01The rajas of Puthia
The Puthia family traced its fortune to a learned Brahmin of the 16th century, Vatsacharya, to whom Raja Man Singh, Akbar’s governor of Bengal, offered the estate of a rebel jagirdar. He refused it; his son Pitambar accepted, and Pitambar’s son Nilambar received the title of raja from Jahangir. The estate grew into one of the richest zamindaris of Bengal, and each generation added temples: the pancharatna Govinda temple, covered in terracotta of Krishna’s lila; the small Gopala and Jagannath temples in the Bengali char-chala and jor-bangla forms; the four-storeyed Dol Mancha where the images were swung at Holi.
02The Shiva temple on the lake
Rani Bhubanmoyee Devi built the great Shiva temple in 1823 on the bank of the Shiv Sagar. It stands on a high plinth with a central tower and four corner towers, in the manner of North Indian pancharatna temples rather than the curved Bengali roofs around it, and the black stone linga inside is among the largest in Bengal. The family left for India after 1947 and their lands were taken over, but the temples remain, several still in worship, and the Department of Archaeology has restored many of them. The Rajbari, the palace of the rajas, stands across the green.
The life of this place
- Early 17th centuryNilambar of Puthia receives the title of raja from Jahangir.
- 1823Rani Bhubanmoyee Devi builds the great Shiva temple.
- After 1947The Puthia family leaves for India; the temples pass into state care.
Puthia is about 23 km east of Rajshahi on the Natore road. The temples stand within walking distance of one another around the lakes.
