Kantajew Temple

Assalamu Alaikum Hello everyone, I hope you are all well? I am also very well. Warm greetings and congratulations to all the members of the Steem family. Today I will discuss an archaeological topic with you. The name of the archaeological site is Kantajiu Temple, a very ancient temple. This temple is located in Kantanagar, Dinajpur district, Bangladesh.

Kantajiu Temple is located on the banks of the Dhepa River, about 22 kilometers north of Dinajpur city. This Navaratna temple, bearing unparalleled patterns of burnt clay plaque paintings, is one of the most important architectural monuments of the subcontinent. Such beautiful and exquisite plaques have not been seen in any other building in Bengal during that era. Srikanth is one of the 108 names of Lord Krishna. So Maharaja Prannath named the temple Kantajiu Temple after the name Kant of Lord Krishna. That is, Kant is the name of Krishna and Jiu is to show respect. After the establishment of the temple, the village was named Kantanagar after the name of the temple. Kantanagar village was like an island. The Dhepa river flowed around it. Before the construction of the temple, there was no settlement here. Maharaja Prannath was not only an efficient ruler, he was also a solitary religious person. So he chose such a secluded jungle island to worship and worship Lord Krishna. Since the Kantajung Temple was declared a protected ancient monument by the government in 1960, the Archaeological Department has carried out its necessary renovation and conservation works.

In 1608, the first king of the Dinajpur dynasty, Srimanta Datta, laid the foundation of the dynasty, which lasted for about three and a half hundred years. One of the greatest kings of the Dinajpur dynasty, Prannath Shyamgar, started the construction of the Sri Sri Kantajiu temple, the pride of Bengal's architecture, in a secluded place like an island called Kantanagar, now known as Kantanagar. The construction of the temple was started in 1704 AD. King Prannath could not complete the work of the temple during his lifetime. Therefore, his adopted son Ramnath completed the construction of the temple in 1752 AD and installed the idol. The Sri Sri Kantajiu temple has a beautiful and incomparable form. Numerous mythological stories including the Ramayana and Mahabharata are narrated through the tablet paintings.

The famous landlord of Dinajpur, Prannath, and his adopted son, Ramnath, built this temple between 1704 and 1752 AD. This temple is made of three-storey brick, 50 feet square, and is built on a high platform. The Kantajiu temple is built on a 1 meter high square base altar built on the edge. Each arm of the base altar is 18.37 meters long and each arm of the square temple is 15.54 meters long. There is a 2.43 meter long verandah around the temple and two large pillars on each verandah. There are three large arched entrances between the pillars and the side walls. The main sanctum of the temple is somewhat smaller in size. The Kantajiu idol is installed in this sanctum. There are several small rooms around the room.

There were four gems in the four corners of the second floor and one gem in the third floor. The second floor of this temple is smaller in size than the first floor. There was a 4.57-meter-high gem or spire in the center of the third floor. There were four gems in the four corners of the roof of the first floor of the temple and similarly, four gems in the second floor and one gem in the third floor. The temple was called the Navaratna Temple because the temple was made of these nine gems. The gems or spires fell due to the earthquake of 1897.

There is an ancient banyan tree near this temple, one of which has many branches. When you look at the banyan tree, it seems like there are many trees, but not one tree has so many branches. This banyan tree is also an ancient monument standing in the Kantjiu Temple.