanishing cultural heritage sites. Maluti is the lone representative from India on GHF's list of the world’s twelve vanishing cultural heritage sites.