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| The temple as seen from a neighbour's rooftop |
A little less than 30 kilometers to the South West of the
city of Calcutta, is the village of Bawali. During the Mughal era, Raja Ram Mondal
received from the emperor a royal charter granting him full control over
fifteen villages (the East India company, in contrast, began with three). Thus
began the story of the Bawali Raj family. Sometime in the eighteenth century,
Robert Clive invited the Mondals to come and settle in Calcutta. In response,
Ramnath and Manick Mondal moved into the area known today as Chetla, and
settled by the banks of what was then the Adi Ganga; today’s Tolly Canal.
The family deity of the Mondals was Lord Krishna, and the
temples that they constructed in the area, are to his various manifestations.
The largest and most spectacular of them still exists, on the road named after
it. Approaching the Radhanath Temple of Mondal Temple Lane can be somewhat
tricky. If you’re coming from Tollygunge Phari, once you cross the bridge over
the Tolly Canal, the second turn on your right is Chetla Road, but right turns
into the lane are prohibited before 1pm, and therefore it is simpler to take
the next right turn, a serpentine lane that connects with Mondal Temple Lane.
Turn right at the T Junction, and keep a lookout to your left. The huge temple,
located near the crossing of Mondal Temple Lane and Chetla Road, is easily
visible even through the jigsaw of modern buildings.
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| Entrance to the temple |
The entrance to the temple is simple enough to spot,
thanks to the columns with composite capitals, but what must have been a
magnificent and impressive gate at one point, is now topped with some rather
unimaginative modern construction. Through the main door, you enter the vast
portico of the temple. Huge columns support its gigantic roof, one of the
largest examples of its kind in Bengal. The temple itself is in Bengal’s well
known “Navaratna” style. Translated, navaratna literally means “nine jeweled”,
the number being a reference to the number of spires on the temple’s roof. From
the base to the top of the central spire, the temple is 90 feet tall. A black
stone on the temple’s eastern wall contains details of the temple’s
construction.
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| The temple's pillared portico |
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| Memorial stone with details of the temple's construction |
The inscriptions on the stone look familiar, but are
somewhat difficult to read. This is not Sanskrit, but an ancient form of the
Bengali language. Similar memorial stones may be found on all the temples of
Bishnupur. Dates on the stone are according to the Saka Calendar, and when
converted to Gregorian, what we can decipher is this – construction work on the
temple began in 1796, and was completed in 1807. Three idols, of Radha, Radhakanta
and Lakshmi Narayan were installed in 1809. The temple still houses these
original idols. The idols of Radha and Lakshmi Narayan are made of “ashtadhatu”,
an alloy made from eight metals, while that of of Radhakanta is made of black
stone. Puja or worship happens on a daily basis, and visitors are welcome. While
many say that this temple inspired the design of Rani Rashmoni’s much more
famous Dakhineswar Kali Temple, this is no more than a rumor. Rani Rashmoni had
never visited this temple, and had no relationship with the Mondals.
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| Temple as seen from within the premises |
The Mondal family’s descendants still live in the temple
premises, and control of the temple still rests with them. Plans had been made
to hand over the temple to the Birlas, who maintain many of Bengals temples out
of their vast funds, but these plans, we are told, have been shelved. The family
has been trying to maintain the temple the best they can, but the fight against
vegetation in this part of the world can be a difficult one. A contractor was
recently able to clear away many of the weeds that had taken root on the temple’s
spires, but work stopped when one of his workers, who some says happened to be
Muslim, slipped of the temple’s roof, fell to the ground below, and died.
Locals say the temple is cursed, that it is impossible to photograph straight.
I would put down the unfortunate death to an accident, due, in no small part,
to contractors refusing to take any safety precautions for their labourers. As
for the photographing bit, distance, as we learned, can give you a better perspective.
A neighbour was kind enough to permit us to climb his
roof, and from there we managed the “full frontal” so to speak, of this
magnificent temple. Thankfully, the curse did not extend to us.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- My thanks to all members of the Facebook community “Calcutta – Photographs and Memories”, especially Mr. Timirbaran Pal.
- Thanks also to Mr. Soumitra Das of The Telegraph. Check out his book on Calcutta, “A Jaywalker’s Guide to Calcutta”.
- Thanks to Mr. Bidyut Kumar Singh for permitting access to his roof. Without this, photographing the temple would have been all but impossible.
- And finally, thanks to my friends Ayan Dutta and Arijeet “Poltu” Banerjee for their guidance and advice about the Chetla area, which they are intimately familiar with.
SOURCES
Temples in Calcutta - Pijush Kanti Roy
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