Aisheedyuti Roy
Address: 27/ Nandankanan, P.O. Rahara, Shantinaagar Road, 24 Parganas (North), Kolkata- 700118.
Ishani Sen
Address: 9A, Merlin Manor 32 Deshpranshashmal Road, Tollygunge Phari, Kolkata- 700033 Email:
Abstract:
This paper aims to take two areas on the plains of the river Ganges, Khardah, and Panihati, and position them as former and present hubs of Bhakti culture. Elucidating the history of the place and its architecture, this is an attempt to resurrect Nityananda Prabhu's significance and attachment to a place that not many are aware of. Through a description of the Vaishnavite temples, Trannath Kali Temple, and twenty-six Shiva temples located in the same vicinity, this paper attempts to highlight the timelessness of Khardah and Panihati in terms of Bhakti.
Keywords: Bhakti, Chaitanya, Khardaha, Nityananda, Panihati
How does a place secure a lasting permanence in the communal memory, which is in perpetual oscillation between nostalgia and forgetting? When does it become qualified as a heritage site? When and where does the blurred line truly appear before demarcating a location as a pivotal testament to history? Are the attachment of great men to a place, men who have attained immortality in the shared memories of people, entail a contributing factor in the immortalization of the place? In an attempt to uncover these questions,
Khardah-Panihati, of the district, North Twenty-four Parganas was surveyed to discover
remnants of the Bhakti culture scattered through its material remains as well as immaterial
conscience. This paper aims to shed light on the history and architecture of an area which can be dated back to the fifteenth century, to the time of the scion of the Eastern Vaishnavite Movement, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and fellow Bhaktivadi saint, Nityananda Prabhu. Through their efforts, Khardah's fame rose not only as a result of its spiritual elevation but also the former's lack of inhibition towards the inclusion of the common mass in the name of Bhakti. Khardah-Panihati, located in the suburbs of the metropolis of Kolkata to this day, boasts its rich history of Vaishnavite glory. The significance of Khardah and Panihati as hosts of Chaitanya Mahapabhu's neo-Vaishnavite vision, and Nityananda Prabhu's execution of the same prompts a discussion about the emergence and far-reaching impact of the movement.
Panihati's position as a bastion of Vaishnavite tradition can be assessed from contemporary literary sources. In the sixteenth-century poet, Jayananda's epic prose, Chaitanyamangal, he has written that no other place on the banks of the sacred Ganges can be compared to Panihati (Ghosh, 2020). Krishnadas Kaviraj's Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita and the Chaitanyacharitkavya and Chaitanyabhagavat of Vrindavan Das mention the village
'Panihati'. A rough map of the area would document the Shyamasundar Jiu Mandir, the Gopinath Temple, the Madan Mohan Temple, the Trannath Kali Temple and the recently excavated twenty-six Shiva temples beside the Ganges adorning Khardah while Panihati becomes a time-tested host to the tangible chirey (flattened rice) carnival, the samadhi of
Raghunatha Pandit and an old red brick Kali temple. West Bengal has loyally been an aegis of religious reformist and revivalist mobilizations through successive centuries repeatedly metamorphosing as either neo-Vaishnavism or the Brahmo Samaj or the Ramakrishna Mission sect. It provokes an almost surrealist thought, where did these magnificent places which became lively arenas, overflowing with an effervescent plethora of exuberance, philosophical questions, didactical conflict of words, and epiphanies, and the ones being a part of the above disappear? Disappearance would be a deceptive term as in, the structures have not disintegrated per se. Rather their erstwhile ubiquitous glamor has eroded to an
extent that it almost becomes unbelievable to think that the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj prayer hall at Bidhan Chandra Sarani, stands proud yet aloof amidst the bustling life of the city.
Similarly, despite the plethora of devotees thronging to the Shyamasundar Temple in Khardah, the complete oblivion in registering the area as an epitome of enduring heritage visible. Any conversation with people from the main city would reveal ignorance about the sacred origins of the temple following Nityananda's reversion to samsara.
