Bansuri Gopinath Jew Temple: A Forgotten Monument Of Cuttack
The Bansuri Gopinath Jew Temple is a forgotten monument of Cuttack which lies just a hundred metres off the Kathjori embankment road at Khannagar. The temple is in the midst of a thickly populated residential colony. Even though the place is named Khannagar, there is hardly any presence of Muslims in the locality.
The Bansuri Gopinath Temple was earlier known as the Bada Phatak Mutt, the name being probably derived from the railway crossing that was there in the vicinity. The temple was originally built in the late 17th Century, and was basically a resting place for the pilgrims of the Old Jaganath Sadak. It was originally a simple flat roofed non-traditional temple, the concept of Pidha deul has been incorporated at a later date. It is a temple of Radha and Krishna, the idols being made of Astadhatu. Gopinath means “leader of the gopis” in Sanskrit, a name given to Krishna because of his association with the Gopis, the cow herding girls.
The Dashavatara worship (ten incarnations) first flourished at the Jagannath Temple of Puri after being influenced by the Geet Govinda of Jayadev. This tradition soon spread throughout Odisha. The worship of Gods like Narasimha, Varaha, Vamana, Trivikrama, Buddha, Balarama, Sankarsana and Krishna Gopinath flourished throughout the region. In Odisha the sculptural representation of the dual images of Radha and Krishna dual image did not appear till the 13th century A.D.
The earlier temple was originally inside a thickly wooded grove of trees, surrounded by marshes. The uniqueness of this temple is that even Harijans have been allowed in from earlier days, untouchability was never practiced here. There is a disused tank in the rear of the temple which was earlier used for the rituals and by the pilgrims. There is an ancient ring well too. Even today, pilgrims from Bengal, especially the Gaudiya Vaishnavites, stop at the temple. In the earlier times, it was a popular resting place for the pilgrims who crossed the river at the Puri Ghat.
The temple is among the older temples of the city. It had fallen into disrepair and was in a decrepit condition. The place had frequent flooding which had caused a lot of damage. When the railway was being laid from Kolkata to Puri, the site was a camp for the engineers who were building the bridge across the two rivers of Cuttack. In fact the railway workshop remained in the place for more than a decade starting 1890. One of the railway engineers took the initiative of repairing and restoring the old temple. The new construction was done with stone blocks, bricks and lime mortar. The roof beams, all of which are still intact, were wooden sleepers that were used by the railway men. They are still in place, though a few were damaged and have been replaced with iron beams. One can decipher the solid railway construction in the temple. The stone banks are similar to the ones used in the piers of the Kathjori bridge.
The beautiful arched entranceway is decorated with animal, birds and floral motifs. There are two golden lions on each side. One can see iconography of swans, peacocks, elephants and apsaras in the entranceway. The inner three arched temple entrance has a panel of the Dashavataras on top. There are three subsidiary temples inside the small complex. One of them is a Panchamukhi hanuman shrine. There is a smaller panel of the Navagrahas too. The temple is managed by the local committee and many annual festivities are performed here.