Architecture &

Society of Bengal
ARCH –3111/CREDIT–02
  Known as Asamrajara Garh, ancient fort city
dating back to 450 BC during the era of
Mauryan dynasty.
 The 2500-year-old ruins being unearthed

Wari-Bateshwar near the old course of the Brahmaputra

River are a major archaeological discovery
in the Indian subcontinent.

Bengal
 The site is about 70 km north-east from
Dhaka situated at Norshingdi's Belabo
Early Upazila and Shibpur Upazila's neighbouring
village Wari and Bateshwar.
architecture  Wari-Bateshwar is the rich, well planned,
Of Maurya Empire ancient emporium (a commercial city)
"Sounagora" mentioned by Greek
geographer, astronomer, mathematician
Ptolemy in his book Geographia.
 Excavation also unearthed the presence of
pit-dwelling.
 According to researchers, the discovery of
rouletted ware, knobbed ware, stone beads,
sandwiched glass beads, gold-foil glass
beads, Indo-Pacific monochrome glass
beads and importantly its geographical
location indicates to southeast Asiatic and
Roman contacts.
 The discovery of a pit-dwelling is the first of
its kind in Bangladesh. People used to live
in these small ditches. The pit-dwelling is a
Copper Age or Chalcolithic artefact.
 The unearthing of a 180-metre long, six-
metre wide and 21–35 cm thick road with a
by-lane points to very early urbanisation in
this area.
 Unique brick-built architectural
monuments, including forts, moats, paved
roads and sidewalks, have been found here
as evidence of ancient urban civilization.
 Four walls are still standing 12 feet below
the ground.
 Large bricks have been used in the clay
masonry architecture.
 The brick floor was found intact.
 The discovery of terracotta tiles suggests
that the roof of this architecture was covered
by tiles.
 But its use was not known as there were no
doors, windows or stairs to go down.
 The richness of Wari-Bateshwar, the road of
limestone, the brick architecture, the
fortifications all carry the identity of a rich
civilization.
 Hence they were Hindus. This is
furthermore ascertained by the depiction of
Surya or the Sun God on the coins, which
suggests that the people were sun
worshippers.
 Symbols of ‘Swastika’ and ‘Nandipada’
were found on the stone slab.
 Whereas the coins come with punch marks
of surya or sun symbol and a six armed
figurine of a Hindu dev or devi, there are
also mountain symbols with crescent found
on coins, which may indicate towards
Shaivism, as both the mountain and the
moon is sign of Lord Shiva.
 A Buddhist temple was found about 14 kms
away from Wari-Bateshwar in a village
named Mondirbhita of Shibpur Upazila.
 In another village named Jankhartek a big
Buddha temple was found which suggests
that at least during the later stages of the
civilization, the residents of Wari-Bateshwar
had become followers of Buddha.
 Nearly 50 ancient archaeological sites have
been found around Wari-Bateshwar, with
most of the discoveries being settlements.
Some of them are known as Rangartek,
Sonartula, Kendua, Morjal, Tongirajar Bari,
Mondirbhita, Jankhartek, Tongirtek.
  Mahasthangarh (Pundranagar), the ancient
capital of Pundravardhana is located 11 km
(6.8 mi) north of Bogra.
 Urbanization Bangladesh has a very long
urban history with origin of cities like

Mahasthangarh pundranagara dating back to the third or

fourth century BC.

Bengal
 Dated back, Mahasthangarh to at least the
3rd century BCE, was an important city
Early under the Maurya Empire.
 The fortified area was in use until the 8th
century CE.
architecture  The citadel, the fortified heart of the ancient
Of Maurya Empire city, is rectangular in plan, measuring
roughly 1.523 kilometers (0.946 mi) long
from north to south, and 1.371 kilometers
(0.852 mi) from east to west, with high and
wide ramparts in all its wings.
At present there are several mounds and
structural vestiges inside the fortifications:

 Jiat Kunda (well which, according to

legends, has life giving power),
 Mankalir Dhap (place consecrated to
Mankali),
 Parasuramer Basgriha (palace of a king
named Parasuram),
 Bairagir Bhita (palace of a female
anchorite),
 Khodar Pathar Bhita (place of stone
bestowed by God), and
 Munir Ghon (a bastion).
There are some gateways at different points:
 Kata Duar (in the north),
 Dorab Shah Toran (in the east), Burir Fatak
(in the south), and
 Tamra Dawaza (in the west)
 At the north-eastern corner there is a flight
of steps (a later addition) that goes by the
name of Jahajghata.
 A little beyond Jahajghata and on the banks
of the Karatoya is Govinda Bhita (a temple
dedicated to Govinda)
  The Pala Empire was a Buddhist dynasty in
control of Bengal from the 8th to the 12th
century.
 Palas created a distinctive form of Buddhist
art known as the "Pala School of Sculptural
Art."

