Author:

Sibam Saha

State Aided College Teacher
Department of History
Dinhata College
Dinhata, Cooch Behar,West Bengal
Email: sibamsaha1993@gmail.com

Abstract:The temples scattered in different parts of North Bengal demands an intense research on its art and architectural form. Very few research works have been done on the architecture of North Bengal till today. Among the ancient and medieval architectural remain of North Bengal, Jaṭileśvara temple retain an important position. On one hand, the temple is very important for its religious and cultural significance and on the other, momentous for its marvelous works of sculpture. The sculptures, engraved with great skill on large stone blocks, are truly extraordinary in the context of contemporary North Bengal. When we go through the sculptures of Jaṭileśvara temple, we find mixture of different kind of artistic forms like Hindu, Buddhist, religious, secular etc. Probably the religious amalgamation of Bengal region was a reason behind this kind of mixture of art. If we go through the features of Pala architecture, use of terracotta, bronze and black basalt rock was very common, but in the case of Jaṭileśvara temple the use of gray sedimentary rock is very interesting. Due to lack of proper maintenance, even its extraordinary works of art are on the verge of destruction. If this invaluable early-medieval historical resource of North Bengal will be preserved properly, it will become one of the attractions of history lovers.

Key Words:Nāgara style, Jaṭileśvara temple, Pūṛbadhar, Rekhā-deula, architecture, śikhara etc.