Bishnupur Bankura

Terracotta temples of Bishnupur bankura. Places to visit in bishnupur: Madanmohan temple, Jor bangla temple, Rasmancha, Pancharatna temple and Baluchari sarees. It is a popular winter tourist destination, historical town and a municipality of Bankura District in the state of West Bengal, India.

Rasmancha Bishnupur

Bishnupur was ruled under the Gupta period by local Hindu kings who paid tribute to Samudra Gupta. Following a long period of obscurity, where the land oscillated between being a minor independent principality and a vassal state. The land is also called Mallabhum after the Malla rulers of this place. The Malla rulers were Vaishnavites and built the famous terracotta temples during the 17th and 18th century at this place. The legends of Bipodtarini Devi are associated with Malla Kings of Bishnupur. Almost a thousand years it was the capital of the Malla kings of Mallabhum, of which Bankura was a part, till their power waned during the times when Mughal Empire weakened under the last monarchs of the dynasty.

Madanmohan Temple

The patronage of Malla king Veer Hambir and his successors Raja Raghunath Singha Dev and Bir Singha Dev made Bishnupur one of the principal centers of culture in Bengal. Most of the exquisite terracotta temples for which town is justly famous were built during this period. Mrinmoyee temple of kings is treated as a valuable historic place. Apart from the unique architecture of the period, Bishnupur is also famous for its terracotta craft and its own Baluchari sarees made of tussar silk. Royal patronage also gave rise to Bishnupur Gharana school of Hindustani classical music in late 18th-century and the Bishnupur school of painting.

Pancharatna Temple

Bishnupur distance from Kolkata is 132 km, in Bankura district. It is also a seat of Crafts and Culture, the Temples of Bishnupur, is on UNESCO World Heritage Site’s tentative list since 1997. Bishnupur is reasonably well connected via roads. Due to its importance as a Tourism destination, it is basically connected to almost all major Places of Bengal. Long distance buses connect Bishnupur to places like Arambagh, Durgapur, Asansol, Kolkata etc. There are regular and frequent bus services available between Kolkata and Bishnupur. The buses usually leave Kolkata from the Esplanade bus stand. The journey takes about 4 hours and 45 minutes.

Jor Bangla Temple

Bishnupur is well-connected by rail to the rest of the country via Kharagpur and Adra. Express and mail trains ply between Kolkata and Bishnupur on a regular basis. The Rupashi Bangla Express, Aranyak Express and the Purulia Express are the most convenient trains to reach Bishnupur from Kolkata. These trains come via Kharagpur and take approx four hours to reach Bishnupur from Kolkata. Within the city of Bishnupur, private auto-rickshaws and cycle-rickshaws are most convenient mode of communication.

Recently CNG autos have been introduced plying through various parts of the Bishnupur town. These vehicles are environment-friendly, non-polluting, convenient, less time consuming and cheap mode of travel. Nearest International Airport is at Dumdum, Kolkata (Netaji Subhash International airport) which is 140 km away; a smaller private air strip at Panagarh belonging to the Indian Air Force is rarely used. A new airport in Andal has come up 90 km from Bishnupur.