Mahilara Sarkar Math is an ancient

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

and archaeological site located in the

Barisal District Barisal District, officially Barishal District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh, it was formerly called Bakerganj district, and established in 1797. Its headquarters is in Barisal city, which is also the headquarters of Barisal ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. It was built by a local influential man named Rupram Das Gupta during the reign of Alivardi Khan in the 18th century. The

Shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

-style monument is now protected by the Department of Archaeology and classified as an 'archaeological monument'.

History and significance

Mahilara Sarkar Math is a 200-year-old lofty temple, built between 1740 and 1756 AD, during the reign of

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

Alivardi Khan Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the fourth Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself. During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequen ...

in the Bangla Nawab Era. The temple was initially built to house

Lord Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...

. It is undoubtedly a masterpiece of Shikhara temple art, and its high monastery is similar to the Pisa Tower in Italy, as it has a slight tilt due to its construction style and damage sustained over the decades. Despite being attacked several times, during the 1971 war and by local anti-Hindu terrorists, the temple remains standing.

Architecture and features

The Math is an octagonal spire type math with repeated curved

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

, built with brick, stucco, and Terracotta patterns. The brick walls have cement-based mortar, while the stucco plaster masonry and stucco roofing add to the temple's physical features. The math is south-facing and rises to a height of about 27.43 m above a 3.84 m high octagonal base. The temple is built on a square base, over one or two drums or, most commonly, an octagonal lower structure. The lower structure is accompanied by four or more miniature spired

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

s at the corner, appearing as a " panch-ratna" or " Navaratnam" pattern influenced style. The pointed spire of the math leans slightly to the south at an angle of roughly 5.5 degrees, making it a unique example of spired or peaked temple architecture in the Indian subcontinent. The temple's tapered part is ornamented with several bow-shaped cornice decorations, ending in a peak, which are the main attraction of the math. There is a small room inside the temple where the idols are established, with an entrance on the west wall. The panel of the

segmental arch A segmental arch is a type of arch with a circular arc of less than 180 degrees. It is sometimes also called a scheme arch. The segmental arch is one of the strongest arches because it is able to resist Arch#Basic concepts, thrust. To prevent fai ...

over the entrance has numerous geometric designs, which are also present on the other side of the math. The octagonal shaft up to the cornice is divided into several panels. The interior of the temple is adorned with images of

Radha-Krishna Radha-Krishna (IAST , ) is the combined form of the Hindu god Krishna with his chief consort and ''shakti'' Radha. They are regarded as the feminine as well as the masculine realities of God, in several Krishnaite traditions of Vaishnavism. In ...

Distinctive features

Mahilara Sarkar Math has several distinctive and significant features. Its repeated bow-shaped cornice decorations are the main attraction of this Shikhara (peaked) Temple Art. The temple was probably built under the influence of European church architecture, where the octagonal

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

came into vogue and assumed a variety of terracotta patterns. There are only eight documented temples in Bangladesh with similar architectural styles. The temple's leaning feature is unique and makes it comparable to Italy's leaning Tower of Pisa. In the whole of the Indian subcontinent, there are only three tilted Mandirs, and only one is in Bangladesh, which brings major significance to the structure. The wonderful decorations give the temple an eye-catching look and notable heritage value.

References

{{Commons category, Mahilara Sarkar Math 18th-century establishments in British India Hindu temples in Barisal district Gournadi Upazila Archaeological sites in Barisal district 18th-century Hindu temples