Laxmi-Janardan & Damodar Temples of Bali-Dewangunj, Bengal.

Bengal had a flourishing Vaisnav culture or Krishna Bhakti in that region of Bengal two centuries back. Laxmi-Janardan Temple & Damodar Temples of Bali Dewangunj are proof of it.

  Laxmi-Janardan Temple (1747)




Laxmi Janardan Temple of Bali-Dewangunj is dedicated to Bhagvan Vishnu and Godess Laxmi and Shri Krishna. Bali Dewangunj is a non-descript village in the Arambagh subdivision of Hooghly district.   Bali, in this case, is the name of the village, while Dewangunj is the name of the adjacent market which was set up by the “Dewan” (minister) of the Maharaja of Burdwan.

It is identified as having been built by Dalal family. It is said to have been “Pancha-ratna” temple built in 1747, but the four corner turrets appear to have been almost shorn off.

The Lakshmi Janardan temple may have been very elegant in its prime but now it is in a dilapidated state.



The Damodar Temple (1822)

The Damodar Temple is dedicated to childhood activities of Shri Krishna. It was built by Ram Hari Ghosh, in 1822.

The Damodar Temple is still under the stewardship of the Ghosh family. The Ramakrishna Mission had offered to restore the temple at their expense some years ago. But like all old property in Bengal, the temple too had many “shoreek”, or co-owners, and not all of them agreed to this. The feared that this would lead to the temple being taken over by the Ramakrishna Mission. Thus, no restoration work has happened here.

 

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