Report of a Tour through the Bengal Provinces/Kalyâneswari, or Devisthan
KALYÂNESWARI, or DEVISTHAN.
Six or seven miles north of Barâkar, near the right banks of the Barâkar river, are some temples at a place known as Devisthan. All these appear to me of recent date—perhaps built of older materials. They are interesting, as showing that, even at a very late period, the horizontal arch was used by Hindus, as may be seen from the entrance archway of the enclosure, which is evidently built of the relics of some older structure, of which now no traces remain.
Two of the temples here are inscribed. The inscriptions are in bad order, from having been cut on a soft stone. They are in Bengali characters, and are cut in relief—an almost certain sign of their recent age. One of them mentions a Rájá's name and Kalyânakot; as the temples are known as the sthana of Devi Kalyâneswari, it appears that formerly a small fort) named Kalyânakot (kot meaning citadel), existed here. The statue of the Devi herself in the principal temple,—a large, plain, massive, pyramidal roofed, dark temple, with balustrade-shaped pillars in front,—is inscribed. The inscription is in Bengali. It reads "Sri Sri Kaiyâneswari charana parayan Srijukta Deva Nâtha Deva Sarmma."
Tradition says that a Rohni Deoghar Brahman once saw a jewelled arm rise out of the waters in the nala adjacent; he went and informed Rájá Kalaya Sinha of Kâsipur, Pachet, who came himself to see, and saw the prodigy. At night the goddess herself appeared to him in a dream, and pointing to an irregular stone, somewhat like a rude argha, said, "This is my murtti, worship it;" the Rájá accordingly caused the temple to be erected, and the stone having been duly inscribed, was installed in the temple. As the Rájás of Pachet did not reside at Kasipur till comparatively very recent times, the temples cannot be old.