Madanmohan Mandir of Serampore – A Must Visit

Kinjal Bose

Located at about 18 kilometres from Howrah, Serampore is a sub-divisional town of Hooghly district of West Bengal. In 1757, when Serampore was a Danish colony, the Danes had named the town as ‘Fredericknagar’, after King Frederick V of Denmark.  Serampore has a rich history and is home to many heritage structures scattered throughout the town.

There are a number of ancient temples in Serampore of which Madanmohan Temple of Chowdhurypara deserves a special mention. The temple is situated about two kilometres from Serampore Railway Station. It is a huge structure of aatchala (eight roofed) type of Bengal’s temple architecture. The south facing temple is more than fifty feet tall and is placed on a high pedestal. Like other aatchala temples, it has a triple arched entrance. A flight of stairs will lead you to the temple.

The temple was built in the middle of the nineteenth century by the Vaisnavs of the south belonging to the Ramanuja sect. They also built an akhara there. Later with the closing of the akhara, a hospital named Walsh Hospital came up in that place in 1836. The idol of Madanmohan was shifted to some other place. The Danish government allotted a sum of one hundred twenty rupees annually for the maintenance of the deities which also included worship. Later with the arrival of the British, this system of annual grant was stopped. Instead a sum of ten thousand rupees was allotted as a one-time grant. The present temple was built with this money.

Apart from the main entrance, there is another entrance to the left to enter the sanctum. The idol is placed on a wooden throne. Besides daily worship, special puja is performed during the days of Jhulan, Janmastami, Rashyatra and Dolyatra.

Next time, when you are in Serampore, make it a point to visit the Madanmohan Mandir.