Published : Mon, 26 December, 2016
Written By Prabir Kundu
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The pyramidal Raasmancha was built in 1600 AD by Bir Hambir. This is one of the earliest existing religious edifice of Bishnupur. It has a typical Bengal 'do-chala' roof over the main sanctum, surrounded by three successive circumbulatory galleries, the arches of which are decorated with terracotta lotus motifs. And there is a spacious pathway on all four sides. During the Malla regime, images from neighbouring temples were brought here at the time of “Raas” festival and displayed at the galleries. This unique structure with such an architectural style is only one of its kind in entire India.
My address for the next two days was the Bishnupur tourist lodge. Located centrally amidst the historical temples of Bishnupur, this is undoubtedly the best place to stay there. The rooms are pretty big, quality of food is very good and it is reasonably priced. The tickets are issued at Raasmancha, with which one is allowed to enter all the main temples.
Our first venture in Bishnupur was to hunt for the handicrafts there. We first went to look for the famous “Dash-avatar Cards”. These are not ordinary paper cards. A paste is prepared from some natural elements like tamarind seed butter and a round piece of cloth is coated with this paste several times to make it stiff. Then natural colours are used to depict the ten (dosh) forms (avatars) of the lord Bishnu. The actual playing cards have 108 pieces and the kings of the sixteenth / seventeenth century used to play with them. This is a very old form of art in Bengal.
But the best was yet to come – it was the conch shell carving. This man, Mr. Gopal Nandi – in his sixties or seventies – got the president’s award long back for his unbelievably beautiful mastery. He showed us one artifact where he had carved the ten avatars of Bishnu on one conch shell. These shells, the raw material, are hard to be found now. So he has turned to other materials as well – the shells of coconut, pumpkin, wood apple etc. It’s really amazing to see how an artist’s improvisation can create real wonders.
On our way back, we saw the Madan Mohan temple, the only ancient temple in Bishnupur where the deity is still worshipped. Madan Mohan, another name for lord Bishnu, is the god for every Bishnupurian. In AD 1742 or 1743, the Maratha leader Bhaskar Pundit attacked Bengal with his army, popularly known as “Borgis”. The reigning Malla king of Bishnupur, Gopal Singha, asked his men not to put up any fight as, being disciples of Madan Mohan, they believed in ahimsa and had the faith their lord would save them. At night, there was thunderous sound of shell firing. The people woke up next morning to find that lot of borgis were dead, the rest fled in panic and there was blood stain on the dress of the idol. The attack of these borgis had a tremendous effect on Bengal history and culture as well. The Bengal army had not the strength to fight them and they used to go on rampant looting.
The next destination was the well-known double-roofed JorBangla temple. It was built in 1655 AD and is famous for the terracotta panels. They depict royal lifestyle, battle scenes and stories from the epics. It’s really amazing to find how intricately carved these panels are – it might be a cliché, but words fail to describe them.
We saw other temples and monuments nearby, the stone chariot, the gates of the old fort, the Jormandir group of temples and the famous “Dal-madol” cannon. It derives its name from the Sanskrit word “Dal-Mardan” which means dispersing the enemy. It was used by the tutelary deity of the Malla kings, Madanmohan, to disperse the maratha invaders. Although lying exposed to centuries, this wrought iron marvel is yet free from rust.
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