The establishment of great monuments and temples in Calcutta is linked to the colonial history in the form of civil, military, and architecture of Bengal and especially North Calcutta which carries its own distinctive character and historical significance. The buildings and the temples of Bengal during its colonization period witnessed a hybrid of both indigenous and foreign-inspired architectural patterns. Initially, before the East India Company, we notice that the architecture of Bengal was a response to the climate, therefore the people used bamboo and mud to build houses and places of worship. Bengal is rich in alluvial soil, hence bricks were used for the construction of buildings and temples and the same is witnessed in the following temples in Panhati, where they use brick, red sandstone, and granite to make its establishments. Since we are aware that Khardah and Panihati were famous for their neo-Vaishnavite locomotions, we witness a saturation of pilgrimage centers, numbers of ghats, and temples in the lanes of Panihati. In the following paragraphs, the researchers bring an articulation of the architecture of some of the sites to understand Khardah and Panihati better. Professor David McCutchion states that The Bengal style architecture is mainly atchala architecture mostly based on simple thatched-roof pattern of earthen huts which were basically used by the commoners as the increase of Bhakti cults in Bengal was linked to the view of worshipping God with personal closeness (Bhowmick, 2008).
The Twenty-six Shiva Temples
The Twenty-six Shiva temples is located on the eastern bank of the River Ganges and is arranged in two groups, one comprising twenty temples and the other comprising six, was established by Shri Ramahari Biswas and Pandit Prankrishna Biswas, the erstwhile landlords
of Khardah. The whole establishment is made with the help of bricks. The temples is built in the classic atchala style architecture which is famous in Bengal.
The temples are seen standing on a high brick-built platform. There is a flight of small stairs that will lead the devotee to the temple. Each temple has a Shiva lingam made of koshti stone (which is famous in the eastern part of India). The flooring is made with black basalt which helps in cooling the garbagriha or the sanctum sanctorium. Each temple has a grand gopuram like structure made of red sandstone and has a stucco work and floral motif work.
Fig 2: The Shiva lingam inside the Fig 3: the gopuram or the gate of the temple garbagriha
The Rekha deula has a sikhara which is curvilinear in shape following the Nagara style of architecture whereas in Dravidian or South Indian architecture, one finds pyramidical sikharas. Each sikhara has a group of three kalaskawhich have different symbolisms. The group that has twenty temples has six temples on the opposite side and four each on the other sides facing each other. The courtyard is rectangular.
Despite being declared a monument of national importance on 25th March 2004, its significance has witnessed an alarming tarnishing due to a lack of maintenance in its surrounding area. Apart from the litter, there is a clear lack of infrastructure that would invite tourists into the area. Our fieldwork also revealed the presence of lawless elements using the temple grounds to smoke unsavory substances. Some of the temple walls have been desecrated by expressive lovers with their names inscribed on the red sandstone walls. Scholars, Soma Majumder Dhar and Suhel Sen have worked on the potential of the Shiva Temples as an interest of heritage tourism. They have listed various pros and cons in the area, with the cons outweighing the pros in terms of lack of safety, direct communication, and maintenance, which is ironic considering the temples' status as tangible heritage properties (Majumder Dhar and Sen, 2020)
.
fig 4. The shikhara and the kalaska of the. fig 5. Images of the temples inside Temple
fig 6. Images of the temples inside
Trannath Kali Bari, Panihati
The Trannath Kali Bari is located on the eastern bank of the River Ganga. It is a group of four temples that consists of one grand Kali temple and three small Shiva temples. The whole establishment is made up of bricks with soorki and lime plaster. The Kali temple has a different architectural style than the smaller ones. The Kali temple is seen standing on a high brick-built platform. It has a Rotno Mandir style of architecture which hints at the medieval European style of castle making. The cylindrical towers or the vimana are called the rotnos. It has a big torana or hallway and a huge mandapa.
Fig 7: Image of the main Kali temple
The three vimanas have three symbolisms in the kalaska or top of the vimana. The middle one has a wood apple leaf which symbolizes Lord Shiva’s third eye and the other two has ‘om’ which signifies the primordial sound of creation.
fig 8: the symbols
The other three temples on the ride side of the main temple are the Shiva temple which has a typical atchala style of architecture, made up of bricks and has a thatched roof. It is also placed on a platform. It also has a soorki and lime plaster and each sikhara has a kalaska and each kalaska has 2-3 brick kalas.
