| Temples & Legends of Bengal |
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| Temples & Legends Of India |
THE TEMPLES IN HOOGHLY |
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| The Hanseswari
temple stands further to the east, and is the largest of the three. It was completed in
1814-15 after 15 years' work; several Benares masons were employed, and the roof is of the
Benares style. It has 13 cupolas, viz., eight over the verandahs and their corners, then
four higher cupolas in the middle, and lastly a central tower (the tallest) rising 60 to
70 feet high. On the ground floor is the shrine with a verandah on each side divided into rooms. The presiding deity is Hanseswari, whose image is of nim wood, painted blue; she is seated on a lotus flower, the stalk of which springs from the navel of Siva lying prostrate. 12 ornamented arches support the verandah on the south, which forms the front. The painted ceiling, the latticework above the ceiling and the stone fountain below, has a pleasing effect, in spite of the circumscribed space. In each of the cupolas above the roof is a marble image of Siva, so that there are in all 13 images, which with the Siva in the ground floor make up the fourteen referred to in the Sanskrit inscription as Chatur- daseswar. The upper floors areaccessible through three staircases in the north verandah. The ground block, including the shrine, is 44 and half feet square; the front verandah on the south, which is called Nat-mandir, i.e., the dancing-hall, is nearly square, measuring 22' 2" by 21' 10". Though spoilt by the ground floor being divided into a number of rooms and by the cupolas being crowded too closetogether, the effect on the whole is excellent, but it is marred by recent white-washings and plasterings." ! * ! * Bengal District Gazetteers, Hooghly, by L.S.S. O'Malley, Calcutta, 1912, pp. 253-254. |
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| About Temples In Hooghly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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