Temple Architectural Heritage: Sat Mondir of Feni
Temple Architectural Heritage, Sat Mondir, are located in Banshpara, west of the town of Chagalnaiya Upazila in Feni district, southeastern part of Bangladesh. These ancient temples are locally known as Sat math. Many people also know these temples as Sat math Bari.
Sat Mondir refers ‘seven temples’ with high peak located side by side at the same place. However, there are two other small temples along with the seven temples. The total number of temples here, small and large, is 9. The temples here are mainly Cheeta temples or Memorial temples.
Three temples are located side by side in a row and four temples in the other row at a right angle. The four temples in the southern row are square ground plan and the three temples in the eastern row are built on an octagonal ground plan.
The temples gradually narrow upwards from a height of one story (about 10 to 15 feet). The end of the temple peaks is decorated with a miniature pitcher design. The square-shaped temples have four small peaks, one at each corner of the peak in the middle. This makes these four temples ‘Pancharatna temples’. Each temple has beautiful decorations. Lime, concretes and terracotta bricks are used to build this ancient monument of the Peaky architectural style.
These temples of the peaky architectural style in Feni district have quite similar architectural structures to the Mahilara Math in Barishal district, Jatra Munir Math and Satyaram Majumdar Math in Chandpur district, and Beolain Math and Dhananjay Math in Cumilla district. However, it is not yet known whether such a cluster of temples or maths with nine temples located side by side at the same place exists elsewhere in Bangladesh.
In this era of globalization, various heritage places and monuments are at risk of destruction due to the impact of modern development work, and war and different conflicts. Special plans are needed at the local and national levels to protect the Sat Mondir, which is one of the archaeological sites, of Feni district from the future threats.
There is a rectangular pond about 100 meters long and 80 meters wide in the northwest corner of the Sat Mondir. It is locally known as Poddar Pond. This ancient pond is known to be a contemporary of the Sat Mondir. Another temple with a high peak may be seen in the northwest corner of the pond.
The number of temples in the Sat Mondir Bari, including this temple, is 10. It may be possible to develop an archeological tourism site in Feni district with government sponsorship, including the seven temples and other adjacent temples and the pond.
It is known from various sources that in the 20th century CE, there was a landlord named Binod Bihari in Chagalnaiya, Feni. The Sat Mondir Bari is the house established by this landlord or his ancestors (?). It is also known that after the partition of the country, Binod Bihari moved to Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, India, in 1948 CE. Currently, local residents are living in the house. These seven temples were probably built in different periods between 19th and 20th century CE in memory of the ancestors of landlord Binod Bihari.
Since 2002 CE, these temples of Feni district have been included in the list of protected antiquities of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh as national heritage under the name of Sat Math. The Department of Archaeology under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs is responsible for the supervision and protection-conservation of these temples.
How to visit the Sat Mondir?
The Sat Mondir is located at the southwest corner of Chagalnaiya Upazila town, 17.5 kilometers east of the Fatehpur Star Line Pump Station on the Cumilla-Chattagram highway and about 16 kilometers from a place named Mahipal in Feni district town. These historic temples may be easily reached by road by bus, minibus, microbus, private car, motorcycle, etc. [Md. Shahin Alam]
References:
1. Sat Math, wikipedia.org;
2. Department of Archaeology, Bangladesh;
3. Data collected during Field visit.