The ancient temple established by King Kangs Narayan at Taherpur in Bagmara Upazila. photo: observer
BAGMARA, RAJSHAHI, Oct 8: The first Durga Puja was held in the temple of King Kangs Narayan of Taherpur in Bagmra Upazila of the district. The ancient temple is located at Taherpur along the Baranai River in the upazila. Raja Kangs Narayan Ray Bahadur had established it in 1480 AD (887 BS). He had built the temple to protect himself from the evil influence of demons. Later it became the universal Durga Puja in the subcontinent. Once, the Tahirpur Dynasty is one of the oldest dynasties of Bengal. At present, the place is a municipality of Bagmara Upazila. Over time, the name Tahirpur is now written as Taherpur Local priests said lord Ramachandra himself arranged Durga Puja to kill Ravana in Tretayuga. During Kali Puja, King Kangs Narayan would organise festival in modern way.
The journey of Durga Puja festival started to spread among Hindus in the subcontinent from the temple of Kangs Narayan. There are good arrangements to go to Taherpur by bus and local vehicles from Rajshahi City. The temple is 55 kilometres east of the city. Maunabhatta was the progenitor of the dynasty. And one of the best feudal kings of the dynasty was Kangs Narayan Roy. He played a heroic role in suppressing the Mughals in Chittagong during the Sultanate period. During the Pathan period, he also served as a Faujdar for some time. During the Mughal period he served as the temporary Dewan of Bengal-Bihar for some time. It is the period when he received the title of king. When much of Bengal came under the control of the Mughals, Emperor Akbar appointed King Kangs Narayan as the Dewan of Subebangla. But he left his duties and returned to Taherpur and devoted himself to religious and social work. In the Hindu society of contemporary Bengal, he started performing a great 'yajna' with the intention of being immortal. To this end, all the scholars of his pargana called the Brahmin scholars to the court and asked for their opinion. Listening to his thoughts, Pandit Ramesh Shastri said no other great sacrifice is suitable for you except Durga Utsab. This yajna can be performed by people of all nationalities in all ages and the result of all yajnas is one yajna. All the scholars agreed with this view of Ramesh Shantri. In late 6th entury, King Kangs Narayan organised a modern autumn fort festival at a cost of about Tk 9 lakh. The festival was held at the fort temple of Ramrama Village on the east bank of the Baranai River. The system is still being followed in the public fort festival of Bengalis. During the reign of Laxmi Narayan, the 4th man after Kangs Narayan, Shah Suja Baranai, younger brother of Emperor Aurangzeb, destroyed the palace of Raja Kangs on the east bank of the river. Later, Laxmi Narayan got a pargana along the river's west bank as mercy from Aurangzeb. He built a palace there and ruled it. In 1862, Rani Joy Sundari, wife of Raja Bireshwar Roy, built a fort with a beautiful palace. The nameplate of the temple is now preserved in the Barind Research Museum, first museum in the subcontinent located in Rajshahi. Shivasekhareshwar was the last king of the dynasty. From the time of his father Shashi Shekhareshwar, the king was used to go to Calcutta. He would come during the worship. The last time he came to Taherpur was in 1927. Once, the temple of the palace was almost abandoned. A college was established in 1967 at Rajbari. Then the gate to the temple from inside the palace was also closed. Later it was separated from the palace.
