Paharpur, Pandua And Bishnupur: Search For Architecture Commonality In Bengal

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to search for Architectural commonality for a period from Seventh to Seventeenth Century CE in the region of Bengal. The region ‘Bengal’ is used with reference to the present West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh. We explore both the domestic and Monumental Architecture that were built in this region. Three different geographical sites of Paharpur, Pandua and Bishnupur are selected within the Bengal region, of different periods and with a different religious dominance to search a commonality in Architecture. The site of Paharpur (Seventh -Twelfth Century CE) lies currently in Bangladesh and was once a flourishing Buddhist monastery. The site of Padua currently in Malda district of West Bengal, India was the capital of Bengal Sultanate (Twelfth Century-Sixteenth Century CE). The site of Bishnupur lies in Bankura district of West Bengal, India and is known as temple town dotted with a large number of temples, popularly referred as Bengal style temples. This paper explores the bonding thread of Architecture that kept the culture alive in Bengal during these periods of transition. Later on we discuss about the new temple architecture that evolved in Bengal which developed in a syncretic way. We also try to correlate other similar transformation in the sub-continent where the form and construction in visual form was transformed while experimenting with different material.