The Terracotta Temple Complex of Sribati

Shreela Basu
Assistant Professor
Dept of Bengali
Visva-bharati, Santiniketan

The temples of Bengal, built in the late medieval and early nineteenth century, are significant for the
magnificent terracotta ornamentations, displaying a wide range of motifs. Since its beginning in the
seventeenth century under royal patronages, the temples underwent many changes over the successive
centuries. The nineteenth century temples have a peculiar style of their own. We shall concentrate our
discussion on a nineteenth century temple complex - thereby highlighting the peculiarities and uniqueness of
this complex. The wonderful complex at Sribati consist three temples and is close to five massive palaces,
which add a stunning proportion to it in a typical rural setting.

1.

Nineteenth century is an eventful phase in the history of Bengal. Contact with the European colonial forces
had a far-reaching effect on every aspects of Bengali life. Series changes in the land settlement grossly reduced
the supremacy of the zamindars. On the other hand, the British rule in Bengal presented a great opportunity
to the native entrepreneurs, who amassed enormous money through trade relations with the East India
Company. The Banik community became an important force in the society. The participation of this
community in temple building was an attempt to gain social respectability. The prosperity of Sribati was due
to a Gandhabanik Chandra family.

Nineteenth century is an eventful phase in the history of Bengal. Contact with the European colonial forces
had a far-reaching effect on every aspects of Bengali life. The changes in the land settlement that had been
started by Murshid Quli Khan reached its final culmination in the form of Cornwallis‟s Permanent
Settlement. This not only brought changes in the character of the zamindari class, the economic condition of
the peasants or village economy; but also in the society, art and religion. It affected even the caste system. The
British rule in Bengal presented a great opportunity to the native entrepreneurs, who amassed enormous
money through trade relations with the East India Company. The Banik community became an important
force in the society. The participation of this community in temple building was an attempt to gain social
respectability. Hiteshranjan Sanyal deals with this issue extensively in his delightful thesis Social Mobility in
Bengal.

Medieval Bengali literature mentions about the fall of Sapatagram as port. Saraswati river was dying out.
Mukunda Chakravarti, the poet mentions the Portuguese pirates at the mouth of the river. Bankimchandra
talks about the ruination of the seventeenth century Saptagram in his novel Kapalkundala. Decline of
Saptagram forced the Suvarnabaniks and the Gandhabaniks, who were successfully carrying out their trade till
then, to disperse to various parts of Bengal, especially to Kolkata, a city that was in its infancy.
Shobharam Chandra, a very enterprising Gandhabanik, left Saptagram for Kaithan initially and finally settled in
Sribati. He arrived there on the auspicious day of AkshayTritia, in the Bengali era of 1112 and started the
family of the Chandras at Sribati. 2.

Sribati is situated in Katwa subdivision (Block 2, JL No. 126), 10 km from Dainhat station. The Chandra
family gained prosperity during the time of the sons of Shobharam. They acquired huge wealth as the salt
agent of the East India Company during mid-nineteenth century. It is said that the Chandra‟s owned 56 salt
depots across North India- salt was mainly imported through the water ways of Ganga. The place named
Labangola at Katwa still bears testimony to this trade. Two huge palaces of the family are still present at
Katwa. One of them is located at Barwaritala and the other is at Shakharipotti. The second building was used
for weighing cotton. Debraj Chandra established a temple and a ghat on the Ganga in Katwa.

The family of Mulukcharan, the eldest son of Shobharam, branched out into five sections through his five
sons Abhaycharan, Bhabanicharan, Thakurdas, Ambikacharan and Ghanashyam. The five mansions belonged
to these five brothers. Thakurdas's grandson Gokulkrishna, born in 1835, was very influential in the second
half of the nineteenth century, both in terms of wealth and education. He started the Sribati School in 1865,
which was subsequently named after him: Gokulkrishna Vidyamandir. 2

The palaces of the Chandra‟s at Sribati reflect the opulence that the Chandras had gained. Sribati, being a
typical agrarian village is surrounded by paddy fields and ponds. Amidst these stand the five huge buildings
inspired by colonial architecture. The columns and the façade of the entrance are built of fine terracotta
bricks. The stucco decorated Durgadalan of these palaces contain arches and numerous bunches of linear
pillars.

