Mughal and Colonial Temples of Bangladesh

Description

Historical background of temples in Bangladesh

Temples are not only monuments or monumental remains in the context of the history of society, cultures, religions and regions in Bangladesh (and in South Asia). Brahmanical (or Hindu), Buddhist, Jain, and various other religious traditions have manifested their heterogeneity and ritualistic performances through temples for the last two millennia. Temple-building activities and specific temple architectural styles along with canonical texts (shilpasastras) began to take a discernable pattern from the 2nd-3rd century CE under the ruling and patronage of the Gupta dynasty with a centralised empire. In the northern and southern part of the Indian subcontinent (comprising the present-day countries of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan), two distinct styles developed. The northern one is known as the Nagara style and the southern one is recognised as the Dravida style. Subsequently, many regions and historical period-specific sub-styles came into being.

The present-day Indian state of Odisha witnessed the development of the Kalinga style of temple architecture in c. 6th-7th centuries CE. Bangladesh and the current state of West Bengal, India (making a distinct cultural region around 7th-8th century CE) were dotted with temples – Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jain – after the initiation in this period. The temples were both brick and stone-built, with an influence of Nagara or Kalinga style. The temples were lofty with a curvilinear shikhara (tower-like superstructure) or with a low shikhara. Many temples were built during this period under the patronage of the ruling dynasties or the intermediary landlords in Bangladesh. The remains of these temples are being exposed by archaeological excavations with their high, imposing and decorated superstructure missing because of the vagaries of time. Most of these temples of Bangladesh, characterised by a riverine alluvial floodplain, were marked with terracotta plaques. This distinct form of clay art manifested various carved, moulded and incised figures (both religious divinities and secular beings). Manufactured by clay processing and figure making, these artistic traditions gave rise to a regional style of artistic medium, form and contents. Usually, they were attached to the façade or the visible external surfaces of the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples or shrines or monasteries.

Art historians and experts on the evolution of temple architecture have suggested that these temples were not simply a religious built space. According to the canonical texts and other sources, these monuments were perceived as the earthly abode of divinities. Various idols, made of stone, stucco, metal, wood and clay, were worshipped in these temples which structurally consisted mainly of two parts. The chamber in which the idols of deities was kept and worshipped is known as garbhagriha (an abode like the womb) and the chamber where the worshippers gathered and performed their rituals to the specific deity to which the temple was dedicated is known as mandapa (assembly hall). Idols of deities, floral, geometric and other decorative motifs were used with the main construction materials on the external and also often on the internal surface, and the corbelled roofs or vaults of these two parts. These temples, according to the scholars, also represent the social stratifications, patronage pattern and political authority and power of the patrons. On predominantly flat terrain, the superstructures were visible from a distance and the mere viewing of the temple was considered to be an act of gaining merit. The temples and their building activities saw a detectable decline during the 14th-15th centuries, mainly because of the change in the political and religious affiliation of the rulers.

The historical context of the second surge of temple building

During the 16th century CE, known as the Sultanate period in Bengal, a distinct set of temple building activities with an ensemble of many new forms developed in Bangladesh (and West Bengal, India). Most of the scholars point at the rise and development of a new bhakti (devotional) movement as a distinct tradition under Hinduism in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India. This movement’s central figures were Sri Chaitanyadeva and Sri Nityanandadeva. Under the implicit or direct patronage of rulers, or in the contestation of the oppressive social inequality in the name of the caste system and religious dominance of the authorities who were adherent to Islam, this movement swayed various parts of Bengal. Popularly known as new Vaisnavism or Gaudiya Vaisnavism, this movement developed around love and devotion for the Hindu deities Krishna (considered to be an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu) and Radha. The duality and unity of the masculine and the feminine were celebrated through the love and devotion that were not sanctioned by the established Brahmana (higher caste) controlled religious practices. The impact of this movement was huge in the society, culture and religious geography of the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and it extended to Orissa and also to north India. This religious movement had a public manifestation of devotionalism in the ways of gathering, dance, singing and chanting. After the demise of two of the central figures among whom Chaitanyadeva was perceived as an incarnation of the Hindu deity Krishna, the movement was divided into different sects.