Fig 9: the three small Shiva temple
The courtyard is rectangular and has huge alpana in the middle of the courtyard which is a South Asian style of painting the floor or walls with rice flour for religious purposes and is common in Bengal (Chaitanya, 19976).
fig 10: the alpana The Shyam Sundar Jiu Temple, Khardaha
The Shyamasundar Jiu Mandir has been an iconic piece of tangible heritage gracing the sacred land of Khardah since 1575 CE, its origin embedded in an interesting tapestry of
folklore and history. One cannot blame the mythical lore arising from a place whose crux is respondent with spiritual, metaphysical aspects. It was Nityananda Prabhu who initiated his
married life in this place, whose descendants today are its custodians. Nityananda was born in 1473 in Ekchakra village of Birbhum District in West Bengal. His predestined encounter with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu during his stay as an avaduta in the abode of Nandan Acharya, after a long period of twenty years of traveling with a senior sage, would go on to write the subliminal script of the Bhakti ethos in Bengal. On the direction of Sri Chaitanya,
Nityananda's divinity embraced the land of Panihati, located beside the Ganges which has continued to remain holy even to this day. Finding shelter in the humble abode of Raghav Pandit, Nityananda's presence beckoned the immediate arrival of Kirtan singers, brothers Madhav Ghosh, Rashu Ghosh, and Govinda Ghosh. What followed was the flow of music, chanting in Lord Krishna's name and Nityananda's jubilant dance, immersed in the divine exuberance of the Lord. Propagating the name of Bhakti beside the holy Ganges was Sri
Chaitanya's will, manifested through Nityananda's perseverance and organizational prowess. During his stay in Panihati, he initiated the Dandmahotsav for thousands of Vaishnavites and ordinary people. The nomenclature of Dandmahotsav is a culmination of two terms Dand
(punishment) and Mahotsav (mega festival). Raghunath Das, the son of the zamindar of Saptagram was intent on sacrificing his worldly obligations for an ascetic life of Bhakti, devoid of attachment. Despite approaching Sri Chaitanya twice, he was returned and was advised to perform his duties by remaining part of samsara. On meeting him, Nityananda
playfully teased the still oblivious Raghunath Das that without his will, without his knowledge the latter will never obtain the overarching essence of Chaitanya. In playful terms, Nityananda calls it an act of stealing as Raghunatha tried to steal his "gour" or Sri Chaitanya. Netaichand as Nityananda was known lovingly was the key to unlock the door to Gour's heart. Raghunath Das, humbled by Nityananda, in a similar playful manner asks for 'dand' or a punishment for his 'mischief'. His punishment is to feed the people of his land a delicacy made of curd and flattened rice. People and Vaishnavites from across the land flocked to Panihati on the occasion of this Mahotsav where men, women, children, and devouts of all sects attained the grace of Bhakti by the consumption of the mahaprasad. Dr. Monalisa Bandyopadhyay has assessed Nityananda as a figure of pragmatism in contrast to Chaitanya's liberal idealism, who could organize people from all sections of society and enable their spiritual liberation in the process. The dandamahotsav could recognize people from different tribal and marginalized areas, bring them together, and incorporate them into the structured
coalescence of mainstream society (Bandyopadhyay 2017 ). A little farther from the banks of the Ganges in Panihati stands the Paatbari, now a temple but the former school or tol of Raghav Pandit, an ardent devotee of Sri Chaitanya, visited by the latter not once but twice.
The vigraha or the joint idols of both Radha and Shyam were established by Chandramohan Chaturvedi, the grandfather of Raghav Pandit. Raghav Pandit has been immortalized in the Vaishnava canon due to his proximity to Sri Chaitanya. In the Chaitanya Bhagavad, Gour sings that his presence is found in four places - first, the food made by his mother, Sachi
Devi, second, in the courtyard of Srivas, third in the maddening dance of Nityananda and
finally, within the abode of Raghav Pandit. Raghav Pandit's lawns have been home to other spiritual figures such as Ramakrishna Paramhansa who visited this place to get a glimpse of the vigraha.
The impact of Sri Chaitanya on the life and decisions of Netai is profound and long-sighted. It was Chaitanya who advised him to transition into a life of domesticity.
