Early modern · Hindu · Bangladesh

Kantajew Temple (Kantanagar)

Kantanagar, Rangpur (Dinajpur) · 25.7959°, 88.6683°

Krishna (Kanta) with RukminiDinajpur RajBengal navaratna terracotta
Sacred since
1704 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
1704–1722; spires lost in 1897 earthquake
patron: Maharaja Pran Nath & Ram Nath

History & significance

The finest terracotta temple of Bangladesh: every inch of its brick skin — some 15,000 plaques — narrates the epics, the Krishna lila, and the courtly life of 18th-century Bengal, from river barges to Portuguese muskets. Originally nine-spired, it lost its ratnas in the great 1897 earthquake yet remains the masterpiece of late Bengal temple art.

Sthala katha — the legend

Its panels are read like a scroll by village storytellers at the Ras Mela — the annual fair when the deity travels by palanquin to Dinajpur town, a procession running unbroken since the Raj family's vow three centuries ago.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Dinajpur Raj