However, the most significant contribution of the Chandra‟s is the three terracotta temples in the village. The
temples belonged to the family of Gabindahari, the youngest son of Sobharam. The temples were founded by
Annapurna and her son Ramkanai. She was the wife of Gurucharan, the grandson of Gabindahari. A few
challa and dalan temples are also found in the village. The patron god of the Chandra's, Raghunathshila is
housed in a dalan temple made in 1805 A.D. The walls of these temples are however bare.

Let us now focus our attention to the complex itself. The rectangular rekh deul in the west of the temple
complex is known as Chandreshwar. The pancharatna temple in the center is known as Bholanath. And the
third temple with an octagonal base is named Shankar. The Chandreshwar temple built in 1802 is the oldest
of all. The other two were built in 1836 A.D.3 Shankar Temple has a tablet bearing the name of its founders.
Though the family deity of the Chandras was Raghunath, the three Shiva temples demonstrate the liberal
outlook of the Chandras, an issue we shall deal more extensively later.

A complex, with such rich and extensive terracotta is not very common in the nineteenth century. Primarily,
because of this, we have decided to highlight this complex for this presentation. Another reasons for this
selection is the gradual shift of the focus of the motif from Puranic stories to social depictions.

In general, the temple ornamentations were mainly based on Puranic stories such as Krishnakatha and
Ramkatha. Depiction of social scenes was restricted to the lower fridge of the temples in the seventeenth-
eighteenth century. The social scenes of these temples like that of Jorbangla temple of Bishnupur or
Anantavasudeva temple of Hooghly comprise processions of palanquins and dolas, court-scene or hunting
scenes. Temples featuring lower caste members was essentially a nineteenth century phenomenon. This
indicates that the upper caste zamindars were no longer the patrons of these temples. Patronage came from
the newly rich traders, often belonging to the lower strata of the society. Nineteenth century temples feature
common people and their ways of life in a larger proportion. The social scenes involving these people were
extended to the entire area of the temple in the nineteenth century.

The temples of Sribati demonstrate a definite shift in emphasis from Puranic motifs to social motifs. The
earliest of the three, Chandreswar temple has predominantly Puranic motifs, while the last one, Shankar
temple is devoid of any Puranic references and based on social scenes only. Bholanath temple, the second one
has an even blend of the two.

3.

The front wall of Chandreshwar is thickly adorned with terracotta. The other three walls have little
ornamentation. A vertical panel of Dashavatars of Vishnu is present on one side of the front wall of both
Chandreswar and Bholanath. Jagannath replaces Buddha in both these panels. It is noteworthy that the
craftsmen have placed a vertical panel of Dashamahavidya in the other side of the wall. It is the indirect result
of the 16th century Chaitanya movement. It is believed that the Vaishnav guru Srinivas Acharya converted the
barbaric Malla kings to Vaishnavisim on his return journey from Vrindavan. The temples built under the
kings' patronage depicted the madhurlila of Radha and Krishna in order to popularize Vaishnavism. Eventually
this mission spread beyond Bankura. Tolerance of Vaishnavism added a unique flavor to the temple
terracotta by allowing the depiction of Shaiva, Shakta and Vaishnav icons on the same temple. The inner
sanctum of Bholanath temple is quite fascinating. The patron-god is a white marble Shivalinga. The
background wall has a figure of Krishna playing flute with three pairs of sakhis. Depiction of Vrindavanlila on
the inner wall of a Shiva temple clearly speaks of the tolerance that Chaitanya movement had taught. In fact,
the family deity of the Chandra's was not Shiv, but Raghunath.

Dashamahavidya is a series of motifs inspired by the tantra phenomenon of Shakti cult. Sati was eager to go
to the yaggya organised by her father Daksha. But Shiva, Sati's husband was not willing to let her go,
uninvited. Sati then showed the ten forms of Mahavidya to impress Shiva - Kali, Tara, Bagala, Dhumabati,
Chinnamasta, Bhairabi, Shoroshi, Bhubaneswri, Kamala and Matangi. Though the story has its origin in some
obsure puranas, it gathered momentum in the medieval age. The concept of Dasamahavidya was inspired by
the concept of Dashavatara. Depiction of Dashamahavidya is quiet common in Birbhum Burdwan temples
built in the 19th century. This area is known for its practice in tantra. 4

