Report of a Tour through the Bengal Provinces/Bishanpur
BISHANPUR.
Bishanpur is famed as an old place, and certainly contains very many temples and other old remains, but their age is not such as to merit detailed notice of them. They are almost all built in the Lower Bengal style, with curved roof lines, and the ornamentation consists generally of sculptured or moulded tile-work. Some of these are very fine, and stand out the weather very well; they consist chiefly of scenes from the lives of Rama or the Pândus, but principally of Krishna, to whom, or to whose mistress, most of the temples are dedicated; the sculpture, as may be readily guessed, is not very chaste. The few photographs will convey a clearer idea of these temples than descriptions. There is also a large old fort, dating evidently to post-Muhammadan times, as evidenced by the remains of gateways which are of the Muhammadan type; in short, the place is full of remains of a certain age, not going beyond the middle of the sixteenth century Sake; they are of interest chiefly for their inscriptions, which I now proceed to notice briefly.
1. The oldest dated temple in Bishanpur is known as the Malleswar temple, the temple of Bishanpur, which has long been regarded as the oldest in Bishanpur, and as dating back to near the beginning of the Malla era, chiefly on the strength of the inscription of which Bishanpur enjoys its fame as a very ancient city; the inscription is dated clearly in Sake 928, but this is a mistake, the word Sake having through some oversight been put instead of Mallabda, and the proof of it is to be seen in the next few lines, where the temple is stated to have been built by Vira Sihha in the year Yasu Kara Hara Malla Sake, i.e., the year 928 of the Malla era. The error is so palpable, that I need not say anything further; the date corresponds to Sake 1540, there being a difference of 612 years between the two eras.
2. The next oldest dated temple is that known as Burha Râdha Syam's, which, according to the inscription, was built by Rájá Vira Hambira in the year Malla Sake 949, in the reign or kingdom of Rájá Vira Sinha; there is also mention of Rájá Raghunatha Sinha. The date, 949 Mallabda, is seen from other inscriptions dated both in the Malla and in the Sake eras to correspond to Sake 1561, there being a difference of 612 years between the two eras.
3. The next temple, known as Kista Raya’s Jor Bangla, is dated in Malla Sake 960 or 961, the unit figure being somewhat doubtful; the date is also given at length in the Sake era. The Rájás mentioned are Sri Vira Hambira Naresu and Sri Raghunatha Sinha; the date in Sake era corresponds to 1572 or 1573.
4. The next in point of antiquity is the temple known as Kala Chand’s; the inscription mentions Sri Vira Hambira Naresha Sunurdá Dana Nripa Sri Raghunâtha Sinha; it is dated in Malla Sake 962, corresponding to 1574 Sake.
5. The next in age is a nameless temple dated in 964 Malla era; it mentions Malladhipa Sri Raghunâtha and Nripa Sri Vira Sinha; the date corresponds to Sake 1576.
6. The next is the temple known as Murali Mohan's; it is stated in the inscription to have been built by the wife of Vira Sinha, the mother of Durjana Sinha, in the year 971 Mallabda; the date is also given at length as Shasti Sapta Sebandhi of Malla Sake, which, from other inscriptions which are dated both in the Malla and in the Sake eras, is seen to correspond to Sake 1583.
7. Contemporaneous with this is a nameless temple, the inscription of which mentions the names of Raghunâtha, Malinâtha, and Rájá Vira Sinha; it is dated the same as the last one, viz., Mallabda 971, or Sake 1583.
8. A dilapidated, nameless temple comes next in order; it is dated in 979 Mallabda, and the date is written at length as Nara Shaila Anka Malla Sake; the date corresponds to Sake 1591. It was built by a Brahman, Sita Ráma Sarmmana, in the reign of Vira Sinha.
9. The next in age as known is Madana Mohan's temple, built by Sri Masvajarna Bhumipati in the year 1000 of Mallabda Kála, the son of Radha Vrija Rajananda (son of king); the date corresponds to Sake 1612.10. The next is the one known as Dol Govinda's temple; the inscription mentions Sri Gopala Sinha, and another name now illegible; the date is given as Mallabda 1032, corresponding to Sake 1644.
11. Next in order is Máyá Burhiya's temple, near the Ras Mancha, built in Mallabda Muni Veda Khenduganete in Mágha by Sri Radharuja Nayarendra; the date is also given in figures, as 1040 Malla era corresponding to 1652 Sake.
12. Contemporaneous with this is the broken Jor Bangla, built by Gopala Sinha, the son of Chaitanya Chandra, dated Mallabda 1040, corresponding to Sake 1652.
13. Next is the Hijra Párá temple, dated in San 946 and Sake 1661. The San is probably the Bengali San or some local era; the difference is 715 years.
14. The next is Radha Syam's temple. The inscription mentions the famous Chaitanya and a Radha Syama Nripendra; it is dated in 1680 Sake.
15. The next is the one known as Radha Madhava's temple, built by the son of Mahima Sinha, Krishna Sinha's wife, Churamani, in San 1043 Sál, which, adopting the difference (715 years) found from the doubly-dated temple of Hijra Párá noticed above, will correspond to Sake 1758.
16. The next is a nameless dilapidated temple, dated in Sake 1793 and San 1238, the latter evidently an error, if the era be the same as that of the Hijra Párá temple.
The Nanda Lál temple is inscribed, but not dated.
From these temples, and the inscriptions at Pachet and at Chátná, we have the following:—
1476.—Hámira or Konaha Utara Rájá, reigning king, from Chátná inscription.
1540–1561.—Vira Sinha reigning, but in 1561 Vira Hambira and Raghunâtha mentioned as princes.
1572–1574.—Vira Sinha not mentioned, probably dead; Vira Hambira reigning; Raghunâtha mentioned.
1576–1583.—Vira Hambira not mentioned; Raghunâtha probably reigning, Vira Sinha II mentioned.
1583.—Raghunâtha not mentioned, therefore probably died that year; Vira Sinha reigning.
1583–1657.—Long reign of Vira Sinha II, as the Pachet inscription dated 1657 mentions him.
The subsequent names appear to have no order or regularity: probably after the long reign of Vira Sinha, his kingdom got split up among the grown-up members of his family.
Among the remains at Bishanpur I must not omit to notice the very curious pyramidal structure known as the Ras Mancha; a photograph of it has been taken.