Kantajew Mandir, also known as Kantaji Mandir or Kantanagar Mandir, is a place of worship dedicated to Bhagwan Krishna. Located in Dinajpur city, on the eastern bank of river Punarbhaba in Bangladesh, Kantanagar Mandir’s construction was started by Maharaja Pran Nath in 1704 CE. It was completed in the reign of his son Raja Ramnath in 1722 CE. It is an explicit example of nine spire terracotta temple architecture of Bangladesh. All the nine spires were destroyed in the earthquake of 1897. Still the Kantajew Mandir is one of the most magnificent religious edifices belonging to the nation.
Importantly, Greater Bengal (both Bangladesh and the Indian State of West Bengal combined) saw remarkable architectural accomplishments from the 16th to the mid-19th century. Hundreds of mandirs were built at the time, which still stand tall representing the unique structural characteristics of the era.
The special feature of the mandir, which is also called as Rukmini Krishna Mandir, is wide multi cusped arches along with numerous terracotta panels with intricate carvings on them. The central archway and the central mihrab are other architectural aspects of this place of religion. The bulbous outline of the domes with constructed necks, domes on octagonal drums with specially designed kalash on the top was part of the structure before destruction.
Temple decoration and elaborate art work on temple facades in the form of carvings on the stone or in any other material like terracotta plates in Bangladesh indicate the meditative mindset of the artist. Without concentration, dedication and focus, creativity of this standard is not possible. The design and the patterns of the facades of Bangladesh temples reminds us of many other art forms of Bharat.
The restoration and conservation of the temple structure is the duty of administration in spite of any kind of prevailing disputes, may it be land or any other.
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