রামু

Chinishpur Kalibari (চিনিষপুর কালীবাড়ি) is one of old temples and a sacred place of worshippers in Hindu religion. So far from locals, it is almost 250 years old temple which was built by Hindu Saint Ram Proshaad (রাম প্রসাদ). He got financial support and land from a person name Ramkrishno Ray (রামকৃষ্ণ রায়) who was a Dewan (দেওয়ান) of G.P. Wize (Last Kuthial of Atkandi Nilkuthi).

He built this temple with stones & bricks. After founding this temple he got married to a local girl who was resident of this region and was daughter of another Hindu Saint named Narayan Chakrabarti. Then he stayed there beside the temple for his lifetime.

Architecture and Layout:

The exterior of this temple is decorated with flower and animal iconic figure. Total layout of this temple is in rectangular shape. In the inside of the temple, the Icon of Mother Goddess Kali is kept in North-side of the brick wall which is probably very ancient, and the Stela is made with stone. In the front side of this ancient temple, there is a another temple of Shiva. A big Banyan tree is standing just beside this temple. May be it is the same years old as this Temple is. In the western side of this temple, there is a large pond.

Festivals in Temple Premises:

This temple becomes so festive in every year at new moon of Bengali month Boishakh (বৈশাখ) and Joistho (জ্যেষ্ঠ), While a local fair is celebrated lasting for 3/4 days at the Temple premises. People from distance come to watch this local fair which is a place of extensive collection of local arts & Crafts. For the people of Hindu religion this fair is very important event and they usually don’t miss it. Another attraction of this temple is every year at the time of fair there are a huge number of billy goats is sacrificed in front of Kali Goddess to make her satisfied with the blood of animals. In course of time this tradition is losing its popularity as many rich people of Hindu Religion had left the country at the time of dividing Indian sub-continent in the year of 1947.

Present Condition:

Very recently a gigantic temple is being constructed outside of the main building of this temple & it is totally covered with the new gorgeousness. Hopefully, it will be one of the most exclusive and gigantic Kali Temples in Bangladesh. Nearly, 80 million BDT will be spent to build this Temple.

Madhnagar Rath Bari (মাধনগর রথবাড়ী) is the largest and oldest Rath Bari of this subcontinent. In 1867, the famous Zamindar Zamini Sundori Bosak of Dilalpur area in Pabna, established this Rath (Chariot in English). The owner of the Rath was the then Zamindar of Natore, Shoilobala (শৈলবালা) and Kalidashi (কালীদাসী). Once upon a time, each year according to the lunar, in the Bengali month of Ashar (আষাঢ়), people celebrated Chariot fare and rituals here. The Zamindars of Birakutsa (বীরকুৎসা) and Goyalkandi (গোয়ালকান্দি) used to send their elephants to take part and work in this Chariot. The landlord Zamini Sundori of Dilalpur in Pabna used to send all the expenses.

Since 1867 until 1947, she carried all the costs. After the partition, it had been dysfunctional. From the year 2012, the Chariot has been started again by the local community, and started rituals again. There are currently 15 acres of land in the name of the Chariot. Pintu Odhikari is responsible for maintaining the whole rituals and maintenances of Rath Bari. There is a Mandir just near to the Rath Bari where the locals perform their rituals.

মাধনগর রথ বাড়ী উপমহাদেশের বৃহৎ ও প্রাচীনতম। ১৮৬৭ সালে পাবনার দিলালপুরের জমিদার যামিনী সুন্দরী বসাক এই রথটি প্রতিষ্ঠা করেছেন। রথের মালিকানায় ছিলেন নাটোরের জমিদার শৈলবালা ও কালিদাসী। প্রতি বছর আষাঢ় মাসের তিথি অনুসারে এখানে  মাস ব্যাপী রথের মেলা ও পুঁজা অর্চনা হত। বীরকুৎসা ও গোয়ালকান্দির জমিদারের হাতি এসে রথ যাত্রায় অংশ নিত এবং রথ টানার কাজ করতো। এখানকার যাবতীয় খরচ পাবনার দিলালপুরের জমিদার যামিনী সুন্দরী স্টেট থেকে আসতো।

১৮৬৭ সাল থেকে ১৯৪৭ সাল পর্যন্ত যামিনী সুন্দরী বসাক এই ব্যায় ভার বহন করেছেন। দেশ বিভাগের পর আর কোন অনুষ্ঠান হয়নি। ২০১২ সাল থেকে স্থানীয় হিন্দু-মুসলিম মিলে আবারও রথের মেলা ও হিন্দু সম্প্রদায়ের পূঁজা অর্চনা শুরু হয়। রথের নামে বর্তমানে ১৫ বিঘা জমি আছে। রথটি রক্ষণাবেক্ষন, পূঁজা অর্চনা করছেন পিন্টু অধিকারী।

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.

The Joy kali Temple of Dhaka, is situated in a place between Thathari (ঠাটারি) Bazar and Wari. The road was named after this temple itself. Now, literally it is 24 Joy Kali Temple street. Joy Kali Temple is a Hindu temple devoted to Goddess Kali Ma for worshipping. People of Hindu religion of every age come to this temple to worship Goddess Kali. The statue of Goddess Kali is of great significance to the Hindus. The visitors and committee members of this temple gather money for occasions, where sweets are later distributed among them which is called 'Prasad'.

History:

This temple is about 400 years old, established in the Bengali year 1001. During the reign of the Nawabs, Dewan of Nawabs Tulsi Narayan Ghosh and Nabh Narayan Ghosh established this temple with the inspection of Bancharam Saint. At that time they established twenty-one statues of Shiva, Kali, Lakshmi narayan, three Shalgram Chakra, Bandurga etc. A few beautiful monuments like Pancharatna, Nabratna, temple of Shiva, guest house, were built in the house of Joy Kali. Even market named Nawabpur Joy Kali bazar, and a market situated at the south of Kaliganj hut was dedicated to Joy Kali Devi.

Present condition:

The first caretaker of this Joy Kali Devi was Bancharam Saint, the third caretaker was Panachenand, who suffered a decline, so the responsibility to serve the Devi got into the hands of Bhraman Tanyar. Later the landlords of that time seized some of the land of this temple. Starting from that time the temple started to erode, due to lack of maintenance and shortage of money. This temple was damaged during the strike of 1990’s. The temple was renovated later on by Goddess Kali’s followers. Now the temple is much smaller than it was when it was first established. The temple was burgled and valuables looted by thieves in 2010.

Architectural significance:

Inside the boundary of this temple there is basically two temples. One of the temples is of Kali Devi, the other one, which has a dome, is of Shiv. The dome was made out of plaster and is visible from outside. Locals of that area refer to this dome as the Joy Kali Temple. The front of the temple complex is a busy stop for human haulers that go into old Dhaka. The temple has tiles on the walls all around, and the floor is made out of mosaic. There are pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses printed on the tiled walls of the temple. The entrance to the temple is welcomed by a logo made of stainless steel saying 'Om'- which is a Hindu divine symbol. In front of the Kali Devi statue is a bell hanging from above, it is a ritual to ring the bell after entering the temple and before leaving.