Kantaji Temple

Kantaji Temple is a late-medieval Hindu temple located in the north-western part of Bangladesh. It is one of the most magnificent religious edifices belonging to the 18th century.

The temple belongs to the popular Hindu god Kanta or Krishna, and is most popular with the assemble of memorable love of Radha-Krishna in Bengal. Dedicated to Krishna and his wife Rukmini, Kantaji Temple is one of the greatest examples of terracotta architecture in Bangladesh.

The front view of Kantaji Temple. ©Photo Credit: Raw Hasan

The Making of Kantaji Temple

Maharaja Prannath of Dinajpur began its construction in 1722 AD. His adopted son Maharaja Ramnath completed it in 1752 AD in order to propitiate the consort of Rukmini in fulfillment of his father’s wish. However, in the early 20th century Maharaja Girijanath Bahadur restored it substantially, except for the missing nine spires, all of which were destroyed in an earthquake that took place in 1897.

An ornamented entrance of Kantaji Temple. ©Photo Credit: Raw Hasan

Architecture of Kantaji Temple

Kantaji temple is built on a magnificent pyramidal style with three receding terraces. It was crowned with nine ornamental ratnas (jewels) or spires on the corner of the three terraces. These gave it an appearance of a huge Ratha or an ornate chariot resting on a high plinth. It was provided with arched openings on all four sides in order to enable devotees to see the deity enshrined inside from all directions.

The temple stands in the center of an oblong court enclosed by a pilgrim shed with a corrugated tin roof. It is built on a 1.00-meter high plinth of stone. The curved cornice of the ground floor is sharply drooping at the corners. There are small square cells at each of the four corners of the ground and first floors for supporting the heavy load of the ornate octagonal corner towers above.

The temple accommodates four rectangular corridors on the ground floor around the prayer chamber. On the ground floor, there are three multi-cusped arched entrances on each side, each separated by two richly decorated brick pillars. A narrow strip of the staircase is built into the western second corridor, winds up through its dark passage to the first, second, and third stories.

A small derelict single spired temple, now overgrown with rank vegetation, stands about one hundred yards north of the main temple beyond the pilgrim shed, which is believed to have been erected by Maharaja Prannath in 1704 where he initially installed the Krisna icon, brought from Brindaban. The icon was later transferred to the ‘nava ratna’ temple when completed. It is now an abandoned temple.