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Tales in Terracotta:

Schrezad Joya Monami Latif
^■^HE relentless sun made
I II hoi. negating the fact 4 that it was dead winter in North Bengal and as dusty as a saud bag Tlie path leading to our destination was a narrow strip of road, literally in the middle of rice fields In the distance was tlie walled outer lining of the Kantojee Mandir. ■ surrounded on all sides by the river Dhepa. However beautiful the scenery. I was quite concerned about the foolhardiness of our journey and the peril-iQtls |»>s|tKHI it IskI put us in.
Asia I can vouch for myself and i-onfldeutly say that I have seen many ajeinpie The only expression that came out of my mouth was Wow '
I walked slowly toward the nine turret terracotta vision bathed in the noon sunshine All tlie while niv mouth a silent O" I would inner h.ivv Ie
unaware that what would meet us at the other end would be a vision.
Once we actually arrived and I put nly foot into the doorway of the courtyard of the Kantojee Mapdir however, 1 forgot all my misgivings and discomfort. We Just stared at what was in front of us. in utter amazement. It was the most beautiful temple I had ever seen. Since I’ve spent nine years living in South East
ileved that such an unkempt and underdeveloped road could lead to this man made miracle. Its outside is completely covered with systematically laid vertical rows of terracotta plaques depicting the stories of the Ramayana. Maliabharatha and scenes from Hindu religious rituals and of contemporary social life from the days of wlien the temple was built.
On closer Inspection I saw
that the plaques were remarkably moulded Each woman man. elephant-, tiorse and even ' camel had been perfectly formed caught in perfect mo-Uon In back side of the tern pie is a vertical panel of intrt cateiy moulded Gods with a larger size Hanuman In the middle, outside of the panel There are also two big panels of the Goddess Durga. The scenes of everyday life has one plaque where a maiden Is having her hair combed, another where she sits with her ' shakhts . oql in the open (Yes those were fhe days) and oilier such authentic every day scenes. Everything, from the depiction of everyday life tn the Rmnayana in one plaque. Ram and Laksman are seen going off to hunt, tlie next plaque has them hunting a tiger, even the fauna of the Jungle has l»een artfully done; the Mahab harata. Is moulded tn perfect accord, to the last detail
As our group of nine stood in front of the temple in stupe fled awe. the local priest told us Kantojee s history The construction of Kantojee Man dlr was, like the construction of many a historical wonder started by King Prana to please his "true" love Ruksminl Kanta. Ultimately, however, it was finished by King Ram Nath, his son. in 1674. during the Saka Era. The four hundred years old temple stood in front of us as if untouched by time and the cruelties of man. But the priest and some of the
local live-ins at the temple told stones of how many beautiful valuable ornaments and brass statues of the Gods were stripped from the Inside of the temple by the Pakistani army In 1971 Today the Inside is closed sealed off from wors hlppers and tourists.
Almost all the temples in Bangladesh were borned by the Pakistani's. It was as if by miracle that Kantojee was spared An old. emaciated sarfhu. said to us sitting under an enormous. 100 years old rare Tomale tree (where Khrlsna played his flute! His eves were mirrors of all that lie had witnessed In his seventy years of living at Kantojee Mandir
The temple Is dedicated to Lord Khrlsna The worshippers devotion to Radha Khrlsna we saw first hand when at exactly 12 30. Radha Krishna deities were brought from Inside and the curtain la-hind which they were pul was unveiled, right In centre stage TJie priest gave the deities offerings and the worshippers, their hands to gether In supplication prayed
We stayed at Kantojee Mandir for a long time. I could not lake my eyes off it. I sat under the Tomale tree of the Sadhu and marvelled at how time had treated a monument made to worship a God and please a woman. Why to it dial SO lew people know about Kan lojee Mandiri' Why is 11 that my Journey to the temple was so difficult? (Apparently during
the rainy season one has to row there on a boat, or even, swim 1 How are we to appreci ate. study and revel in our cultural history if it is not made accessible to us"' People without history are [leople without
.their identity We have a strong history and an equally strong cultural identity Yet our gov ernments. therefore we have shown an ambiyalence for historic gems of ‘Bangladesh — Ram Sagar Lal Bager Kella among the unkempt We must push and lobby for better cul tural upkeep lest we ourselves as people become t+ie unkempt and the ignored