The main protagonists and organizers moved to North India and built Vrindaban as a new centre of authority. In Bengal, the movement continued with differences and reconfigurations. This is the time when Mughal rulers from north India conquered parts of Bengal. In different studies, the scholars like Tarapada Satra, Hiteshranjan Sanyal and others have contended that the temple building activities extended well into the other social, religious and economic groups. Gradually, various religious sects and caste-occupation-professional groups with the aim of social mobility began to construct temples to assert their authority and identity in the 18^th-19^th centuries CE. This is also the period when commercial contact and activities with the European powers intensified and the European countries began to compete with each other to take control of the land and maritime trade routes and products. The rural commercialisation, increasing financial capacities of different earlier lower occupational groups and intensifying contestations among various religious traditions conditioned a historical context which created a religious and social environment where construction of temples was perceived and represented as power, authority and legitimisation of new status. Under these, religious, political and economic circumstances, the temples in Bangladesh saw the second stage of proliferation after the first stage (c. 8^th-13^th century CE).

Development of an extraordinary architectural style through synthesis and change

The temples, mostly constructed with bricks, were different in many ways from the early Nagara or Kalinga styles. Entirely new morphological styles and articulations of the built space were attained in the temple architecture of Bangladesh (and West Bengal, India). These temples have been studied in detail by David J. McCutchion and he published an elaborate classification of them in his pioneering book: Late medieval temples in Bengal: Origins and Classification (1972). Later pioneering scholars and researchers, like Tarapada Santra, Hiteshranjan Sanyal, and George Michell, followed the scheme of his classification with minor modifications. The influence of Islamic architecture on these temples is evident in their construction technique, treatment of superstructure and elaborate application of the arcuate method of vaulting. For the purpose of introducing the classification nomenclature, the primary and fundamental categories of the temples are briefly described below:

C1. Rekha Temple: Rekha is a Sanskrit word, meaning line. Rekha in Oriya means a straight line. Rekha Temple is a tall building with a shape of a curvilinear or straight sikhara (or temple top). It looks like a spire, covering and protecting the sanctum (garbhagriha). This type can be morphologically connected to the Rekha deuls of Nagara or Kalinga style of temples from the pre-13th century northern and eastern parts of India. In many cases, the erection of this type of temple was associated with the commemoration of the dead and popularly identified as math. The following types of Rekha temple are noticed in Bangladesh:

Ridged Curvilinear type: The shikhara or superstructure of this type display deep ridges on their external surface and they are interrupted by niches at the centre of each side.

Straight-Edged Pyramidal type: The temples of this type contain a straight-edged pyramidal roof. The external side of the superstructure displays shallow ridges.

C2. Bangla Temple: One of the most innovative, common and differentiated temple types of late medieval Bangladesh. The basic layout and form of this category are derived from the traditional thatched huts of rural Bangladesh (and Bengal). This derivation was not uncommon in the Islamic architecture of this part of Bengal when domes of the mosques or tombs were built with the roofs like the huts. The simplest form of the domestic hut is built on an extended base with two or four sides the roof is sloping down towards the cardinal directions. The curvilinear edge and the gable end of the roof are also translated into the brick-built temple forms. They may have a single or triple-arched entrance with a profusely terracotta-decorated façade marked with two octagonal pillars and two octagonal pilasters. The top of the roof is curved and decorated with three to six finials. They are often found in association with the other types, as an entrance, as a superstructure or as garbhagriha. The subcategories of this type, proposed in this property, are as follows:

Ek-Bangla/Do-chala: These temples represent the simplest form of the domestic hut with two sides to the sloping roof, the curvilinear edge and the gable end of the roof. The Ek-Bangla/Do-chala temple is also called the `single hut-type temple’.

Twin Ek-Bangla/Jor-Bangla: Two hut or Ek-Bangla/Do-chala in a conjoined form is called Jor-Bangla temple. These temples represent a unique creation and fusion of vaulting with triple-arched entrances into the frontal chamber.

