Madangopal Jiu Temple is a 450 year old Hindu temple in the village of Mellak, near
Samta, in Deulti town,in
Howrah district
Howrah district (, ) is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. Howrah district is one of the highly urbanized area of West Bengal. The urbanised sectors gradually increase the slum populations. Howrah is the third smallest distric ...
, in the
Indian state
India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.
History
Pre-indepen ...
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 ...
. The temple is locally known as Gopaler Mondir (literally, "the temple of
Gopala
Gopala (Bangla: গোপাল) (ruled c. 750s–770s CE) was the founder of the Pala dynasty of Bihar and Bengal regions of the Indian Subcontinent. The last morpheme of his name ''Pala'' means "protector" and was used as an ending for the name ...
"). The temple is terracotta ornamented and is built in the ''aatchala'' (roof with eight slopes) style.it was commissioned by Mukundaprasad Roychowdhury, a descent of the
Roychowdhury zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
s of Mellak, in the 17th-century CE.This temple is near to the traditional house of Bengali writer
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ ...
. .
The temple was built in 1651 CE by the local Zamindar Mukundaprasad Roychowdhury who was a famous wrestler in this region during those times. The mandir was situated on the banks of the river Rupnarayan, now the river changed its course and has now moved further away. It is the one of the oldest mandir of the district of Howrah and one of the largest Aatchala styled mandir in West Bengal. The temple is now in ruins. Reconstruction work was started in the early 2010 but stopped midway. The idols are being kept, cared for and worshiped by the nearby local family.
In modern times
References
{{Howrah topics
Krishna temples
Hindu temples in West Bengal
Buildings and structures in Howrah district
1651 establishments in the Mughal Empire
Tourist attractions in Howrah district