Puthia Temple Complex (পুঠিয়া মন্দির কমপ্লেক্স)

The Puthia Temple Complex lies in Puthia Upazila of Rajshahi District, about 23 kilometres east of Rajshahi city on the road to Natore. It holds the largest group of historic Hindu temples in Bangladesh, built by the rajas and ranis of the Puthia estate, one of the wealthiest zamindar families in Bengal under Mughal and British rule.

The family traced its origin to a sixteenth century Tantric scholar known as Bhattacharya, who declined the estate of Lashkarpur, which his son Pitambar then accepted. Later family members carried the title of raja granted under Emperor Jahangir. Most of the surviving temples date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when the estate was at its richest.

The buildings stand around a small lake called Shyam Sagar, and the complex is ringed by a moat known as Shiv Sagar. The largest temple is the Bhubaneshwar Shiva Temple, built in 1823 by Rani Bhubanmoyee Devi, a five-spired structure on a high platform that houses a large black stone lingam. The Govinda Temple is known for its dense terracotta panels showing scenes from Hindu epics, while the Jagannath Temple and the Chhota Ahnik and Bara Ahnik temples show the curved jor-bangla and chala roof styles of Bengal.

In front of the palace stands the Dol Mancha, a four-tiered pyramid-shaped pavilion used during the Dol festival. The two-storey Puthia Rajbari, built in 1895 by Rani Hemanta Kumari Devi, has a long colonnaded front in the Indo-European style and is now under the Department of Archaeology.

The temples can be explored on foot in two to three hours. Puthia is reached by bus or car from Rajshahi or Natore, and some temples are still used for worship, so modest dress is expected.

Four temples to see in order at Puthia

Start with the Bhubaneshwar Shiva Temple by Shiv Sagar, then walk to the Pancha Ratna Govinda Temple, the Chauchala Chhota Govinda Mandir and the Bara Anhik Mandir. These four show the full range of Bengali temple styles found here, from five-spired towers to curved hut roofs.

The Pancha Ratna Govinda Temple, also called the Boro Govinda Mandir, is dedicated to Krishna and dates from the middle of the nineteenth century. It reflects the turn of the Puthia family toward Vaishnavism under the teacher Radhamohana Thakura. Next to the Bhubaneshwar Shiva Temple, the Jagannath Temple, also called the Rath Mandir, is a two-storey octagon.

The Chauchala Chhota Govinda Mandir is thought to date from around the 1790s to the early 1800s. Its south front is covered with terracotta plaques of the ten avatars of Vishnu, scenes from the Ramayana and stories of Radha and Krishna. The Bara Anhik Mandir, to its west, joins a central do-chala roof with two char-chala structures, a layout matched in Bangladesh only by the Rajaram Mandir in Faridpur District. Behind the Rajbari stands the Choto Shiv Mandir, with fine terracotta on its front face.

Who were the Puthia rajas?

The estate was the second largest zamindari in British Bengal and among the wealthiest. The family moved to India after the partition of 1947, which is why the palace and temples passed into state care.

The terracotta is fragile and some panels are worn, so look but do not touch, and ask before photographing anyone at worship.