Daulatpur Maheshwarpasha Temple, Bangladesh

Address

Daulatpur Maheshwarpasha Temple, Bangladesh.

Daulatpur, Khulna City,

Bangladesh.

Moolavar

Krishna

Introduction

Maheshwarpasha jor-bangla temple is located at Maheshwarpasha Mahalla at Daulatpur in Khulna city. It is locally known as ‘Radha-Govinda’ temple. There is an inscription on the eastern façade, which says the temple was built in 1749 by Gopinath Goswami, a member of the local Mallick family.

It is typical example of late medieval temple architecture. Small burnt bricks with lime and shurki (powdered bricks) were used in the temple’s construction. The entire front wall of the temple, which faces the south, is covered with terracotta plaques. They are decorated with numerous mythical figures, such as deities and royalty, speeding horsemen and armed soldiers from the epic war between Rama and Ravana.

The temple sits on a three-tier raised base. The twin-hut type structure is joined together by a common wall and it appears like the alphabet ‘M’ when viewed from the side. Also, the first hut acts as the ‘mandapa’ (porch) and the back one is the ‘garbhagriha’ (womb chamber). Do-chala type roofs with curved cornices cover both parts of the temple, while a thick wall in the middle serves as a common wall of the two huts. The roofs of both temples are capped by three kalasa (water pot) finials. The walls and roof of the mandapa had been lost completely.