Temple of Bankim's characters rebuilt, to reopen soon

The temple of Devi Choudhurani and Bhawani Pathak, which resembled a pagoda, was gutted the night of February 16, 2018

Idols being made for the Devi Choudhurani temple in Sikarpur, Jalpaiguri district, that is set to reopen early next month: Telegraph picture

TT   |   Jalpaiguri   |   11.10.21: The temple of Devi Choudhurani and Bhawani Pathak, characters penned by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in his 1884 novel Devi Choudhurani, which was gutted in 2018, has been rebuilt and will reopen its gates to people at Sikarpur of Rajganj block in Jalpaiguri district next month.

For decades now, denizens of Sikarpur have been worshipping Devi Choudhurani and her associates as divinities in the temple located on a serene tea estate.

However, on the night of February 16, 2018, the temple, which resembled a pagoda, as well as its idols made of wood, were gutted in a blaze.

Then tourism minister Gautam Deb had taken up the task to rebuild the temple and make new idols from wood. The parks and gardens wing of the state forest department was assigned the job.

Since then, a team of sculptors has been making the idols. A new temple building has come up on the same site.

“We have set November 4 as the target to reopen the temple, Kali Puja day. Sculptors have confirmed that idols will be ready then. I will visit Calcutta and request chief minister Mamata Banerjee to inaugurate the temple,” said Khageswar Roy, Trinamul MLA of Rajganj.

On Friday, officials of tourism and forest departments visited the workshop of Biswajit Ghosh, the sculptor, along with the MLA. “If everything goes right, we will host a puja at the temple that day (November 4). People of Sikarpur and nearby have been eagerly waiting (for the temple) for over three years,” Roy said.

The sculptor said they had almost finished the job.

He also added that along with Devi Choudhurani and Bhawani Pathak, idols of Rangalal (one of Devi’s associates), Ganga Devi and Teesta Buri (local deities venerated in the region) would be reinstated in the new temple.

“In all, we are readying 10 idols,” said sculptor Ghosh.

A researcher in Jalpaiguri said the temple, because of the uniqueness of idols, would also draw several visitors, both researchers and pilgrims, from across north Bengal and other parts of the state. “This is a one-of-its-kind temple where one can find characters from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel worshipped as gods. Devi Choudhurani was written soon after Ananda Math in 1882, a narrative of sanyasi vidroh (the uprising of monks against British rule),” the researcher added.

The reopening of this temple would boost religious tourism in Jalpaiguri district, said officials of state tourism department.

“We are trying to develop a religious circuit here. Once this temple is opened, it will surely help us to draw more visitors as people are interested because of religious as well as historical reasons,” said Jyoti Ghosh, a joint director of tourism posted in Siliguri.