Bengal
 The gigantic structures of Vikramshila
Vihar, Odantpuri Vihar, and Jagaddal Vihar
Early were masterpieces of the Palas.
 A number of monasteries grew up during the
VIHARA architecture Pāla period in ancient India in the eastern
regions of the Indian subcontinent,
Of Pala Empire comprising Bengal and Magadha.
 According to Tibetan sources, five great
Mahaviharas (universities) stood out:
Vikramashila, the premier university of the
era; Nalanda, past its prime but still
illustrious; Somapura Mahavihara;
Odantapurā; and Jaggadala.
  The Somapura Mahavihara, a creation of
Dharmapala, at Paharpur, Bangladesh, is the
Somapura largest Buddhist Vihara in the Indian
subcontinent.
 The quadrangular structure consists of 177
Mahavihara cells and a traditional Buddhist stupa in the
centre.

Bengal
 The rooms were used by the monks for
accommodation and meditation.
Early  In addition to the large number of stupas and
shrines of various sizes and shapes,
VIHARA architecture terracotta plaques, stone sculptures,
inscriptions, coins, ceramics etc. have been
Of Pala Empire discovered.
 The site houses the architectural remains of
a vast Buddhist monastery, Somapura
Mahavihara, covering 11 hectares (27
acres).
 It was an important intellectual centre for
Dharmic Traditions such as Buddhists, Jains
and Hindus alike.
 The 8.5-hectare (21-acre) complex has 177
cells, viharas, numerous stupas, temples and
a number of other ancillary buildings.
 The purpose of this central structure at the
midst of the courtyard remains unsolved
since its discovery.
 The terracotta artworks in the site have
suffered from serious damage as a result of
"lack of proper maintenance, shortage of
manpower, fund constraint and heavy
rainfall, poor water drainage accompanied
by high levels of salinity in the soils has
contributed to decay the terracotta
sculptures.
Early Bengal
TEMPLE architecture
Of Sena Empire
  Such structures have been seen on an
artifact from Chandraketugarh, and are
widespread in Mauryan times as granaries
or as leaf thatched structures seen on
 In Bengal villages this hut is a common
Gandharan bas-reliefs that are similar to
occurrence where it has either a bamboo
the Bengal at-chala temples.
frame with reed /jute lattice work or a mud
 The char-chala and the at-chala temples,
walled body with thatched roof curved at
which appear post Islam invasions, with
the ridge and lower edges.
their superstructures supported on arches
 This design is known as the ek bangla or
and vaults, as per some historians, appear
the do chala, while two such huts attached
to be Muslim influenced.
to each other are known as jor bangla, the
 Village mud huts in Bengali chala style
most famous in Bengal temple architecture
have been a part of Indian landscape from
of these times.
times immemorial, and imitation of village
 The Bengal chala or hut style, which
huts in bricks and stones for building
became so popular in the Hindu revival
religious structures is an ancient feature in
period for temple construction, however
Indian architecture, as clearly evident from
architecturally goes back to the ancient
the rock cut Sudama cave in Barabar hill
times.
(3rd c. BCE), or the famous free-standing
Draupadi ratha in Mahabalipuram that is of
7th c. CE.
 The main features of this style are curved
tops and cornices.
 Chala-style temples in West Bengal were
made of mud walls and thatched roofs.
But, in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) it
was built with bamboo structures and
thatched roofs.
 Gopinath Temple, Pabna, is a great
example of Jor-Bangla temple architecture
belongs to Chala style, which was built in
the 6th decade of the 19th century.
  Apart from the architectural style, the
practice or principle of decorating the
 The ratna or pinnacle style shows the same
tower with miniature temples is an ancient
basic lower structure as the chala style,
style in Hindu art, seen both in south and
with a rectangular box and curved
north Indian temples, wherein in the south
cornices, but in the ratna style the roof is
they are clearly outlined while in the north
more or less flat and it has a towering
they merge into the curvilinear sikhara.
pinnacle known as the ratna (jewel).
 The ratna style is also said to have been
 A single central tower is eka-ratna and is
derived from the old Hindu ratha (chariot),
the simplest of the design, while increasing
though no rathas have survived from
numbers of pinnacles adds to the
earlier than the ratna temples.
complexity of the structure.
 The ratna style, which emerged sometime
 From eka-ratna, four more can be added in
in the 16th century, became popular in the
the corners, which is called as pancha-
17th century.
ratna; and by increasing the number of
 A closer look at the eka-ratna temples with
stories and corner turrets, the number of
a porch or corridor on all sides suggest that
ratnas can be multiplied by 9, 13. 17, and
