Dihar

Dihar
Village, archaeological site
Country  India
State West Bengal
District Bankura
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
Vehicle registration WB-
Coastline 0 kilometres (0 mi)
Website wb.gov.in

Dihar is a village and an ancient archaeological site of great antiquarian importance located in the Bishnupur subdivision of Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north of Bishnupur and is near Dharapat.

History

Belonging to the days of copper-bronze age civilisation[1] and with an intricate narrative more than three millennia old, it is one of the earliest sites of human habitation discovered in Bengal which shows successive layers of prehistory, proto-history and history. Going by the styles of pottery (Black and Red Ware, Red Slipped Ware, Grey Ware, Northern Black Polished Ware, etc. found on different and sometimes intermixed levels), microliths, metallurgical fragments, beads, shells, skeletons, terracotta figurines, homesteads, debitage, shards of bone and habitational refuge one can place this site in the same archaeo-cultural horizon as Pandu Rajar Dhibi. By about 1200-1000 BCE chalcolithic proto-urban people had settled on the northern banks of the Dwarakeswar, most probably belonging to a socio-culturally and technologically advanced ancestral branch of the Austroasiatic ethno-linguistic group. After this early proto-historic period, stretching from the copper-bronze age to the early iron age of the pre-Maurya to the Shunga eras, nothing noticeable has been discovered at Dihar till confirmed Saivite activities beginning roughly afrom around the 13th-14th centuries CE.[2]

Culture

The remains of the Shnareshwara (ষাঁড়েশ্বর) and Shaileshwara (শৈলেশ্বর) Shiva temples, built upon one of the primary chalcolithic/æneolithic habitational mounds, are some of the major attractions at Dihar. Either king Prithwi Malla of the Malla dynasty of Bishnupur had commissioned the temples (their architectural style being referred to as 'deul') to be constructed in 1346 CE (the date being highly debatable academically) or, as deduced from their structural and architectural affinities, had them repaired, restored and reconsecrated in 1346 CE, as the two temples could have been built by monarchs from earlier dynasties in the form of twin Jain/Buddhist monuments at around the period when the Siddheshwara temple was built nearby at Bahulara at some point of time during the Pala era. Moreover, till date, much academic debate remains over the exact dates of their construction. The unkempt laterite stone walls of the temples have suffered badly from centuries of erosion but intricate floral designs and miniature human figurines captured in dramatic poses can still be made out. Furthermore some eroded or defaced images of divinity can also be seen upon the stone panels. Pilgrims, to this day, gather in the area during Shivratri.[3]

Demographics

As per 2011 Census of India Dihar had a total population of 815 of which 416 (51%) were males and 399 (49%) were females. Population below 6 years was 84. The total number of literates in Dihar was 450 (61.56% of the population over 6 years).[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/27148/12/12_chapter%204.pdf
  2. ↑ Das, Dipak Ranjan (2012). "Dihar". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  3. ↑ "Next weekend you can be at ... Dihar". The Telegraph, 17 August 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
  4. ↑ "2011 Census – Primary Census Abstract Data Tables". West Bengal – District-wise. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 14 October 2016.

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