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Jessoreswari Temple complex

The splendours by Protapaditya
TOWARDS the end of the 16th century, Protapaditya, a Hindu chieftain and one of the legendary Baro Bhuiyans (literally 12 chiefs, though they actually were 19), became the undisputed overlord of lower Bengal or Bhati, as is mentioned by Abul Fazl in his Ain-i-Akbari. The Baro Bhuiyans, though were nominal vassals of the emperor of Delhi, in reality enjoyed complete autonomy in the south and the southeast of the Gangetic delta.
The troops of the Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great, then were perpetually engaged either in campaigns against or in squashing revolts of turbulent Afghans, who had established themselves as the masters of Orissa and a part of Bengal, even after the death of Afghan
ruler of Bengal Daud Karrani. Taking advantage of the situation, the Bhuiyans dug in their swampy retreats, paid little or no tributes to the Mughals and showed of royal pomp, just short of declaring themselves independent kings, with but one exception -- Protapaditya.
Protap declared independence and with the help of Pathan Bhuiyans successfully parried a Mughal military clampdown. Apprehending follow-up attacks, by land, Protap moved his capital from Garh-Mukundapur to the water-locked Dhumghat. There he raised a formidable naval force recruiting Portuguese sailors and Arakanese pirates in his fleets. Through a series of conquests in the next few years,
he continued expanding his kingdom until the neighbouring polities accepted his superiority.
Protap as an individual was a devoted Hindu but practised secularism in matters of governance. He commissioned Pathan and Seljuk Turks to command his army. Besides temples and mosques, he also permitted Jesuit missionaries to erect the first Christian church in Bengal in 1598.
Legend has it that Protap's most trusted general was Kamal Khowaja, a Seljuk Turk fortunehunting mercenary soldier, whom the king entrusted with safeguarding his Dhumghat palace.
One night during a round of inspection of the palace guards, Kamal saw an unusual glow near
the horizon in the pitch-black sky. Taking it to be a supernatural phenomenon, the Turk hurried to the king's bedchamber, woke and told him about the vision.
Protap immediately came out to see and did see the strange illumination. He reckoned that the source of the light was in a dense forest some 20 kilometres west of the palace. The very next day he went to that place with a company of soldiers. They felled the trees and cleared the spot, and then excavated it to unearth a huge head of a touchstone statue of goddess Kali. Protap forthwith declared the idol the guardian deity of his kingdom and named her Jessoreswari. He built a temple complex for the goddess, which came to be known as Jessoreswari Temple and the area as Ishwaripur. The king vested a large area of land in the temple complex for its maintenance and to bear other expenditures including regular worship.
Over the time, King Protapaditya turned into a bloodthirsty tyrant and killed some of his close aides, uncle Raja Vasanta Roy and his sons, and to please the Arakanese pirate chief he treacherously killed the Portuguese commander of Sandwip by inviting him to his Dhumghat palace. He also the drove out Jesuit priests.
Then a gust of wind changed his fate. A strong Mughal battalion under the command of Enayet Khan marched against Protap. He was taken prisoner and his capital captured bringing an end to the Protap era.
In course of time, most of the monuments built by Protapaditya went to rack and ruin. But the temple complex of Iswaripur is still there to herald his name and fame. The two-storied temple building underwent renovation on several occasions, extensively after the most damaging cyclone of 1864. For that reason it is now difficult to read the actual style of architecture it inherits. In 1971, the Sebait (the chief priest of the temple) removed the original idol of Jessoreswari to the Indian sub-division of Bashirhat never to return it back to the temple. However, there is a replica of the deity there.
Although on the wane, the heavy high walls of the complex still speak of the temple's preMughal origin with all its glamour and glory.
Story & photo: Khasru
Choudhury