C3. Ratna Temples: Ratna can be literally translated as ‘jewel’ in English and this type of temple is recognized in reference to the number of towers, small or large, of a temple. This type has various subtypes. The main shikhara or tower of the temple is constructed on the top of the sanctum. Often, the temple vertically ascended in tiered steps with the towers on four corners built through the installation of pinnacles (tower/turret/peak) on the roof of the temple. It is important to note that a pinnacle (tower/turret/peak) on the roof of the temple is called a ‘Ratna’ (jewel/gem). The temple with only a pinnacle on the centre of its roof is called Ek-ratna (one jewel) temple. The Pancharatna (five jewels) temple is built with four pinnacles at the four corners and the central pinnacle on its roof. In this way, by increasing the number of pinnacles, Navaratna (nine jewels), Triodasharatna (thirteen jewels), Saptadasaratna (seventeen jewels), Ekbingsatiratna (twenty-one jewels) and Panchabingsatiratna (twenty-five jewels) temples were named.

C4. Chala Temples: Although they shared features with Bangla temples, this category includes various composites and often elaborations on the simple thatched hut of the rural Bengal temple.

Chau-Chala/Char-Chala: This sub-type is built following the simplest form of the domestic hut with four sides sloping to the cardinal directions, the curvilinear edge and the gable end of the roof. The Char-Chala temple is also called the `single hut-type temple’.

Do-chala between Char-Chala: This style in brick temple architectures is built as a building covered by a Ek-Bangla/Do-chala acting as the roof between two char-chala buildings.

Aat-Chala: This type is characterized by two vertically separate tiered roofs with chau-chala varieties. Sometimes these Chala temples are fused with Ratnas or flat-roofed ones.

C5. Dolmancha/Rashmancha: The layout and vertical design of these two types are often similar, with the former type smaller than the latter one. They have receding stepped or tiered vertical extensions and they can be approached from four cardinal directions. They can be solid and decorated with various motifs like blind arches, turrets and curved cornices and may have a square ortho octagonal ground plan. Often, these types of temples are built upon a high plinth with arched openings in all directions. ‘Mancha’ can be loosely translated as a podium and dol and rash are two sacred festive rituals associated with the devotional love story between the Hindu God Krishna and Goddess Radha. The superstructure of this type follows the other temple forms of Rekha, Chala and Ratna. The style of vertical accretion of the space with receding tiers can be traced back to the cruciform Buddhist temples of pre-13th century CE Bengal.

C6. Domed Temple: This style of brick temple architectures has octagonal lower parts and upper portions beginning with inverted lotuses, over which eight-sided pointed domes are placed on short drums, which are surrounded by rows of slightly curved lotus petals or curved merlon decorations. The following type of domed temples is noticed in Bengal as well as in Bangladesh:

Inverted Lotus Domed Temple: The temples are very small and octagonal lower parts and upper portions begin with inverted lotuses, over which eight-sided pointed domes are placed on short drums, which are surrounded by rows of slightly curved lotus petals. Each side of the octagonal shaft of the temple contains ornamental blind arches except the entrance arch. These temples were commonly built in Bangladesh during the 18^th – 19^th Century CE.

C6. Flat-roofed Temple: This style of the temple is rectangular or square in plan and covered by a flat roof supported on iron or wood girders. There is also a verandah with doorways in front of this type of temple. The flat-roofed temples were commonly built in Bangladesh during the 19^th – 20^th century CE.

C7. Groupings: This type displays the assembling of similar types of separate built-edifices (e.g., Chala or Bangla types) with a common courtyard. They can be arranged on three sides of a square or rectangular courtyard.

Proposed components of the property:

This proposed property is a thematic selection for a specific type of religious architecture which represents the social, economic, religious and artistic uniqueness as an ensemble and as a representation of the development of architectural style in a specific spatiotemporal segment. A table of thirty temples or group of temples, along with their tentative chronology based upon dedicatory inscriptions and stylistic dating is given below:

