Sat Deul, Towering Brick Temple, Memari, Burdwan District, West Bengal

Sat Deul, Towering Brick Temple

Memari, Burdwan District, West Bengal

Stone has always been in short supply in the vast flood plains of Bengal. Hence the architects had to restore to other substitute. As clay was easily available the burnt clay bricks soon became a good substitute of stone.

Sat Deul, near Memari, Burdwan District

This gave rise to a new form of temple architecture and lead to the construction of elaborately decorated terracotta temples. Terracotta literally means baked earth in Italian but West Bengal has the distinction of housing some of the finest terracotta art in the world.

Sat Deul

Sadly brick temples have a shorter life span than its stone counterpart had only a handful of these brick temples date back to the beyond the 12 ^th century.

These pre Islamic deuls include the Jatar Deul, Ichai Ghosher Deul, Siddheshwar Temple at Onda, Sun Temple at Sonatpal, Sat Deul, etc.

All these temples follow the Oriya Rekh Deul form of architecture and are topped with curvilinear tower. Sat Deul, literally meaning seven temples, is a towering brick structure with a curvilinear tower.

It is located just east of the Durgapur expressway and is approachable via the Memari – Tarakeswar Road. Chanchai, on the Howrah – Burdwan (chord line) is the nearest railway station and is located about 3.5 km from the Sat Deul. (Google map location)

Decorative brick work at Sat Deul

Presently Sat Deul is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and is within a large walled complex.

The complex is complete with manicured lawns, flower beds and paved pathways. The entire complex along with the temple is very well maintained.

Built is Odiya Rekh Deul style the temple follows the pancharath style and is crowned with a curvilinear tower.

The entrance to the inner sanctum is through a narrow corbelled arch gateway. The inner sanctum is empty and nothing much can be said about the origin of the temple. Acording to experts the temple is datable to the 10 – 11 ^th century AD.

Sat Deul, near Memari, Burdwan District

The exterior walls of Sat Deul  contains elaborate brick work decoration of floral and geometric patterns, sadly most of it has been lost. Jaina sculptures found at the place may indicate that it belonged to the Jaina faith, but there are no concrete evidences.

Visit to Sat Deul can be clubbed with a visit to Baithakkhana Amadpur and the temple town of Ambika Kalna. Also for people heading for the popular tourist spot of Santinekatan or Bolpur can make a short detour to Sat Deul.

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