Vishnupur terra-cotta carved temples

This peaceful place, situated 152km west of Calcutta, has beautiful terra-cotta carved temples.

From here the Hindu Malla rulers governed the area from the late 16th century to the late 18th century.

There are over thirty brick and stone temples here dating from the 17th to 18th centuries, mostly dedicated to Radha and Krishna.

Because there is no stone in the area, the temples were built from brick and laterite. There are eight large tanks, locally known as bandhs, most of which were dug between 1657–77.

Vishnupur rose to be an important place under the Malla ruler, Bir Hambir. He was at first considered cruel, but later he became a Vaishnava (devotee of Vishnu) by the association of Shrinivasa Acarya, a follower of Shri Chaitanya.

Temples Terra-cotta reliefs adorn the outside walls of the temples, especially those made from brick. Most of the temples are decorated with beautiful panels on the walls and arches, with scenes from Krishna’s pastimes, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana. Inside the temples, you can see the sanctuary (called a thakurbari) and platform (vedi) where the deity is placed.

Admission to visit all the temples is Foreigners/Indians Rs 100/10 To hire a rickshaw for the day to visit the temple should be around Rs 100.

Most of the major temples in Vishnupur, such as the Radha-Govinda Temple, Kalachand Temple, Madhava Temple, and the Nandalala Temple, are along the south bank of the Lal-bandh, within a fort built by Muslim rulers.

The Patpur Temple is on the bank of the Krishna-bandh. There are four distinct styles. The first has a single tower. The second is a single tower resting on a square building with a curved roof. Examples of this are the Madana-Mohan, Lalji, and Radhe Shyam Temples. The third type is seen in the Shyam Raya Temple, which has five towers. The fourth type resembles two huts joined by a small tower, as seen in the Krishna Raya Temple, built in 1726.

Bir Hambir built the Rasa Mancha in 1587. It is a pyramidal structure in the center of town, where the Vaishnavite Deities from the other temples are brought in a procession on the occasion of the Rasa Festival. A passageway surrounds it.