Basic Serial code	Type	Sub-type	Serial code number	Name of the temple	State, Province or Region	Latitude and Longitude, or UTM coordinates
A	Rekha	Straight-Edged Pyramidal	A1	Handial Jagannath Temple	Handial village, Chatmohar Upazila, Pabna district	24°18'55.2"N 89°21'32"E
		Ridge Curvilinear	A2	Mathurapur Deul	Mathurapur village, Baliakandi Upazila, Faridpur district	23°33'42"N 89°37'41"E
			A3	Kodla math	Kodla village, Bagerhat Sador Upazila, Bagerhat district	22°44'31.3"N 89°46'20.7"E
B	Bangla	Ek-Bangla	B1	Hatikumrul Bangla Ghara Temple	Hatikumrul village, Ullapara Upazila, Sirajgonj District	24°25'54.9"N 89°33'06.6"E
			B2	Puthia Chota Annik Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	24°21'40.8''N 88°50'12.4''E
		Ek-Bangla between two char-chala	B3	Puthia Bara Annik Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	23°12'56.7"N 89°35'09.5"E
			B4	Raja Ram Temple	Khalia village, Rajoir Upazila, Madaripur District	23°13'23.5"N 90°00'15.8"E
		Jor-Bangla	B5	Gopinath Jor-Bangla Temple	Kalachandpur village, Pabna Sadar Upazila, Pabna District	24°00'05.4"N 89°14'42.2"E
			B6	Chaklanabish Jor-bangla Temple	Shalnagar village, Lohagara Upazila, Narail District	24°21'40.8''N 88°50'12.4''E
			B7	Kotakol Jor-bangla Temple	Kotakol village, Lohagara Upazila, Narail District	23°07'28.1"N 89°40'08.7"E
C	Ratna	Pancharatna	C1	Puthia Govinda Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	24°21'41.8"N 88°50'13.4"E
			C2	Puthia Bara Siva Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	24°21'50.4"N 88°50'13.3"E
		Navaratna	C3	Kantajee Temple	Kantanagar village, Kaharol Upazila,  Dinajpur district	23°05'12.9"N 89°44'20.1"E
			C4	Hatikumrul Navaratna Temple	Hatikumrul village, Ullapara Upazila, Sirajgonj District	24°25'58.5"N 89°33'10.7"E
			C5	Teota Navaratna Temple	Teota village, Shibaloya Upazila, Manikgonj district	23°51'30.9"N 89°46'41.1"E
			C6	Annapurna Temple	Asashuni village, Sador Upazila, Satkhira district	22°42'14.2"N 89°05'17.3"E
			C7	Shamsundar Temple	Kalaroya Upazila, Satkhira district	22°52'35.2"N 88°59'07.4"E
		Saptadashratna	C8	Sateraratna Temple	Jagannathpur village, Sador Upazila, Cumilla district	23°27'44.1"N 91°12'39.1"E
D	Chala	Char-Chala	D1	Puthia Gopala Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	24°21'44.6"N 88°50'05.5"E
			D2	Puthia Chota Siva Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	24°21'39.7"N 88°50'09.2"E
			D3	Chaklanabish Siva Temple	Shalnagar village, Lohagara Upazila, Narail District	23°16'32.7"N 89°38'14.0"E
			D4	Hatikumrul Bara Siva Temple	Hatikumrul village, Ullapara Upazila, Sirajgonj District, Rajshahi Division	24°25'54.9"N 89°33'06.6"E
		Aat-Chala	D5	Chaklanabish Bhairaba Temple	Shalnagar village, Lohagara Upazila, Narail District	23°16'32.3"N 89°38'14.1"E
E	Dolmancha/ Rashmancha	Dolmancha	E1	Chaklanabish Dola Temple	Shalnagar village, Lohagara Upazila, Narail District	23°16'32.7"N 89°38'14.4"E
			E2	Puthia Dola Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	24°21'46.6"N 88°50'14.3"E
		Rashmancha	E3	Puthia Ratha Temple	Krishnapur village, Puthia Upazila, Rajshahi District	24°21'49.9"N 88°50'14.4"E
F	Domed	Inverted Lotus Domed	F1	Hatikumrul Chota Siva Temple	Hatikumrul village, Ullapara Upazila, Sirajgonj District	24°25'59.5"N 89°33'10.5"E
G	Flat-Roofed	With Chala Superstructure	G1	Khalaram Datar Temple	Kalakopa village, Nawabgonj Upazila, Dhaka district	23°39'35.6"N 90°08'45.4"E
H	Groupings	Char-Chala	H1	Eleven Siva Temples	Abhayanagar village, Abhayanagar Upazila, Jashore District	24°26'00.6"N 89°33'10.4"E

The morphology, articulation of artistic style and storytelling through terracotta art

