TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE OF TRIPURA RATNA DAS

TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE OF TRIPURA RATNA DAS 

It is not known when building activity started in Tripura. But the discovery of some of the cult icons of the 7th-8th century, provided with temons, appears to testify the existence of temples in the same period for enshrining them. Not a single piece of lintel or a door-Jamb or even a fragment of a pillar, be it religious or secular throwing light on the genesis of ancient architecture has so far been discovered. The probable reasons for the non-availability of old monuments lie in the damp climate, perishable building materials, thick growth of vegetation and the iconoclastic zeal of Muslim invaders. Thousands of large-sized bricks with smooth surface and moulded plaques, similar to those of Mainamati, have been found scattered in the same area and they point to the existence of brick edifices which were contemporaneous with Mainamati culture-complex. Like Pilak, the other notable site, Unakoti, has also yielded a number of bricks and a plinth (little of which is exposed now).

Presumably, many such architectural monuments are lying buried only to be revealed by the spade of archaeologists in the near future. In regard to the architectural relics, the position of Tripura is worse than her neighbour, Bengal. While the materials in the shape of representations of templetypes depicted in sculptural art and manuscript paintings have enabled us to reconstruct the history of architecture of ancient and Mediaeval Bengal, Tripura has not yielded any such remains except a single type of stupa, portrayed on the backslabs of Buddhist sculptures as well as some terracotta sealings recovered from the Pilak Jolaibadi region. This stupa-type, carved on sculpture and terracotta sealings, is exactly similar in form to the 7th century bronze votive stupa found at Ashrafpur (Dacca, Bangladesh)! This type of stupa architecture was also prevalent at Mainamati in Comilla district, as evident from some sealings, three stupas exposed in its Kotilamuda section.

The stupas at Ashrafpur, Mainamati and Pilak belong to one type: it consists of a square base, a circular drum, a hemispherical dome and a harmika with finials. The dome bulges a little towards the top in each case and this feature is pronounced in the Ashrafpur example. As a result, the stupas are endowed with a contour like that of the bell-shaped stupas of Burma of later days.