Located on the eastern side of the Rajbari temple complex in Ambika Kalna, the Krishna Chandra temple was constructed in 1751 CE by Raja Tilok Chandra in the name of his mother Lakshmi Kumari Devi. He was also responsible for the Vijay Vaidyanath temple which is located immediately to the north.
There are only five Panchabimsati Ratna temples in West Bengal and three of them are located in Ambika Kalna (Lalji Temple, Krishna Chandra Temple and Gopalji Temple) of which two are here in the Rajbari temple complex. Krishna and Radha are worshipped here by the locals daily.
This Panchabimsati Ratna temple consists of three stories, with three pinnacles at each of the four corners of the first storey (3 x 4 = 12). Two pinnacles at each corner of the second storey (2 x 4 = 8). One pinnacle at each of the 4 corners of the third storey (1 x 4 = 4) and finally a single central pinnacle. So the total number of pinnacles totals 25 (12 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 25). Although there are many comparisons with the Lalji temple also in this complex, the Krishna Chandra temple has a square first storey as opposed to the Lalji Temple that has an octagonal first storey.
Aside from being a rare Panchabimsati Ratna temple, the Krishna Chandra temple is best known for showcasing some wonderful terracotta panels, mostly in quite good condition. As is typical for an 18th century terracotta temple in Bengal, the scenes are a mix of spiritual and secular, with the most complex depictions appearing in horizontal bands towards the base of the temple around the walls and columns.
In addition to documenting a “wider view” of these panels, I have focused in on a few below that I have managed to specifically identify. I’m sure there are many more that some of my readers could identify, so please do so if you feel compelled, and help me complete the picture (quite literally!).
Please click on any of the images to view them in a larger format.
In the above panel, Brahma returns to Krishna the cattle and herd boys that he had hidden in a cave. Krishna is often depicted playing the flute in this scene before the four-headed Brahma, who bows down acknowledging Krishna’s superiority. In this example we have Brahma superimposed twice in the same panel, standing up and then bowing. The herd boys and animals are shown within a box-like compartment showing their heads. The same scene on other Bengali temples sometimes shows the herd boys and cattle hidden beneath rocks, sometimes shown as interlocking curves.
The killing of Putana (panel above) is the first episodes of a series in which Krishna kills demons who threaten the welfare of the villagers. Putana is the ogress who feeds on young babies. Krishna sucks at her breast until she falls
down dead. This scene is particularly depicted on base friezes of seventeenth and eighteenth century temples, the ogress is shown as an enlarged reclining figure, the baby Krishna at her breast.
Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born in the prison of his maternal uncle Kamsa, the vicious ruler of Mathura. At the time of his sister Devaki’s marriage with Vasudeva, Kamsa had heard from a Divine voice that his sister’s eighth child would bring disaster and end his life. Hearing this, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva soon after their marriage and killed seven of her children as they were born.
When Devaki gave birth to her eighth child, Vasudeva witnessed a miracle. The doors of the prison cell, which were all locked and protected by heavily armed guards, were open and unguarded. Vasudeva took the child out of the prison without any difficulty. In the central panel above we can see Vasudeva carrying the new-born Krishna towards some guards (their faces appearing at windows, one appears to be lying down, sleeping).
It was a dark night with heavy rain, and the flooded Yamuna waves rose high. A thousand-headed serpent, the great Adi-shesh, appeared suddenly and raised his hood to form an umbrella to protect Vasudeva and the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu – the infant Krishna – from the heavy rains. There was another miracle when the river Yamuna lowered its water providing a smooth path for Vasudeva to carry the newborn safely to Gokul, to his friend Nanda’s house. Centre right of the same narrative panel, we can see Vasudeva dipping the baby into the river Yamuna to make the waters fall. Also note the appearance of a canine-like animal, possibly a jackal, which frequently accompanies Vasudeva.
Nanda’s wife Yashoda had also given birth, to a girl child. Vasudeva exchanged the children and brought the baby girl back to prison. On the right of the panel we can see Yashoda and Vasudeva both holding babies, I’m not sure if the switch has taken place at this point.
Krishna killing the crane and python demons is a story depicted on base friezes and wall panels of the earliest temples (Haripurgarh), and are especially characteristic of eighteenth century temples. In fighting the crane demon, Bakasura, Krishna is shown forcing open the long sharp bill of the enlarged crane that strides toward him, sometimes with fluttering wings. The python demon, Aghasura, depicted with an enlarged coiled or looped body, is killed when Krishna punches the head of the demon, sometimes even plunging his hand down the demon’s throat.
The above scene is a very common on terracotta temples of Bengal. A popular episode from the story of Krishna’s youthful years at Vrindavan, known as Gopi Vastraharana (‘theft of the gopi’s clothes’). It recounts his playful theft of the clothes of the female cowherds, the gopis, who had left their clothes on the Yamuna River bank while bathing. Krishna placed them high in the branches of a tree, in which he is seen perched, daring the gopis to venture from the water. Metaphorically, this story serves to convey the power of devotion, to stand vulnerable before one’s God, Krishna hiding up the tree with clothes of the gopis.
In the above panel we can see the gopis standing in the water begging for their clothes to be returned, one is even trying to climb the tree while others remain almost fully submerged in the water with just their heads above the surface. Krishna is playing his flute, which seems to have attracted peacocks into the tree.
The subjugation of the serpent Kaliya is a popular motif, particularly in eighteenth and nineteenth century temples. Krishna is usually depicted as dancing on the hoods of the serpent demon, surrounded by the wives of the demon who
have female torsos, their hands brought together in reverential salute. Occasionally the serpent demon has a coiled body or surrounds Krishna roughly in a circle (neither the case in this example).
On the outer corners of the temple where the walls meet are vertical friezes, known as mrityulata (death-vine or creeper of death). A mrityulata is a vertical terracotta panel containing a vertical series of human and animal figures, each poised to attack the figure below. The same panel is then sometimes repeated running the whole length of the temple side, or the scenes are jumbled up as we see here. These mrityulata panels are almost identical to the ones that can be seen at Lalji temple, also a Panchabimsati Ratna temple in the Rajbari complex.
Scholars believe these vertical rows of figures have their origins in the architecture of wooden chariots constructed in Bengal. Chariots were constructed with vertical panels at the outer corner of the main body of chariots consisting of vertical rows of human and animal figures, which is called a “Barsha” panel. As the builders of chariots and temples were from the same “Sutradhar” or Carpenter community, the pattern in the chariots was later assimilated in Bengal temple architecture.
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