eka-ratna is likely to have originated from
21, upto 25 (panchavimshati-ranta).
a rekha deul with an additional covered
circumambulatory veranda all around.
 Kantanagar Temple, known as Kantaji
Temple, is a religious edifice belonging to the
18th century.
 The temple was built in a navaratna (nine-
spired) style before the destruction caused by
the earthquake of 1897.
 The characteristic features of the erections
are the four centered and wide multi-cusped
arches, the plastered surface of the walls
having immense rectangular and square
paneling.
 Flat roofed dalan temple style– Besides the  Almost always they had a porch with one
early Hindu period traditional style, and or more pillars, initially showing the
the later Hindu revival period chala styled traditional faceted type, but in the 19th
and the ratna styled temples, another century these became the clustered pilaster
category was seen known as the flat roofed type.
dalan style.  Arches in such style are cusped, and
 With heavy cornices on S curved brackets, facades were patterned with terracotta
they show European influences, and designs and later by plasterwork.
became popular in the 19th century for a  Gradually this design lost its traditional
brief period. features and turned into a mere paka ghar
 These were internally domed, more usually or brick built room, similar to any modern
spanned by a shallow vault, and latterly domestic architecture of the late 19th-20th
flat ceilinged. century.
 the Rupeshwar temple is a small flat-
roofed temple measuring 6.8m x 5.9m.
 Located a short distance away from
Pratapeswar Temple and the Rasmancha in
the Rajbari temple complex at Ambika
Kalna.
 This style of architecture was quite
common in later periods but comparatively
rare before the 19th century.
 The temple stands on a raised platform
which provides a narrow
circumambulation passage around the
structure, with a south-facing triple-arched
entrance.
 The facade does have some elaborately
decorated terracotta plaques, but much
here has disappeared over time.
 In later examples of flat-roofed temples,
these traditional features had been reduced
to a minimum. A Shiva Linga is installed
in the sanctum.
 During the Raas festival, in November, the
deity is taken from the main temple and
placed on this elevated platform which is
known as “mancha”.
 The purpose behind it is to make the deity
visible to the people at large, so that the
devotees can see the deity from all angles
and offer their prayers.
 In towns and villages all over West Bengal
one can find examples of Rasmancha and
Dolmancha.
 They are usually quite small structures,
Dolmanchas being square or rectangular in
shape, Rasmanchas being octagonal or
hexagonal, raised up on a platform and
crowned with a pinnacle.
 Their main purpose is to allow an idol,
usually Lord Krishna, to be viewed from
all sides on certain festival days.
 Located in the heart of the town as one
would expect considering the purpose of
the structure, the Rasmancha at Bishnupur
is huge, measuring 30m square and 12.5m
high.
 The 1.5m high platform is built from
laterite stone, but the main structure is
fashioned from bricks, a combination that
is itself quite unusual.
 What catches the eye more than anything
else is the pyramidal shape of the roof,
another unique element that would not be
out of place in Egypt.  Each elevation has ten arched entranceways,
 At the very heart of the structure is a small allowing as much light as possible to penetrate
shrine (locked, and too dark to the interior.
photograph), with three consecutive  Combined together it creates a labyrinth inside,
circumambulatory galleries on all four it’s all too easy to become a little disorientated
sides with vaulted ceilings. as you navigate around the 90 columns.
 Begunia temples, Barakar, are the Oldest
and was built around 8th-9th century.
 It is amongst the oldest rekh-deul temples
in West Bengal.
 Two other temples are dated around 14th-
15th century.
 The temples have Shiva lingams and idols
of Ganesha and Durga.
 “rekha deul” type, commonly seen in
Orissa (Odisha).
 In this case locals think that the temples
resemble brinjals (aubergine/eggplant)
which are called “begoon” in Bengali, and
hence the name Begunia.
 Kodla Math is one of the remarkable
examples of this Sikhara type in Bagerhat
while there are two others known
popularly as the Mathurapur Deul in
Faridpur and Sarkar's Math in Mahilara in
Bakerganj and all of them belong to the
17th century.
 Made from terracotta, Standing at 18.28
metres, this tall structure has a square base.
 It has a 3.048 sq m chamber with 2.74m
thick walls.
 It has three entrances, one on each side,
except the north side, and the building
itself faces the south.
 The main doorway has corbelled arches,
although the pendentives are built with true
pointed arches, which support the semi-
circular dome inside.
Thank you