Char Bangla Dham

Getting there

• By air

  The nearest airport is at Kolkata, about 195 km from Murshidabad.

• By train

  Baranagar is about a couple of miles from Azimganj Railway Station. Murshidabad railway station has trains to Howrah and other Indian cities.

• By road

  State-run buses run regularly to Murshidabad from Kolkata, Burdwan, Rampurhat, Suri, Bolpur, Malda, Krishnagar and Durgapur.

Why devotees come here

Char Bangla Dham is a group of four Shiva temples at Baranagar, a village near Azimganj in Murshidabad district. Two of the four have rich terracotta facades. The group is listed as an ASI monument.

Char Bangla Dham stands at Baranagar, a village in the Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district, near Azimganj. Azimganj lies on the west bank of the Bhagirathi river, opposite Jiaganj on the east bank. Legend says Rani Bhavani wanted 108 temples built here on the shore of the Ganges, to lift the settlement to the status of Varanasi.

Rani Bhabani of Natore, now in Bangladesh, sponsored the temples in the 18th century. Between 1753 and 1760 she commissioned a group of terracotta Shiva temples at Baranagar. The river has since changed course, and many of them were lost. The four Char Bangla temples survived.

Each Char Bangla temple is an ek-bangla structure with a triple entrance, measuring 31 by 15 to 16.5 feet. The northern temple is dated to 1760. Two of the four have rich terracotta facades, one has incised plaster and the fourth is plain. They are an exquisite example of Bengal temple architecture.

Tips for your visit

• Each temple has a triple entrance, so look for the three doorways on the front.
• Country boats are available between Azimganj and Baranagar.

Questions people ask