Kali and Jagaddhatri, the most common forms of Dashamahavidya, are depicted in the Pancharatna temple
of Sribati. In fact Jagaddhatri is worshiped by the Chandras of Sribati and Katwa even today. Jagaddhati rides
on two lions and in the temples of Birbhum and Bardhaman, including Sribati, the lions are similar to the
British lions, commonly found in the court of arms. In Sribati, Shorashi is an important form of
Dashamahavidya. Shorashi rises from the navel (bvwfcÙ) of Shiva. Her seat is held by Vishnu,
Mahesh and Rudra. Bharatchandra describes Shorashi in Annadamangal in this fashion:

Ôwewa weòz Ck¦i g‡nk iæ`ª cÂ/ c‡cÖZwbiwgZ ewmevi gÂ||Õ

The social scenes include a man praying with Rosary, figures of men playing various musical instruments and
a lady playing violin. In fact, violin is played by ladies only in the temple terracotta of Birbhum and
Bardhaman. A man stirring siddhi is depicted in the horizontal panel on the crown of the temple.

4.
The exquisitely decorated pancharatna Bholnath temple in the center is most balanced, in terms of Puranic and
social scenes. This temple was built 30 years after the building of Chandreshwar. The temple is full of floral and
geometric motifs. The main wall above the door along with the semi-lunar horizontal panel at the top is
replete with floral motif.

A panel of Ram and Sita in a sitting posture is found above the door with Jamboman and others on the right
hand hand side. Two archers and a hermit in the square just below the panel seem to be that of Ram,
Lakshman and Vishwamitra. Sita is seen in a sari and kanchuli. The turban of Ram in a typical nineteenth
century headgear worn by the dewans and other aristocrats.

Ram and Sita sit together in the panel above the door of the temple is a common theme present in many of
the 19th century temples of Burdwan and Birbhum – pancharatna temple at Itinda(Birbhum ,1815), pancharatna
temple at Bankati(Burdwan , 1832), one of the twin Shiva temples of Kalikapur(Burdwan,1839), rekhdeul at
Ilambazar(Birbhum) and Pratapeshwar temple at Kalna(Burdwan,1849) to name a few. The pattern of the
sitting Ram-Sita is exactly the same in most of the temples built between 1815 and 1849. Probably, craftsmen
from the same group had built these temples in that span of about thirty years. The relief of the figures is
much less at Itinda, which was built much earlier than those of Sribati. The relief and quality of finishing,
however, is best at Pratapeshwar. The last two temples of Sribati are almost at par qualitatively.

A peculiar set of sculpture, commonly known as Mrityulata which is generally seen on the corner panels of the
temples is here depicted along the door. Mrityulata is a vertical alignment of human and animal figures,
generally covering the entire length or a major part of the temple.

Commoners are engraved on the inner and the vertical panels. A composition of mother with children can be
seen here. Among others are scenes of grinding siddhi, smoking hukkah, bust of saints, old man stooping over
his walking stick.

There are five vertically parallel blocks on either side of both the corners of the front walls of the temple.
Each block has four soldiers in standing posture. Three types of soldiers are present – Indian soldiers in short
dhotis, Muslim soldiers with beard and Islamic dress, and probably Portuguese soldiers wearing hats
resembling a tumbled boat. These soldiers are present in several other temples of this region like the
Kalikapur Shiva temples in Burdwan district, rekhdeul of Bamunpara at Ilambazar, and the jorbangla temple at
Itinda, both in the Birbhum District.

The other three walls of the temple have no terracotta carvings. The right and left walls, however, contain
pairs of stucco peacocks. The geometric ornamentation below the peacocks on the right wall is purely Islamic
in style.

The pinnacles of the ratna temples of Birbhum and Bardhaman in do not contain any terracotta decoration,
though due to massive repairing, it is difficult to say with absolute certainty, whether the pinnacles of the
seventeenth century temple at Joydev, Kenduli in Birbhum had any terracotta ornamentations or not. The
seventeenth century temples like Shyamrai in Bishnupur or the single ratna temples like the ones in Guptipara
and Banshberia in Hoogly had ornamentations in the pinnacle. But there is hardly any example of pinnacle
terracotta in the later temples. In that perspective, the Sribati pancharatna is a remarkable exception. Since the
temple has decorations only on the front, the two rear pinnacles do not have any terracotta ornamentations.
Only the three visible from the front are decorated. The central pinnacle is richly decorated. The elegant
trinayaniDurga at the centre demands special mention. The figure is flanked by a number of busts of European
men and women in different kinds of dress. Batayanvartinis (lady by the window) are arranged vertically on all
the three pinnacles. About Batayanbartini, we will come later.

