Banda Deul is an 11th-century temple in Banda village (also called ''Deulghera'') in the

Raghunathpur II Raghunathpur II is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Background The ''Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra'' of the ...

CD block in the

Raghunathpur subdivision Raghunathpur subdivision is a subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. History Purulia district was divided into four subdivisions, viz., Purulia Sadar, Manbazar, Jhalda and Raghunathpur, with effect from 6 April 20 ...

of the

Purulia district Purulia district (Pron: puruliːaː) is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur- ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

Geography

Location

Banda is located at . Banda is 1 km from

Cheliyama Cheliyama (also referred to as Cheyama) is a village in the Raghunathpur II CD block in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Cheliyama is located at . Area overview Puru ...

, which contains the Radha Vinod temple with the most richly decorated terracotta carvings. There are three dilapidated at

Para Para, or PARA, may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange * Para Group, the former name of CT Corp * Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer * Para USA, formerly ...

, located nearby, belonging to the 10-11th century or earlier. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Banda Deul

There is a temple at Banda, which is described by the Archaeological Society of India as a ''

rekha deul Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films. Acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Indian cinema, she has starred in more than 180 f ...

'' of triratha variety in sandstone. “The temple is richly decorated, the themes being creepers, scroll work and stylised ''

chaitya A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

'' window.” The temple was built around the 11th century. In 1872, the archaeologist J.D.Beglar came across this temple, then covered with deep vegetation in a forest. The area around the deul was cleared and it started attracting attention.

Adrish Bardhan Adrish Bardhan (1 December 1932 – 20 May 2019) was a Bengali science fiction writer, editor and translator. Career Bardhan was born on 1 December 1932 in Calcutta in British India. He graduated with a BSc from the University of Calcutta. He ...

, a science fiction enthusiast and writer, established that the structure of the Banda deul was vandalised by the soldiers of

Firuz Shah Tughlaq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388.

in 1360. “It is not clear whether it was a Hindu or a Jain temple. The ''

jagmohan Jagmohan Malhotra (25 September 1927 – 3 May 2021), known by the mononym Jagmohan, was an Indian civil servant and politician. After working with the Indian National Congress, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1995. He served as Lieute ...

'' part of the temple (the middle tier of a typical Odisha-style three-tier temple) was never completed and the peerless floral designs carved on soft stone on the front façade were badly defaced. The circled crown on the top (known as ''

amalaka An amalaka ( sa, आमलक), is a segmented or notched stone disk, usually with ridges on the rim, that sits on the top of a Hindu temple's shikhara or main tower. According to one interpretation, the amalaka represents a lotus, and thus the ...

'') was also broken.” The temple had a ''

mandapa A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture. Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...

'' which has largely collapsed, However, eight pillars are still there supporting the cross beams. The temple has a water outlet with a ''makara'' (crocodile) head. According to the

List of Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal This is a list of Monuments of National Importance (ASI) as officially recognized by and available through the website of the Archaeological Survey of India in the Indian state West Bengal.

the old temple at Banda is an ASI listed monument.

Banda picture gallery

File:Deul at Banda, Purulia WLM2016-0207.jpg, The deul at Banda with remains of the mandapa File:Banda Deul 2.jpg, The deul at Banda File:Banda Deul 4.jpg, Stone decoration File:Crocodile shaped water outlet of temple in Banda at Purulia.jpg, Crocodile head shaped water outlet

References

External links

Temples in West Bengal Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal Tourist attractions in Purulia district {{India-religious-struct-stub