Therefore in 1519 AD, Nityananda married Vasudha Devi and later, Jahnaba Devi. In 1535 CE or 1457 year of the Bengali calendar, Vasudha Devi gave birth to a son, Virbhadra. It is through Virbhadra's ancestry that one can locate the foundation of the Shyamasundar Jiu Mandir. In 1570, Birbhadra met with the sultan of Bengal, Suleiman Khan to obtain the sacred stone which would go on to form the three residing deities Shyamsundar at Khardah, Nandadulal, and Vallavdev at Saiban. After a formal inauguration by Achyutananda
Goswami in 1575 AD, it was Radha Dutta who is credited with the construction of the
Shyamsundar Temple in 1651 AD. A century later, in 1751 AD, the temple as it stands today was renovated by the artist Ram Bhadra under the aegis of Poteshwari Ma Goswami.
The temple has a beautiful entrance which has its name written on the marble slab. The left side of the gate has Shri Nityananda’s sculpture carved and the right side of the gate has Sri Chaityana’s image carved. The whole structure of the temple is made up of
concrete brick. On the walls of the main building, one witnesses innumerable carvings which are also known as stucco and were highly popular in the building style of North Calcutta
which was mainly of Krishna and Radha in their leela form. We see a peacock carved on the walls of the temple which signifies purity and celibacy. The whole structure of the temple has a synthesis of both classical Anglo-Indian style and atchala architectural form. Colors like Maroon, Green, and Beige are primarily used.
fig 11: Entrance of the temple.
fig 12: carvings
fig 13: the main building
Madan Mohan Temple
Within the premises of the Shaymsundar Jiu Mandir, one would discover the Madan Mohan Temple, again dedicated to Lord Krishna but whose jurisdiction belongs to a single family, the Ganguly-Chakraborties. In other words, the present Chakraborties are the custodians of the temple. Gopal Chakraborty, the current family head, in a conversation with the authors, estimated their temple to be around three hundred and fifty years old. Similar to Swarajendramohan Goswami, Mr. Chakraborty holds a strong opposition to the promising
status of a heritage site being accorded to the temple. This stems from a lack of security in the prospect of heritage status due to the innate fear that his descendants would be forced to give up on their ancestral place of worship.
The Madam Mahan Temple has a typical Kolkata ‘Rajbari’ style of architecture which is
Anglo-Indian in nature. They are products of the landed aristocracy. The houses of the urban Bengal elites had sprawling designs of the rural estates of the 17th-century compact versions.
It shows a synthesis of paradigms: The European Classical had a mixture of the indigenous architecture of the Hindus and the nawabi society of the Muslims. They have a creative design of their own. The whole structure has classic colors like maroon, beige and green and has a courtyard at the centre, with an alapana in the middle. The main building has a
atchala architectural form of a temple building. The vimana has a set of 3 Kalaska in it. We see the use of Lime stucco which was used on the exterior of the building. The temple has pillars on the facades. The ceiling is made of stone slabs or simply timber planks. The ceiling might be finished with chuna.
fig 14: the main building
fig 15: dalan of the temple
fig 16: courtyard
CONCLUSION
The area of Khardaha and Panihati holds an incredible richness of historical traditions. The paper has tried to compress and translate this richness into words which hopefully will renew the interest of visitors in learning about the dynamic religious dimensions of the place.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are highly indebted to Sarajendramohan Goswami, the fourteenth descendant of Nityananda Prabhu for his wealth of information and readiness to provide us assistance.
REFERENCES
Bandyopadhyay, Monalisa, “Nityananda- The Pioneer of Neo-Humanism- A Living Testimony of Spiritual Liberation,” Pratidhwani the Echo VI, Issue. 1, 2017, 95.
Bhowmik k. Suhrid, “David J. McCutchion: Unplised Letters and Selected Articles”, Monfakira Pub., Kolkata, 2008.
Chaitanya, Krishna. A History of Indian Painting. Abhinav Publications, 2004
Dhar, Majumder Soma, and Suhel Sen, “ Prospect of Tourism Development of 26 Shiva Temples in Khardah: An approach through SWOT Analysis”, IOSR Journal of Humanities And Social Science 25, no. 12, December 2020, 13-14.
Ghosh, Binoy. Paschimbanger Sanskriti VOL III (Third ed.). Deep Publication, 2020, 126-127.
