BAHULÁRÁ.
The finest brick temple in the district, and the finest though not the largest brick temple that I have seen in Bengal, is the one at Bahulárá, on the right bank of the Darikeswara river, 12 miles from Bánkurá; the temple is of brick, plastered; the ornamentation is carefully cut in the brick, and the plaster made to correspond to it. There are, however, ornaments on the plaster alone, but none inconsistent with the brick ornamentation below. I conclude, therefore, that the plaster formed a part of the original design; the mouldings of the basement are to a great extent gone, but from fragments here and there that exist, a close approximation can be made to what it was; some portions are, however, not recoverable; the drawings or photographs give the necessary details.
The present entrance is not the original old one, but is a modern accretion, behind which the real old doorway, with its tall, triangular opening of overlapping courses, is hidden. This old opening is still to be seen internally; it consists of a rectangular opening, 41 courses of bricks in height, over which rise the triangular portion in a series of corbels, each 5 courses in depth; the width of the opening is 4 feet 10 inches; there is no dividing sill, and from the façade of the temple it is evident that the cell, with its attached portico in the thickness of the wall itself, stood alone without any adjuncts in front; there are, however, the remains of a mahamandapa, which was added on in recent times, but it is widely different in construction and in material to the old temple, and is probably not so old as the British rule in India.
The object of worship inside is named Siddheswara, being a large lingam, apparently in situ. I conclude, therefore, that the temple was orginally Saivic. Besides the lingam there are inside a naked Jain standing figure, a ten-armed female, and a Ganeça; the Jain figure is clear proof of the existence of the Jain religion in these parts in old times, though I cannot point to the precise temple or spot which was devoted to this sect.
The temple had subordinate temples disposed round it in the usual manner; there were seven round the three sides and four corners, and one in front, the last being most probably a temple to Nandi, the Vâhana of Siva; the whole group was inclosed within a square brick inclosure; subordinate temples and walls are equally in ruins now, forming isolated and long
