Puthia Temple Complex

Local food to try

Kacha golla
Puthia Temple Complex
Natore’s famous soft chhana sweet, easy to find along the road to Natore.
Kalai ruti
Puthia Temple Complex
Black-gram flatbread with bhorta, a Varendra-region staple.
Mangoes
Puthia Temple Complex
From May to July, sold at roadside stalls.

Where to eat

Puthia bazar
Puthia
Simple local eateries and tea stalls near the main road.
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Rajshahi or Natore town
Rajshahi, Natore
For a fuller meal, eat in either city before or after the visit.
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Where to stay

Rajshahi city — an easy day trip
Rajshahi city
Most visitors stay in Rajshahi and come out to Puthia for the day.
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Natore town
Natore
A handful of simple hotels, handy if you are heading on east.
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Culture

Puthia is still a living Hindu place, and the temples come alive at festivals. Dol Purnima, the spring festival of colours, was celebrated at the Dol Mandir in the zamindars’ time, and Rath Yatra, Durga Puja and Shivaratri draw local devotees to the temples.

History

Puthia was the seat of the Puthia zamindars, one of the oldest and richest landed families of Bengal. Over the 18th and 19th centuries the family and its widowed ranis built a remarkable cluster of temples around the village’s ponds, making Puthia one of the largest groups of old Hindu temples in Bangladesh.

The largest is the Bhubaneshwar Shiva Temple, built in 1823 by Rani Bhubanmoyee Devi on the edge of the Shiv Sagar pond, with a central spire and four corner towers. Nearby, the Pancharatna Govinda Temple is the jewel for terracotta: its walls are covered in fine plaques of gods, battles and daily life. Other temples include the Dol Mandir, a four-storeyed tower used for the Dol festival, the small Jagannath Temple, and the Chhota and Bara Ahnik temples.

At the centre stands the two-storeyed Puthia Rajbari, built in 1895 by Rani Hemanta Kumari Devi, with a colonnaded façade facing a wide field.

Tour plans

Puthia and Natore in a day

1 day

Step 1: Morning bus to Puthia
Leave Rajshahi early to reach the temples in the soft morning light.
Step 2: Shiva Temple and Dol Mandir
Start at the great Shiva temple by Shiv Sagar, then walk to the four-storeyed Dol Mandir.
Step 3: Rajbari and Govinda Temple
See the palace façade, then the terracotta of the Pancharatna Govinda Temple behind it.
Step 4: On to Natore
Catch a bus east to Natore for lunch and kacha golla.
Step 5: Natore Rajbari
Spend the afternoon among the palace ponds, then take a bus back to Rajshahi.

Plan your visit

Best time to visit

October to March, in the morning or late afternoon when the light falls on the terracotta

How to get there

About 30 km east on the Natore road. Take a Natore-bound bus, get off at Puthia and walk or take a van to the temples.

Getting around

The main temples and the Rajbari lie within easy walking distance of one another around the ponds.
A walking loop of the whole complex takes one to two hours.
Vans and rickshaws wait near the main road if you want a lift back to the bus stop.

Travel tips

These are temples, some still in worship: dress modestly and take off your shoes where asked.
Do not climb on the temples or touch the terracotta plaques — they are fragile.
Bring a zoom lens or binoculars to see the upper terracotta panels.
Summer middays are hot and there is little shade between the temples; carry water.
Puthia sits on the Natore road, so it combines well with Natore Rajbari the same day.