TERRACOTTA ARCHITECTURE

The area has been inhabited since the first millennium BCE. A network of urban and commercial centres that reached as far back as ancient Persia including ancient Bengal. Due to a shortage of stone resources, terracotta building became a defining characteristic of Bengal. Using clay from the Bengal Delta, bricks were made. The Pala Empire (750–1120) is when Bengali architecture during that era reached its apex.

The Gupta Era, Shashanka, Pala, and Sena Dynasties, which ruled from the fifth century to the invasion, were essential in the construction of the majority of the Hindu temples. The terms deula, deul, and deoul are used to describe a form of Jain and Hindu temple architecture found in Bengal. In this style, the main shrine is the sole structure present, with a deul placed above it. The paddy-roofed traditional building style of rural Bengal is closely connected to the distinctive, remarkable and distinctive roofing design of the Bengali Hindu temple. The secular topics are frequently shown in the terracotta reliefs in a highly animated.

The jor-Bangla, at-Chala (double story at Chala type has eight roof corners), char-Chala (two halves are fused into one unit and have a dome-like form), do-Chala (just two hanging roof points on either side of a roof split in the middle by a ridgeline), and Ek-Ratna are among the roofing designs. Small towers rise from the centre or corners of the curved roof of mickey and later temples. These are typically conical in shape and have straight sides. They are a kind of ‘Navaratna’ (nine towers) designs and bear little similarity to a normal north Indian shikhara. There were gabled roofs on temple constructions, also known as the Chala.