Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.556

c8.556

Viṣṇupura.—It is in the Bankura district of West Bengal. It is named after Viṣṇu, the deity of the royal family. For a long time it had been the capital of the Mallarājās, who gave the name of Mallabhūmi (the land of wrestlers) to the country ruled by them. The Mallabhūmi comprised the whole of the modern district of Bankura and parts of the adjoining districts of Burdwan, Midnapur, Manbhum and Singhbhum. Ādimalla, who was the first Malla king, was noted for his great skill in wrestling and archery. Raghunātha was the founder of the Malla dynasty of Viṣṇupura. He defeated the neighbouring chiefs of Pradyumnapura in the Joypore police station which he made his seat of government. The royal ensign of the rulers of Mallabhūmi bore the device of a serpent's hood. The Hindu rājās of Viṣṇupura were the rulers of a great portion of Western Bengal long before the Mahommedan conquest by Bakhtiyar Khilji. Jagatamalla, a ruler of Viṣṇupura, shifted the capital from Pradyumnapura to Viṣṇupura. The rājās of Viṣṇupura were Śiva worshippers. The temple of Malleśvara-mahādeva is the oldest of the shrines found here. The rājās afterwards became ardent worshippers of Mṛṇmayī, an aspect of Śakti, whose temple still stands there. The worship of Dharma introduced by Rāmai Paṇḍita became very popular here. The celebrated Bengali mathematician Subhaṅkara Rāya lived under the Malla kings of Viṣṇupura. The temples of Viṣṇupura are mostly square buildings with a curved roof, having a small tower in the centre. Some of them have towers in four corners of the roof. Some temples contain scenes from the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata on their walls. The Śyāma Rāi temple is one of the oldest temples of Pañcaratna (five-towered) type in Bengal. In the 16th century A.D., the magnificent temple of Rāsamañca was built by Bir Hamir to whom may be attributed the big stone gateway of the Viṣṇupura fort and the great cannon called Dalmardan (Introducing India, Pt. I, pp. 71-72).