Navratna Mandir

Jagannath Dev Mandir is one of the ancient temples in Comilla district. King of Tripura built it. It was named 'Moharaja Radha Kishor Manikuo Bahadur' during the 16th century. The gods Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra were worshiped here. Initially, the statue of gods were at Tripura temple but later it was been shifted here. Wikipedia mentioned this as Saptratna Mandir, where as the travel book writer Mustafiz Mamun has introduced this as Sotero Rotno Mandir (সতের রত্নের মন্দির). There might be a state of confusion regarding the name, but this temple is unique considering the other temples from Bangladesh.

The deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra were originally installed in a temple in Tripura from where they were subsequently shifted to this temple. The terracotta brick work of the temple is in the typical Bengal style of temple architecture. Jagannath Temple is one of the oldest temples of Comilla district. It is located two km East from Comilla town, on East Bibirbazar Road, Comilla. (5km east from Comilla dist.)

This four storied, conical shaped temple is a brick built structure, constructed on a concrete octagonal base-stone. This is the only octagonal based and shaped temple of Bangladesh, and one of its type. External wall of every floor looks like octagons and were ascended like inverted Cone. It is a single spire Temple. I believe there were so many artistic terracotta all over this Mandir , from Top to bottom. I find some of the traditional Bengal design on the outside wall of third floor- a terracotta of flower, leaves and petals. Department of Archaeology renovated outside portions of Ground and first floor. Terracotta of these two floors was ruined.

There is a rumor about this ordinary looking spiritual place. Some believes there are two more floors underground, which is filled by sedimentation from Gumti River over the years. I feel this is a weak and bogus point.

This 16th Century edifice is almost 60 feet tall. There is a tank to the West of Temple premises. That Tank could be as old as the temple. The tank is also sketched in 1863 drawing [a British Library Collecton].

Tarekeshwar Shiv Mandir is located in Natore Rajbari, near to small palace building (ছোট তরফ). This temple is as popularly known as Tarekeshwar Shiv Mandir, but the established name is Sree Sree Baba Tarekeshwar Shiv Mandir. Although this temple was established by Tara Sundari, daughter of Ordhorongeshwari Moharani Bhabani (অরধরঙ্গেশ্বরী মহারানী ভবানী); This old temple represents the ancient Indian architecture of the then King Shivnath Roy, the second son of the Great King Ram Krishno. Everyday many people come here to observe this ancient architecture. Also, people of Hindu religion come here to vow and worship to their god, Lord Shiva and offer deity.

Not only the Shiv Temple, there is also a structure of Snake with five heads named Ponchonag, statue of Lord Hanuman, and statue of Lord Shiv and Sree Krishna. People also worship before these structures to fulfill their desire. There is pond named Tarekeshwari just beside the temple, named after the temple.

Dhakeshwari National Temple is a Hindu temple in Dhaka city. It is state-owned, giving it the distinction of being Bangladesh's 'National Temple'. The name "Dhakeshwari" means "Goddess of Dhaka". Since the destruction of Ramna Kali Mandir in 1971 by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Dhakeshwari Temple has assumed status as the most important Hindu place of worship in Bangladesh.

The Dhakeshwari temple was built in the 12th century by Ballal Sen, a king of the Sena dynasty, and many say the city was named after this temple. The current architectural style of the temple cannot be dated to that period because of the numerous repairs, renovations and rebuilding which have taken place over time. It is considered an essential part of Dhaka's cultural heritage. Many researchers said that the temple is also one of the Shakti Peethas, where the jewel from the crown of the Goddess Satihad fallen. Although there is not enough historical context to establish this as a fact, researchers were directed to this site while trying to locate the particular Shakti Peetha. Since ages, the temple has been held in great importance. The original 800-year old statue was taken to Kumartuli, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. There remains the replica of original idol in Dhaka. The temple was further damaged during the Muslim mob attacks of 1989–90.

It is widely believed that the Queen, wife of King Bijoy Sen, went to Langolbond for bathing. While coming back, she gave birth to a son, known to historians as Ballal Sen. After ascending to the throne, Ballal Sen built this temple to glorify his birthplace. Legends say that Ballal Sen once dreamt of the deity covered under the jungle. Ballal Sen uncovered the deity from there and built a temple, named for Dhakeswari. Whatever the legends describe, Hindu religious consider Dhakeswari to be the presiding deity of Dhaka, which is an incarnation or form of Goddess Durga the Adi Shakti . The idol of Durga is called Dhakeswari.

Within the premises of the Dhakeswari there are temples of two types of architecture. The ancient one is of the Poncharotna Goddess Durga’s which lost its actual look after the renovation work. Bradly Bird wrote this at the beginning of this century. The present temple is two hundred years old which was built by an agent of East India Company. Most probably he had renovated the temple. Other than this there are four Shib Temples. According to hearsay, in the 16th century King Mansing built these temples by laying four Shib Lingas there. But this information seems to be unreliable. The fusion of Bangla chowchala and shikor temple is notice in the architecture of Dhakeshawri. Ratan Lal Chakraborti in an article mentioned that “ the structure and architecture of it is like a BuddhistPagoda”. He opined that it was probably a Boddist pagoda which was turned into a Hindu temple later. From this, he assumed that the temple was probably built in the 10th century.

How did Dhakeshari temple look like in the 19th century? Ridoynath Majumder described about the temple. At that time the temple was covered by jungle and in its north the Urdu road went westward towards Pilkhana and at its south west was Mirpur road. At its south there was a wood and Urdu bazaar was at the east.

Jora Shiv Mandir is located at the Sukulpotti area of Natore Sadar. It is assumed that this Shiv Temple was established by the adopted daughter of High Queen Rani Bhabani. In Sangskrit language, Shiv means happy/benevolent/kind/eminent. Also, as for a person’s name, it is meant as auspicious/ propitous. This temple is also known as Sree Sree Mohakali and Jora Shiv Mandir.

In the Bangla month of Falgun, the 14th lunar day’s night of dark fortnight is considered as the Shiv-night which is very auspicious for Hindu women. This temple holds the architectural beauty and history of many many years.The outer scenario and design can easily depict the expert artistical work and the inclination of hte then architects. every year, Hindu community celebrate very gorgeous Durga Puja in this temple.