One of the most outstanding features of the temples belonging to these periods is the profuse and planned articulation of their external surface, and sometimes their internal surface, with terracotta plaques depicting themes and stories of both secular and religious types. The narratives of the epics, like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the stories from the life of Radha-Krishna or incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu were told by the medium of terracotta plaques. Contemporary characters, features and stories like the merchant boats, naval fleets, foreign traders, lives of the landlords or zaminders, along with erotic scenes were represented in these narratives. Temples like Kantajee (C3), Hatikamrul Navaratna Temple (C4) and the temples of the Puthia cluster (C1, B2, B3, E3) have elaborate tales told through the terracotta plaques on their facades from the plinth level up to the cornice. Many other temples like the Jorbangla and Chala types have terracotta plaques depicting religious and secular themes on their arched entrances, pillars and corner pilasters. Because of the entwinement of terracotta plaques and bricks in the temples, many art historians identify these temples as terracotta temples despite the fact that not all of them have similar usages of terracotta decorations. The terracotta plaques with their narratives, stylistic attributes, spatial patterns and the subjects they portray in the plastic medium are the focus of the interest of many studies. Their styles reflect different schools of clay artists during this period and their mobilities. They often signify the contemporary social and economic lifeways, and the relationship between patrons of the temple building and the worshippers. Along with terracotta plaques and terracotta ornamentation through replicating various floral motifs, stucco plasters were widely used in many of these temples for representing figures and themes on external and internal surfaces. The extensive use of terracotta and stucco plasters have rendered these temples very rare artistic characters in addition to their socio-religious and economic significance.

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

The brick temples of the late medieval and colonial period in Bangladesh often occur in a clustered spatial group within a specific locality suggesting the centrality of the space for the patrons. Many temples, besides, have isolated or discrete existences. The outstanding universal values of this property, proposed as a serial nomination, are justified as follows:

Criterion (ii): The components of this property represent a period of Bangladesh (and West Bengal, India), known popularly as ‘Bengal’ during the Mughal and colonial period, which witnessed transformation, evolution and continuity in various aspects of society, culture, religion and economic life. The origin of this genre of temple architecture intimately connected to the terracotta art was conditioned by these transformations which were, partially, a result of the exchange of artistic ideas, technique and forms over a wide region. The abundant clay, as construction material in the form of bricks and as a plastic medium of artistic expression and style, gave rise to specific architectural morphology and style along with plastic art. The origin of these formal and stylistic traditions can be traced back to the 3rd- 4th century BCE. These ensembles of the temple, both as a built space and as artistic expressions, had certain features which were distinct from the antecedent traditions.

The techniques and formal attributes of Muslim architecture, especially the arcuate system of vaulting and the domes, inspired the overall humble external outlook of these temples. Unlike, North and South Indian counterparts of this period, these temples were not vertically extended. Construction material had a role to play in the demeanour of these built forms. The humble and populist Vaisnavite movement, which sought to bring changes in the contemporary caste-based hierarchical society dominated by the Brahmins, and celebrated bhakti or devotion in more democratic participation from all spheres of the society, have had implications upon the visually not conspicuous and more mundane representation of these temples. The interchange among various traditions, religious, architectural and artistic, made this extraordinary innovation of form and style possible. The Ratna type of temples assimilated the corner towers and small kiosks from Muslim religious architecture. The replication of traditional thatched huts of the region was also initiated by the Muslim patrons in this region of Bengal. The temple builders and the patrons were influenced by this successful improvisation and they gave the replication of traditional Bengali hut a more heterogeneous form and meaning by creating a variety of Chala types and by mixing them with other types also. The Jor-Bangla type of temples deserves special mention, in this exceptionally innovative and exquisitely creative enterprise of the temple builders and clay artists. By joining two huts and by using their surfaces for articulating and representing the sacred and mundane world of being, the Bengali clay artists not only showed their highest imaginative capabilities, they also transformed the temple into a space of collective celebration of the indivisibility of the divine and the mundane, according to the Gaudiya Vaisnavite philosophy. The performative aspect of this devotional tradition by kirton (a genre of singing and dancing by uttering the names of Radha-Krishna) was reflected in the content of the terracotta plaques as well as in the open space in front of the façade that was meticulously ornamented with the stories and narratives. Other varieties, such as the inverted lotus domed temples, are a vivid signature of the development of specific monumental forms with the syncretic and mutual exchange between various creative traditions – Muslim style, which brought central Asian, Persian and even, European styles, techniques and forms during the Mughal period in Bengal; Hindu-Buddhist styles from the pre-medieval period; and various components and styles from the colonial period. The alluvial and riverine landscape of Bengal witnessed the rise of this ensemble suggesting a distinctive regional style of creative fusions and innovations of artistic content and form in constructing narratives from the epics, local purana, popular narratives of the lives of Radha-Krisna as well as the subjects and events happening in and around the region. Many of these forms, like the Bangla or Chala style built spaces, made a significant influence upon the Imperial and regional architectural development during the Mughal period in north and central India. The movement of the artists and artisans was coincidental to the dynamic and changing social and economic mobilities of various groups in an inter and supra-regional context.

