| The old temples
of Burdwan suggest that this area was more devoted to the Siva- Sakti
complex. It is this area which produced in later times Ramprasad and Kamala Kanta - two
great Sadhaks of the Sakti cult and inspired poets. Their devotional songs in
Bengali still continue to be an eternal source of inspiration. Ramprasadi songs are a
class by themselves and have a special tune in consonance with the sublimity of the
thoughts. Amaragarh village, which was once the
headquarters of this particular area known as Gopabhum, has a large number of old temples
like Dugdheshwar Shiva, Mank- eshwar Mahadeva and Shivakhya Devi. The locality where the
Mankeshwar Maha- deva temple is situated has thrown out a large number of old bricks
remnants of pillars and stone images of various deities. They show the ancient religious
back ground of the area.
The village Mankar which had about 700 families of Brahmins once and the same number of
weavers only 50 years back is now a de-populated village where large holdings and lofty
buildings have been abandoned and thick jungles have crept in. At one time Mankar used to
produce
excellent silk tassar and saris known as Benarasi saris. The blacksmiths and grain dealers
of Mankar and the Tambulis -a community that grew indigo are supposed to have made lakhs
of rupees through trade. This village has now a number of temples but they are not older
than about 250 years.
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