Lyrics In Terracotta – Ratneshwar Temple Of Bhattamati

A study of temples in Bengal of the late medieval period is an interesting chapter in history of Indian art and architecture.

- Devashis Nandy

Evolving in intimate association with the changing phases of life and faith, temple architecture of Bengal with its varied styles – Chala, Ratna, Deul, Dome-shaped, Flat-roofed etc., – and the decorations, designs and graceful terracotta works of floral, animal and human figures is a great legacy. The low-lands of Bengal are sustained by rivers and canals and its alluvial soil inspired the then artisans to make brick temples. In the humid and moist climate of Bengal it is very natural that instead of stones, clay was chosen as the medium to give expression to Bengali sentiments and culture through terracotta (baked clay) temples across the Rarh Bengal specially in the districts of Bankura, Birbhum, Hooghly, Murshidabad, Medinipore, Howrah, Purulia, Burdwan and Nadia. The subject matters in terracotta on these temples are generally Hindu epics – Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishna Lila, Vaishnavism, Mangal Kavyas; social scenes with different types of floral and geometrical designs also cover the temple walls. There are hundreds of beautiful terracotta temples still existing in Bengal. Some of them are – Radha Govinda temple of Antpur, Ananta Vasudeva temple of Hooghly, Shyamrai and Jor Bangal temples of Bishnupur in Bankura, Laxmi Janardan Temple of Daspur in Medinipore, Pratapeshwar temple of Kalna in Burdwan, Raghunath Temple of Ghurisha in Birbhum, and Raghaveswar temple of Dignagar in Nadia.

This article is about Ratneshwar temple – a beautiful five-pinnacled terracotta ornamented Saivaite temple which is fading into oblivion.