Dihar
title: "Dihar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["former-populated-places-in-india", "archaeological-sites-in-west-bengal", "tourist-attractions-in-bankura-district"] topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Dihar |
| settlement_type | Village, archaeological site |
| pushpin_map | India West Bengal # India |
| pushpin_label_position | right |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location in West Bengal, India |
| coordinates | |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | India |
| subdivision_type1 | State |
| subdivision_name1 | West Bengal |
| subdivision_type2 | District |
| subdivision_name2 | Bankura |
| established_title | |
| unit_pref | Metric |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| demographics_type1 | Languages |
| demographics1_title1 | Official |
| demographics1_info1 | Bengali, English |
| timezone1 | IST |
| utc_offset1 | +5:30 |
| postal_code_type | |
| registration_plate | WB- |
| blank1_name_sec1 | Coastline |
| blank1_info_sec1 | 0 km |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Dihar | other_name = | nickname = | settlement_type = Village, archaeological site | image_skyline = | image_alt = | image_caption = | pushpin_map = India West Bengal # India | pushpin_label_position = right | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = Location in West Bengal, India | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = India | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = West Bengal | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Bankura | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | named_for = | government_type = | governing_body = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_rank = | area_total_km2 = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_rank = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_footnotes = | demographics_type1 = Languages | demographics1_title1 = Official | demographics1_info1 = Bengali, English | timezone1 = IST | utc_offset1 = +5:30 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | registration_plate = WB- | blank1_name_sec1 = Coastline | blank1_info_sec1 = 0 km | website = | footnotes =
Dihar is a village and an ancient archaeological site (approximately 4,700 years old) of great antiquarian importance brought into the limelight by Maniklal Sinha. Located in the Bishnupur subdivision of the Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is 8 km north of Bishnupur and is near Dharapat.
Geography
| width=360| height=370| zoom=10 | coord=| float=left|caption=Places in Bishnupur subdivision in Bankura district M: Municipal town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, T: ancient/ temple centre Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly |mark-coord1= | label-pos1=right|label1= Bhara| numbered1=R| mark-title1= Bhara (R)|label-color1= #800000 |label-size1=11| mark-size1=12|shape1=l-circle| shape-color1=#C42222|shape-outline1=white|label-offset-x1=2 |mark-coord2= | label-pos2=right|label2=Chatra| numbered2=R| mark-title2= Chatra, Bankura (R) |mark-coord3= | label-pos3=right|label3=Indas| numbered3=R| mark-title3= Indas (R) |mark-coord4= | label-pos4=right|label4=Joypur| numbered4=R| mark-title4= Joypur, Bankura (R) |mark-coord5= | label-pos5=right|label5=Jayrambati| numbered5=R| mark-title5= Jayrambati (R) |mark-coord6= | label-pos6=right|label6=Patrasayer| numbered6=R| mark-title6= Patrasayer (R) |mark-coord7= | label-pos7=top|label7=Radhanagar| numbered7=R| mark-title7= Radhanagar, Bankura (R) |mark-coord8= | label-pos8=right|label8=Ajodhya| numbered8=R| mark-title8= Ajodhya, Bankura (R) |mark-coord9= | label-pos9=bottom|label9=Laugram| numbered9=R| mark-title9= Laugram (R) |mark-coord10= | label-pos10=bottom|label10=Joykrishnapur| numbered10=R| mark-title10= Joykrishnapur (R) |mark-coord11=| label-pos11=right |label11=Bishnupur| numbered11=M| mark-title11 =Bishnupur, Bankura (M)| shape-color11=#800000 |mark-coord12=| label-pos12=left |label12=Sonamukhi| numbered12=M| mark-title12 =Sonamukhi (M)| shape-color12=#800000 |mark-coord13=| label-pos13=right |label13=Kotulpur| numbered13=CT| mark-title13 =Kotulpur (CT)| shape-color13=#A40000 |mark-coord14= | label-pos14=right|label14=Dharapat| numbered14=T| mark-title14= Dharapat (T) |shape-color14=#AA6666 |mark-coord15= | label-pos15=bottom|label15=Dihar| numbered15=T| mark-title15= Dihar (T) |shape-color15=black| label-size15=13|label-color15=black |mark-coord16= | label-pos16=left|label16=Akui| numbered16=T| mark-title16= Akui (T) |shape-color16=#AA6666 |mark-coord17= | label-pos17=right|label17=Baital| numbered17=T| mark-title17= Baital, Bankura (T) |shape-color17=#AA6666 |mark-coord18= | label-pos18=left|label18=Balsi|labela18= Purbapara| numbered18=T| mark-title18= Balsi Purbapara (T) |shape-color18=#AA6666 |mark-coord19= | label-pos19=right|label19=Dwadashbari| numbered19=T| mark-title19= Dwadashbari (T) |shape-color19=#AA6666 |mark-coord20= | label-pos20=right|label20=Gokulnagar| numbered20=T| mark-title20= Gokulnagar, Bankura (T) |shape-color20=#AA6666 |mark-coord21= | label-pos21=right|label21=Gumut| numbered21=T| mark-title21= Gumut, Bankura (T) |shape-color21=#AA6666 |mark-coord22= | label-pos22=left|label22=Hadal Narayanpur| numbered22=T| mark-title22= Hadal Narayanpur (T) |shape-color22=#AA6666 |mark-coord23= | label-pos23=left|label23=Maynapur| numbered23=T| mark-title23= Maynapur (T) |shape-color23=#AA6666 |mark-coord24= | label-pos24=right|label24=Patit Dommahal| numbered24=T| mark-title24= Patit Dommahal (T) |shape-color24=#AA6666 |mark-coord25= | label-pos25=left|label25=Madanmohanpur| numbered25=T| mark-title25= Madanmohanpur (T) |shape-color25=#AA6666 |mark-coord26=| label26=Damodar River| label-color26 = #77A1CB| label-angle26=50| label-pos26=top| label-size26=10| mark-size26=0| mark-title26 =none |mark-coord27=| label27=Dwarakeswar| label-color27 = #77A1CB| label-angle27=-10| label-pos27=top| label-size27=10| mark-size27=0| mark-title27 =none |mark-coord28=| label28= River| label-color28 = #77A1CB| label-angle28=25| label-pos28=top| label-size28=10| mark-size28=0| mark-title28 =none}}
Location
Dihar is located at .
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
History
Belonging to the days of copper-Bronze Age civilisation 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 2700-1500 BCE chalcolithic proto-urban people had settled on the northern banks of the Dwarakeswar, most probably belonging to a socio-culturally and technologically advanced ethno-linguistic group. According to the carbon 14 dating of samples from the Hirapur mound, Dihar is the oldest archaeological settlement of the early village farming culture discovered in Bengal region. Among the four mounds at Dihar, the oldest specimen is from the Hirapur mound, which is 4700 years old.{{cite journal |last1=Chattopadhyay |first1=Rupendra Kumar |last2=Acharya |first2=Dipsikha |last3=Majumder |first3=Shubha |last4=Sain |first4=Malay Kumar |last5=Biswas |first5=Pampa |last6=Mondal |first6=Bijan | date = 2013 |title=Excavation at Dihar 2012-2013 : An Interim Report |url=https://www.academia.edu/36290222 |access-date=27 September 2023 |ref = |journal=Pratna Samiksha |volume=1 |pages=9–33 |last1=Chattopadhyay |first1=Rupendra Kumar |last2=Bandyopadhyay |first2=KumKum |date=1 December 2015 |title=Studies in South Asian Heritage: essays in memory of M Harunur Rashid | chapter=A Preliminary Study of the Worked Bone Industry in the Middle and Lower Ganga Valleys: From the Mesolithic to the Early Historic Periods |publisher=Bangla Academy |isbn=9789840753833 |ref=
Demographics
According to the 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).
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 'rekha 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.{{cite web | url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080817/jsp/calcutta/story_9698898.jsp | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130203145838/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080817/jsp/calcutta/story_9698898.jsp | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 February 2013 | title = Next weekend you can be at ... Dihar | access-date = 2009-07-12 | publisher = The Telegraph, 17 August 2008}}
Both the Shnareshwara and Shaileshwara temples are included in the List of Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal by the Archaeological Survey of India (serial no. N-WB-28 & 29).
See also - Bengal temple architecture
Dihar picture gallery
File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (02).jpg|Shaileswar temple File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (19).jpg|Sareswar temple File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (45).jpg|Both the temples File:Sareswar and Saileshwar temple bishnupur west bengal 03.jpg|Religious ceremony in progress File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (53).jpg|Shaileswar temple wall File:Saileswar and Sareswar temple of Dihar in Bankura district (74).jpg|In the Shaileswar temple
References
References
- Chakrabarty, Rakhi. (June 20, 2015). "Relic Hunter".
- http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/27148/12/12_chapter%204.pdf {{Bare URL PDF. (March 2022)
- Das, Dipak Ranjan. (2012). "Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh". [[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]].
- "2011 Census – Primary Census Abstract Data Tables". Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India.
- "List of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains of National Importance". Archaeological Survey of India.
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