Temple History

This beautiful Shiva temple is one of the many temples within the famous Rajbari Complex of Kalna. The site is about 2km from the Kalna Railway Station. The Pratapeshwar temple still echoes the deep devotion and love of a wife for her late husband. As per locals lores, Maharaja Pratap Chand died at an early age in 1821. Fourteen years later, a sannyasi appeared and claimed to be Raja Pratap Chand, who hadn’t died, but fled from a lethal palace conspiracy instead. It is said that a large number of people actually believed in his story. The ‘fake King’ eventually got arrested by the colonial administration and faced judicial trials. Years later, Queen Pyari Kumari Devi erected this temple to officially dismiss the ‘Fake King’ event. The Pratapeshwar Temple is a beautiful blend of Odisha’s Deul style of architecture and Bengal’s terracotta-based temple storytelling style. Each year on the holy occasion of Shiva Ratri, thousands of people gather here to seek blessings from Mahadev.