Temple to Love

Pika Ghosh

Description

Edward C. Dimock, Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities, American Institute of Indian Studies (2005)

"[A]n excellent analytical study of a sensationally beautiful type of temple. . . . This work is not just art historical but embraces . . . religious studies, anthropology, history, and literature." —Catherine B. Asher

"[A]dvances our knowledge of . . . Bengali temple building practices, the complex inter-reliance between religion, state power, and art, and the ways in which Western colonial assumptions have distorted correct interpretation. . . . A splendid book." —Rachel Fell McDermott

In the flux created by the Mughal conquest, Hindu landholders of eastern India began to build a spectacularly beautiful new style of brick temple, known as Ratna. This "bejeweled" style combined features of Sultanate mosques and thatched houses, and included second-story rooms conceived as the pleasure grounds of the gods, where Krishna and his beloved Radha could rekindle their passion. Pika Ghosh uses art historical, archaeological, textual, and ethnographic approaches to explore this innovation in the context of its times. Includes 82 stunning black-and-white images of rarely photographed structures.

Published in association with the American Institute of Indian Studies

Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration

Introduction
1. Desire, Devotion, and the Double-Storied Temple
2. A Paradigm Shift
3. Acts of Accommodation
4. Axes and the Mediation of Worship
Epilogue: A New Sacred Center

Glossary of Architectural Terms
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Buildings
• Asian Studies
• Religious
• HISTORY
• Religión
• South Asia
• General officer
• South
• Building
• History of Asia
• History of religions
• Hinduism
• Religion
• General
• Asia
• India
• Architecture

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 20 avril 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253023537
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Contemporary Indian Studies
Published in association with the American Institute of Indian Studies
Susan S. Wadley, Chair, Publications Committee/general editor
AIIS Publications Committee/series advisory board
John Echeverri-Gent
Brian Hatcher
David Lelyveld
Martha Selby
Books in this series are recipients of the
Edward Cameron Dimock, Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities
and the
Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences
awarded by the American Institute of Indian Studies and are published with the Institute s generous support .
A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book .

This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders
800-842-6796
Fax orders
812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail
[e-mail]
2005 by Pika Ghosh
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ghosh, Pika, date
Temple to love : architecture and devotion in seventeenth-century Bengal / Pika Ghosh.
p. cm. - (Contemporary Indian studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-253-34487-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Temples-India-Bengal. 2. Architectural terra-cotta-India-Bengal. 3. Terracotta sculpture, Indic-India-Bengal. 4. Architecture-India-Bengal-17th century. 5. Architecture and religion. I. Title. II. Series.
NA6007.B4G55 2005
726 1 09541409032-dc22 2004016533
1 2 3 4 5 10 09 08 07 06 05

