Dihar is a village and an ancient archaeological site (approximately 3,200 years old) of great antiquarian importance brought into the limelight by

Maniklal Sinha Maniklal Sinha, also ''Maniklal Singha''; (13 January 1916 -21 March 1994) was an Indian archaeologist, writer, poet, folk-culture scholar (Lokasangskritibid), novelist and assistant teacher at Bishnupur High School. He was the main entrepr ...

. Located in the

Bishnupur subdivision Bishnupur subdivision is a subdivision of the Bankura district in the state of West Bengal, India. Subdivisions Bankura district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions: Bishnupur subdivision has a density of population of 5 ...

of the

Bankura district Bankura district (Pron: bãkuɽa) is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is part of Medinipur division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. Bankura district is surrounded by Purba Bardhaman distri ...

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 ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 fou ...

. It is north of Bishnupur and is near

Dharapat Dharapat is a village in Bishnupur subdivision of Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is north of Bishnupur. Geography Location Dharapat is located at . Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in t ...

Geography

Location

Dihar is located at . 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.

History

Belonging to the days of copper-Bronze Age civilisation and with an intricate narrative more than three millennia old, it is one of the earliest sites of human habitation discovered in Bengal which shows successive layers of prehistory, proto-history and history. Going by the styles of pottery (

Black and Red Ware Black and red ware (BRW) is a South Asian earthenware, associated with the neolithic phase, Harappa, Bronze Age India, Iron Age India, the megalithic and the early historical period. Although it is sometimes called an archaeological culture, the ...

, Red Slipped Ware, Grey Ware,

Northern Black Polished Ware The Northern Black Polished Ware culture (abbreviated NBPW or NBP) is an urban Iron Age Indian culture of the Indian Subcontinent, lasting c. 700–200 BCE (proto NBPW between 1200 and 700 BCE), succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture and Blac ...

, etc. found on different and sometimes intermixed levels),

microliths A microlith is a small stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Th ...

, metallurgical fragments, beads, shells, skeletons, terracotta figurines, homesteads,

debitage In archaeology, debitage is all the material produced during the process of lithic reduction – the production of stone tools and weapons by knapping stone. This assemblage may include the different kinds of lithic flakes and lithic blades, bu ...

, shards of bone, and habitational refuge one can place this site in the same archaeo-cultural horizon as

Pandu Rajar Dhibi Pandu Rajar Dhibi in the valley of the river Ajay is an Archaeological site in Ausgram II block in the Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was the first Chalcolithic site discovered in W ...

. By about 1200-1000 BCE

chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...

proto-urban people had settled on the northern banks of the Dwarakeswar, most probably belonging to a socio-culturally and technologically advanced branch of the

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...

ethno-linguistic group. After this early proto-historic period, stretching from the copper-Bronze Age to the early Iron Age of the pre-

Maurya The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

to the

Shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...

eras, nothing noticeable has been discovered at Dihar till confirmed

Saivite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...

activities beginning roughly from around the 13th-14th centuries CE.

Demographics

According to the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Dihar had a total population of 815 of which 416 (51%) were males and 399 (49%) were females. Population below 6 years was 84. The total number of literates in Dihar was 450 (61.56% of the population over 6 years).

Culture

The remains of the Shnareshwara (ষাঁড়েশ্বর) and Shaileshwara (শৈলেশ্বর)

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

temples, built upon one of the primary

/æneolithic habitational mounds, are some of the major attractions at Dihar. Either king Prithwi Malla of the

Malla dynasty Malla may refer to: Places ;Bolivia *Malla, Bolivia, a locality * Malla Jawira, a river * Malla Jaqhi, a mountain * Malla Municipality * Malla Qullu, a mountain ;India * Mallapuram, Tamil Nadu *Malla (tribe), an ancient republic, one of the s ...

of Bishnupur had commissioned the temples (their architectural style being referred to as 'rekha

deul The architecture of Bengal, which comprises the modern country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley, has a long and rich history, blending indigenous elements from the Indian subcontinent, with influ ...

') to be constructed in 1346 CE (the date being highly debatable academically) or, as deduced from their structural and architectural affinities, had them repaired, restored and reconsecrated in 1346 CE, as the two temples could have been built by monarchs from earlier dynasties in the form of twin Jain/Buddhist monuments at around the period when the Siddheshwara temple was built nearby at Bahulara at some point of time during the Pala era. Moreover, till date, much academic debate remains over the exact dates of their construction. The unkempt laterite stone walls of the temples have suffered badly from centuries of erosion but intricate floral designs and miniature human figurines captured in dramatic poses can still be made out. Furthermore, some eroded or defaced images of divinity can also be seen upon the stone panels. Pilgrims, to this day, gather in the area during Shivratri. Both the Shnareshwara and Shaileshwara temples are included in 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.

by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

(serial no. N-WB-28 & 29). See also -

Bengal temple architecture Bengal temple architecture is about temple styles developed and used in Bengal, particularly the ''chala'', ''ratna'' and ''dalan'' temples. Background According to David J. McCutchion, historically the religious architecture in Bengal may be di ...

Dihar picture gallery

File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (02).jpg, Shaileswar temple File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (19).jpg, Sareswar temple File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (45).jpg, Both the temples File:Sareswar and Saileshwar temple bishnupur west bengal 03.jpg, Religious ceremony in progress File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (53).jpg, Shaileswar temple wall File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (74).jpg, In the Shaileswar temple

References

External links

{{Temple towns in West Bengal Former populated places in India Archaeological sites in West Bengal Tourist attractions in Bankura district