5.

The three frontal walls of the octagonal Shankar temple is adorned with terracotta sculpture mainly dealing
with social scenes. Some of these sculptures seem too crammed due to lack of space. Apart from the main
door, each of the seven walls have stucco false doors. This temple has a slate tablet mounted on the eastern
wall which reads as this –

kªx kªx uwe‡m¦m¦i| kªx kªx †fvjvbv_| kªx kªx uk¼i ¯§iYt|

Qov AvMgb mKvã 1758 mK mb 1243 mvj ZvwiL 31 •Rô|

u PzovgwY P›`ª uiƒcP›`ª P›`ª uKj¨vYP›`ª P›`ª
u‡jvnvivg P›`ª u†kvfvivg P›`ª u‡Mvwe›`nwi P›`ª
u‡fvjvbv_ P›`ª cxZvgvZv kªxgZx w`evgwn `vm¨v
cxwZwi‡fŠ u¸iæPiY P›`ª Zm¨ cwZwb kªxgZ¨v
Aš^©c~b¨©v `vm¨v kªxgZ¨v mwmgwY `vm¨v
kªx¸iæ Pi‡Y Avm kªxivgKvbvTxP›`ª `vm
‡LvBKi kªxe`bP›`ª wg¯¿x mvt ebcvm|

The most striking feature about the Shankara temple is the various representations of men and women which
include both Europeans and Indians. All the doors of these temples have rows of heads with swords at their
sides. The horizontal panel above the door and the vertical panel along the door are not square, but shaped
like petals. Heads are sculpted on the four sided above and below the petals. The petals also contain busts,
mostly being that of European men and women; soldiers with swords.

Aristocratic characters are featured in Sribati temples, mostly alongside the European figures. These figures
wear impressive apparels. Native figures however wear native clothes. Men wear dhoti-chapkan-pagri or
dhoti-chaddar. The Muslim soldiers in the corner panels are shown in Islamic dress and sporting a beard,
whereas the women wear ghagra-orhni. The soldiers are bear-chested with a short dhoti and sword.

The social scenes depicted in these temples are heavily influenced by European life. Europeans are depicted
wearing hats and carrying sticks. European ladies in frilly gowns and lace hats are profusely found on the
walls. European influence in architecture is found in the Doric and ionic pillars, blinds, triangular arches,
European furniture etc. These are almost identical to the temple of Hetampur. But in Sribati these are more
extensive. The figures at Sribati are not always as typical as it is in Hetampur. Some Devi murtis are there in
Chandreswar and Bholanath temple which are placed in a verandah surrounded by Doric columns. Most of
the balconies have Renaissance-style facades. A large number of musicians with a variety of musical
instruments is depicted in the temples.

Tarapada Santra mentions about tasha hanging from the neck of two musicians in the Bholanath temple of
Sribatri 5. The temples features various musical instruments as well like dhol, dholak, dhak, violin, tanpura and
shinga. The left hand side lower panel of Chandreshwar depicts a scene of Shiva playing shinga.
Another notable panel in Shankar temple depicts a large boat. This boats may indicate the waterborne trades
of the Chandras. The unique cosmopolitan crowd shown in the Shankara temple, perhaps is the reflection of
the exposure of Chandras to the greater business community of northern India.

Batyanavartini featured in the Sribati temples is a popular motif of Birbhum-Bardhaman area. A stucco female
face peers through the first floor window of the palace at Kalikapur in Burdwan. A female figure wearing
dressing gown can be cited at nearby Moukhira. Batyanavartinis can also be seen in Hattala temple at Ilambazar
and Kundeshwar temple at Suri. Unlike these shyly peering ladies, Batyanavartinis on the wall of the temple
built by the „chototaraf‟ at HodolNaryanpur at Pratapeshwar Temple at Kalna, freely stand near the window.
The lady in Shankar temple of Sribati however peeps through the door, as if trying to sneak a peek of the
outside. This face represents the patroness of the temple, Annapurna Dasi. The sculpture reflects the
curiosity of a housewife about the world beyond the walls. This is reflecting the emergence of female
consciousness of the nineteenth century.

