Temples & Legends of Bengal
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Temples  & Legends Of India

THE TEMPLES IN HOOGHLY
In 1770, Cherinjib (Chiranjib) Bhattacharya of Guptapara composed in Sanskrit the Vidyanmodu (a) Tarangini: it treats of Hindu philosophy, and is in high repute among the natives. Raja Kalikissen of Calcutta 6   translated it into English in 1832. The village used to be surrounded by woods, which were infested by monkeys, e.g., Stavorinus mentions having seen a great number of monkeys in a wood near the village.It is said that Raja Krishna Chandra Rai procured monkeys from this place and had a ceremony of marriage performed for them atKrishnagar, inviting many pandits to the ceremony, the expenses of which amounted to about half a lakh.

The chief object of interest is a group of temples at the eastern end of the village. Ranged round a quadrangle, andenclosed within a rather high wall, are four shrines known as the temples of Chaitanyadev, Brindabanchandra, Ramchandra and Krishnachandra, all in the Bengal style of architecture. The oldest is that of Chaitanyadev, which faces east and has a door on the west; there were three cusped arches on the east, but they have been walled up, leaving a small door. Its roof is of the Jor-Bangala type, with two iron rods to represent spires. It contains the images of Chaitanya and Nityanand, the two great Vaishnava preachers of Bengal.

According to a note in the records of a local Pandit, Biseswar Rai built the temple in the reign of Akbar, and therefore apparently in the beginning of the 17th century; this claim to antiquity is supported by its thin bricks and archaic appearance. 
The shrine of Brindabanchandra is the biggest of the temples; indeed, the whole group is often called Brindabanchandra's math. Its roof is curved like that of a Bengali thatched hut and is crapped by a duplicate thereof. The entrance door and the inside of the sanctum are painted with figures of Krishna, Radha and Gopis, of
trees, foliage, etc. In the sanctum are wooden images of Krishna, Radha, Garud, Jagannath and Balaram. The finest of the group, however, is the temple of Ramchandra. It is made of red-colored bricks, and has a curved roof;  over the roof is a tower-like structure, to which access is had by a staircase.

6 Calcutta Review, vol. IV, p.415.

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