Criterion (iii): Interestingly, many of the proposed components of this property are living religious monuments. They are being worshipped by the local Hindu communities. Several temples are considered as important pilgrimage destinations during specific sacred occasions. For example, temples of Putia or Kantajee temple become centres of pilgrimage and worship during the celebration of events that are considered very significant in the life of Radha-Krisna. The temples with Shiva lingams are visited by the devotees during the auspicious occasions of the worship of Shiva. Simultaneously, some temples are regarded as the abode of local Hindu deities, contributing to the preservation and continuity of the ritualistic traditions pertaining to the local Hindu deities.

Criterion (iv): As has been pointed above, this ensemble of temples illustrates a type of monuments and architectural style which born out of specific social, religious and regional context. Evidence of assimilation and fusion of various elements, forms and styles are explicit in this property. The ornamentation and storytelling through the plastic artistic medium such as terracotta and stucco were inseparable from the architectural form and style. The incorporation of plastic and locally available clay and stucco as an essential part of brick-built monumental unity with lucid, humble and exquisite intricacy of symbolic space gave birth to an ensemble of buildings that became centres of power, devotion and celebration of the love of the divine in the earthly world. The outstanding multilayered functional and symbolic aspects of these buildings deserve a unique status on a global scale.

Statements of authenticity and/or integrity

Authenticity

All the proposed components for serial nomination under this property have maintained their original character to a certain extent. Most of them are listed as protected monuments under the Antiquity Act of Bangladesh. The main construction materials – bricks and lime-surki mortar – have been kept untouched in most cases.

As many of these temples are living religious monuments and community participation is inevitable in the process of performing religious rituals, a few temples have faced intervention with later additions of extensions and auxiliary buildings in adjacent areas in the late 19th or early 20th century CE. According to the Nara Document, these renewals and renovations must be accepted as authentic as they were performed during the living periods of these monuments. Because of the population growth and scarcity of lands, several mosques have been encroached by the locals and some parts have been damaged or left uncared. The authenticity of the monuments along with their substance, function and primary purpose have largely remained unaltered.

Integrity

A few buildings on the coastal belts are threatened by the effect of salinity and by the weathering of clay made bricks. The superstructures, especially the domes are prone to damage. For a few temples, the terracotta plaques have been stolen or have been weathered because of salinity and bioturbation. The growth of plants has affected the solidity and endurance of superstructures and external surfaces in several cases. The intervention by the local community for the restoration and renovation in the manner of putting plasters or colours over the surfaces have had an impact on the integrity of the mosques. The boundary walls and auxiliary structures in several cases have been damaged. Nevertheless, these protected and state-owned buildings, as well as the temples under continuous use by the local Hindu communities, still have integrity in terms of their architectural traditions’ distinctiveness and exceptional characteristics. They, besides, are testimony to a period of transformation and synthesis in the social and religious sphere of Bengal.

Comparison with other similar properties

This property is comparable to the Khajuraho Group of Monuments in India. Like Khajuraho, these temples represent a harmonious blending of the sculptural portrayals of both religious and non-religious contents and the morphology of the monuments. These temples are distributed over a wide area and rely heavily on locally available material for construction and the medium of artistic innovation. In the case of Khajuraho, the material was stone, while in this case the material was clay.

In a similar way, the components of this property are comparable to the Group of Monuments of Hampi, representing the medieval Vijaynagara Empire in India. With the synchronised use of surfaces, both vertically and horizontally, in accordance to the landscape, the temples of various sizes, forms and styles were blended to display the highest development of the South Indian temple architectural style in Karnataka, India. These brick temples bear the testimony of the artistic creativity and socio-political effloresce of the late medieval period of Bengal and continued till the colonial period in the 19th century.