We conclude with a brief remark on the style of terracotta of the Sribati temples. The relief of the first temple
at Sribati built in 1802 is shallow. The craftsmen failed to create three dimensional figures. The other two
built about thirty years later have a much better relief.

The terracotta craftsmen never tried three-dimensional realism on the walls of the temples. The terracotta
craftsmen generally belonged to the Sutradhar community, that is the carpenters. They used their natural skills
of wood-carving in temple terracotta. Nevertheless, a great change came in 19th century. Maharaja
Krishnachandra brought potters from Natore to Krishnanagar during the reign of Sirajuddaula. These potters
used to create realistic figures. Gradually, this realistic sculpting became an important feature of the temple
walls. Nineteenth century terracotta sculpture had the combined effect of the three-dimensional European art
and the Ghurni-Krishnanagar pottery art.

references & notes

1 Hiteshranjansanyal in his work Social Mobility in Bengal mentions four kinds of upward
mobilization. One kind speaks of gaining an upper status without any formal sanction, as
the NabasakhGandhabaniks gained. According to Sanyal they “…had succeeded in
promoting themselves to the comparatively higher positions and those of such Nabasakh
Castes as the Baruis…”(Papyrus, 1981, p.42).

Gandhabaniks followed the trail made by the Swarnavaniks in gaining upper caste status.
This upward mobilization was legitimized by the wealth acquired through commerce with
the British East India Company. Rabindranath marked this change as the ushering of the
Vaishyayuga. The trading castes had lost their right to the sacred thread and “GopalGayatri”
by coming under the wrath of Ballalsena. The Suvarnabaniks started fighting for their lost
pride during mid-ninteenth century. Gandhabaniks organized themselves for the same
cause in the early twentieth century.
2 Gokulkrishna founded a school in the village in 1865. He loved the freedom that self-enterprise
had given. He wrote to a friend who had acquired a government service – bhai, tomar
magistrate hoar sombade ami dukhhito hoilam „krishi o banijyo‟ tomarki dosh korechhilo?
Chhi tumi unchho kukkutbritti keno abolombon koriachho? (Centenary celebration
publication of Sribati Vidyalaya, 1372 BS, p.20) [Brother, I am sorry to receive the news of
your appointment as magistrate, whatever happened to your agriculture and commerce?
Alas! Why have picked you up the occupation of hen?]

Gokulkrishna‟s childless nephew Hrishikesh Chandra was well versed in English literature.
He was a close to his colleague Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay when he was a teacher in
Calcutta.Two other members of the Chandra family, Basantabihari and his son
Amiyanimai, excelled in English literature. Basantabihari was the private tutor of Tagore‟s
children at Shantiniketan. Gokulkrishna introduced a high school in a village in the age of
pathshalas and madrassas. Later, his grandson Dr. Dhanapati Chandra played an active role
in popularizing female education in Katwa. Many Chandra family members taught at
Kashiram Das Vidyatan in Katwa.

3 See Brick Temples of Bengal, From the archives of David Mccutchion, ed by George Michell,
Princeton University Press, 1983, p. 250

4 The idea of Dashamahavidya came into being when the art of stone sculpture was becoming
extinct except for the statues of the deities. Therefore the depiction of Dasamahavidhya
was confined to the temple terracotta only. The temple of Shila Devi in Rajasthan built by
Akbar's army chief Mansingh in the seventeenth century needs to be mentioned in this
context. George Michell pointed out that the image of Shila Devi was taken from Bengal
by Mansingha. The Door of Shila Devi temple has depictions of Dashamahavidya. Did this
concept also was travelled with Mansingha from Bengal? However the concept of Tantric
Goddess is not absolutely uncommon in the folk arts of Northern India. For example,
paintings of 'Tantric Devi Series' in found in the Basholi paintings of the hilly Punjab
regions. cf. Michell George, "Temples to the Goddess", DEVI, ed by Vidya Daheja,
Smithsonian Institution,WashingtonDC, page- 64-65, and Terence McInerney,
Mysterious Origins: The Tantric Devi Series from Basholi, DEVI, ed by Vidya Daheja,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, page- 119-138
5 Mandir Bhashkarje Badyajantra, Pashchimbanger Mandir Terracotta/ Bangiya Sahitya Parishat/1415/
p.83