Jatar Deul is located in district South 24 Parganas of the Indian state West Bengal.[1][2] This is a brick temple and is datable between the 10th and 11th century on the basis of its architecture.[1] However, this type of brick temple we can see at Nebia Khera, Uttar Pradesh.[3]
The temple is known by the name of "Jatar Deul ".[5] This brick temple is traditionally connected with an inscription (not traceable now) of one Raja Jayantachandra, purported to have been issued in 975 AD.[1] It was probably dedicated to Mahadev or Siva, who also goes by the name of Jatadhari.[5] The Archaeological Department board at the temple site places establishment around 11th century.[4] However there was no deity inside the temple.[1] The discovery of Jatar Deul dates back to the middle of the nineteenth century, when land surveyors stumbled upon a towering brick structure in the midst of the Sundarban.[4]
Consecration
What purpose it served is now a matter of conjecture.[6] There is neither a cult nor any other sculptural or inscriptional evidence available, it is also the consecration of the temple is unclear – some believe it was originally for a Buddhist structure; others see it as a building in honor of the Hindu God Shiva (Mahadev).[7]
Architecture
It towers nearly 100 ft. above the plain.[8] The entrance which is on the east is 9.5 ft. wide and is spanned by a pointed arch.[8] The inside is about 10 ft. square and the walls are about 10 ft. thick.[8] No plinth is visible and the floor is some six feet below the ground, and is reached by a flight of steps.[8]
