Lingam

Kodla Math Temple was built by a Brahman in the 17th century, but is not standing the test of time very well. It's near a village named Ayodhya, about 10 km or so north of Bagerhat. This is a Hindu Moth (though it doesn't look like a regular Hindu temple) locally known as Kodla Moth as it is located at the village Kodola. It has another name, which is Ojodhdhar Moth. May be the correct spelling can be Ayodhyar Moth. It is a tall structure that has a square shaped base. Approximate height of the Moth is slightly above the 18 meters.

It has three gates at the three sides. Outer wall is totally covered with the burnt soils (or bricks) and designed as horizontal parallel lines. Each of such horizontal lines are having a foot distance in between and those are found from top to the bottom of the structure. I have found 2/3 very small terracotta on the outer side of the walls. One was probably a shape of an elephant.

It is totally unknown these days about the builder of this Moth. It had a nearly destroyed inscription around it whose meaning is still unsolved these days. Scholar people are guessing this as an edifice of 16th or 17th century.

Ramakrishna Mission and moth is a historically significant architectural monument situated at Gopibag in Motijheel, Dhaka. The temple Ramakrishna Mission is an architecture which was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 13 February 1916 and the Ramakrishna Moth was founded by Swami Brakkhanananda.In 1916 Swami Brahmananda and Swami Premananda paid their kind visit to Dhaka. On the 13 Feb. 1916, after the proper rituals Puja and Homa, Swami Brahamananda and Swami Permananda laid foundation of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission respectively.

On the same day as above Swami Premananda Laid the foundation stone of an indoor hospital with twenty beds as its service activities. In this year i.e. 1916 the Mission work was transferred to its permanent place from the rented house. After 8 months,first Governor of the East Bengal, Lord Carmichael inaugurated the opening ceremony of this medical service centre. In March of this year Dhaka Ramakrishna Mission received the affiliation of the Headquarters at Belur. The Ramakrishna Mission Authority of Belur appointed the local executive committee to manage the work. After 85 years crossing the temple had reached its dilapidated condition. The main construction work began in 2000.

24 February 2005 is a memorable day for Dhaka centre, as well as for the devotees, admirers and well-wishers, for, the newly built temple at Ramakrishna Moth, Dhaka, after 5 years work, consecrated in a glorious ceremony performed by Srimat Swami Gahananandaji Maharaj, then Senior Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order in presence of so many senior monks and brahmacharins and a large number of devotees from home and abroad. 24 February 2005 is a memorable day for Dhaka centre, as well as for the devotees, admirers and well-wishers, for, the newly built temple at Ramakrishna Math, Dhaka, after 5 years work, consecrated in a glorious ceremony performed by Srimat Swami Gahananandaji Maharaj, then Senior Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order in presence of so many senior monks and brahmacharins and a large number of devotees from home and abroad.

Architectural significance: The temple has a capacity of sitting for about 600 persons, while the height of the temple, say, 80 ft from the ground level, with a completely new and pleasing out looking both inside and outside differ from any other temple of Ramakrishna Order. It has 5 entrances. The shrine room with hexagonal view has been made in such a way that devotees can see the shrine from every side of the temple except back. The main dome is surrounding by 6 small domes with the symbols of 6 religions in their pinnacles, presenting the universality of Ramakrishna Order on the basis of Sri Ramakrishna's realization “as many faiths so many paths." The basement with an area of 5500 sft will be utilized for the purpose of a museum, casual exhibition, discourses and seminars on religions and cultures of different faiths and on topics of learning.

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.

If you come to see "Baro Awliar Mazar" (বারো আওলিয়ার মাজার) in Tetultola, Munshiganj Sadar then after leaving you will turn out to a place called Chowdhury Bari. Here you will see a beautiful but abandoned Hindu Moth named as Chowdhury Bari Moth which was sometimes used as a temple.

The Grave of Twelve Awlia is situated at Mohakali Union in Munshiganj Sadar. The Union Complex is situated at Chowdhury Bazar and the abandoned Moth/Hindu Temple is called Chowdhury Bari Moth.

Munshiganj is a district of many Hindu Moths. Most of them are established near or more than 150 years ago. The moth may be abandoned but the architectural beauty like wall drawing/terracotta is still very beautiful. Another remarkable thing is that there are plenty of birds making the place as their nests. So, almost all the time you will hear birds humming. Parrots are seen rarely in the town area but in Hindu Moths, a lots of Parrots are seen chirping.