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration
Introduction
1 Desire, Devotion, and the Double-Storied Temple
2 A Paradigm Shift
3 Acts of Accommodation
4 Axes and the Mediation of Worship
Epilogue: A New Sacred Center
Glossary of Architectural Terms
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
All photographs are by the author unless noted otherwise; drawings are by G. Murugan, The Landscape Company, Bangalore, India .
Illustrations are grouped at the end of each chapter.
Introduction
0.1. Map of South Asia Showing Major Sites Discussed
0.2. Map of Bengali Cultural Region
0.3. South Fa ade, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
0.4. Temple No. 4, Barakar
0.5. Radha Ballabh Temple, Krishnanagar
0.6. South Fa ade, Keshta Ray Temple, Vishnupur
0.7. Kala Chand Temple, Vishnupur
0.8. Murali Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
0.9. Radha Vinod Temple, Vishnupur
0.10. South Fa ade, Madan Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
0.11. Radha Shyam Temple Compound, Vishnupur
0.12. Temple-Types of Bengal
0.13. East Fa ade, Keshta Ray Temple, Vishnupur
0.14. Domestic Hut, Vishnupur
0.15. Temples No. 1 and 2, Barakar
0.16. Celebration of Ratha at Madan Gopal Temple, Vishnupur
0.17. European Ships, West Fa ade, Keshta Ray Temple, Vishnupur
0.18. Dedicatory Inscription, South Fa ade, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
Chapter 1
1.1. Central Upper Pavilion, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
1.2. Terra Cotta Panel Depicting Kirtan , Central Upper Pavilion, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
1.3. Gokul Chand Temple, Gokulnagar
1.4. Central Upper Pavilion, Gokul Chand Temple, Gokulnagar
1.5. Plan of Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
1.6. Kalanjay Shiva Temple, Patrasayer
1.7. Ratha Procession, Madan Gopal Temple, Vishnupur
1.8. Priest Sushanta Mukhopadhyay Attending upon Madan Mohan and Radha during the Annual Celebration Commemorating the Arrival of the Saint, Srinivas, Who Initiated the Vaishnava Transformation of the Region, Madan Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
1.9. Priest Subrata Pujari Carrying Madan Mohan from the Altar to His Dining Room, Madan Mohan Temple, Calcutta
1.10. Panel Depicting Double-Storied Temple, South Fa ade, Shyam Ray Temple
Chapter 2
2.1. Tantipara Masjid, Gaur
2.2. Qadam Rasul, Gaur
2.3. Goaldi Masjid, Sonargaon
2.4. Jami Masjid, Bagha
2.5. Masjid at Kushumba
2.6. Jami Masjid, Atiya
2.7. Egaroshindur, Sadi s Mosque
2.8. Adina Masjid, Hazrat Pandua
2.9. Motichura Masjid, Rajnagar
2.10. Ruin, Kulut
2.11. Domestic Hut, Birbhum
2.12. Domestic Hut, Birbhum
2.13. Plan of Keshta Ray Temple, Vishnupur
2.14. Porch Ceiling, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
2.15. Eklakhi Mausoleum, Hazrat Pandua
2.16. Jami Masjid, Salban
2.17. Terra Cotta Wall Panels, Jami Masjid, Bagha
2.18. Jami Masjid Interior, Bagha
2.19. Court Scene, South Fa ade, Keshta Ray Temple
2.20. Tiger Taming, South Fa ade, Keshta Ray Temple
Chapter 3
3.1. Radha Damodar Temple, Ghutgeriya
3.2. Radha Damodar Temple Doorway, Ghutgeriya
3.3. Mathurapur Deul, Madhukeli
3.4. Terra Cotta Ornamentation, Mathurapur Deul, Madhukeli
3.5. Ratneshvar Temple, Jagannathpur
3.6. Malleshvar Shiva Temple, Vishnupur
3.7. Jadab Ray Temple, Jadabnagar
3.8. Terra Cotta Ornamentation of South Fa ade, Madan Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
3.9. Nandakishor Temple, Dvadasbari
3.10. Malla Estate Garden Pavilion, Vishnupur
3.11. Family of Shiva, North Porch, Shyam Ray Temple
3.12. Goddesses, West Porch, Shyam Ray Temple
Chapter 4
4.1. Worshippers Gathered in the Courtyard, North-South Axis, Madan Gopal Temple, Vishnupur
4.2. Plan of Madan Mohan Temple Compound, Vishnupur
4.3. Plan of Gokul Chand Temple Compound, Gokulnagar
4.4. Natmandir , Madan Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
4.5. Natmandir , Gokul Chand Temple, Gokulnagar
4.6. Priestly Activities in the Kitchen, East-West Axis, Gokul Chand Temple, Gokulnagar
4.7. Plan of Madan Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
4.8. Plan of Gokul Chand Temple, Gokulnagar
4.9. Plan of Radha Madhav Temple, Vishnupur
4.10. North Sanctum Wall, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
4.11. West Sanctum Wall, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
4.12. Images of Chaitanya and Nityananda, Altar on North-South Axis, Radha Shyam Temple, Vishnupur
4.13. Image of Krishna as Radha Shyam, Altar on East-West Axis, Radha Shyam Temple, Vishnupur
4.14. Kirtan Performance, South Fa ade, Madan Mohan Temple
4.15. Drummers, South Fa ade, Madan Mohan Temple
4.16. Blind Doorway, North Porch, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
4.17. South Fa ade, Lower Story, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
4.18. Wall Frieze, East Fa ade, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
4.19. Culmination of the Mahabharata , South Entrance, Madan Mohan Temple
4.20. Bamboo Frame of Hut, Outskirts of Vishnupur
4.21. Mihrab , Tantipara Masjid, Gaur
4.22. Mihrab , Jami Masjid, Bagha
4.23. Mihrab , Jami Masjid, Kushumba
4.24. Central Mihrab , Sadi s Mosque, Egaroshindur
4.25. South Doorway into Sanctum, Radha Vinod Temple, Vishnupur
4.26. South Doorway into Sanctum, Madan Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
4.27. Animal-Headed Motif, Madan Mohan Temple, Vishnupur
4.28. Rasamandala , South Fa ade, Shyam Ray Temple, Vishnupur
4.29. Krishnalila Panels, South Fa ade, Keshta Ray Temple, Vishnupur
Epilogue
5.1. Govindadeva Temple, Vrindavan
5.2. Laterite Ratha , Vishnupur
Acknowledgments
The writing of this book was as humbling an experience as it was exhilarating. This project would not have been possible without the assistance of several institutions. The research and writing of the dissertation was funded by a Social Science Research Council Dissertation Research Grant, an American Institute of Bangladesh Studies Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, and a School of Arts and Sciences Fellowship and Schapiro Weitzenhofer Fellowship from the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequent revisions were facilitated greatly by an American Institute of Indian Studies Senior Fellowship, a J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship in the History of Art and Humanities, and at the University of North Carolina from a Junior Faculty Development Grant, Research and Study Leave, and grants from the University Research Council and the College of Arts and Sciences.
Various people and organizations in Bangladesh made the research possible. Institutional support was provided by the Government of Bangladesh Department of Archaeology and the field museums, particularly at Mahasthangarh. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to Perween Hasan, who has always been a role model, a mentor, and a friend. Susan Lee, Khaled Ashraf, Mrs. Amina Chowdhury, and Dr. Rokiya Kabir assisted in various ways. In India I am grateful to the Archaeological Survey of India for the generous access to monuments provided by Mrs. Kasturi Gupta Menon, Mr. Bimal Bandopadhyay of the Bengal Circle, and Shekhar Datta, Bholanath Chatterjee, and the many members of the Vishnupur Subdivision. I thank Chittaranjan Dasgupta, Secretary of the Vishnupur Sahitya Parishad, for his insights into terra cotta iconography, and his family, who recounted the t