Bishnupur Terracotta: The Complete Guide to Mallabhum's Temple Art, the Malla Dynasty and the Bankura Horse

By Smarteez, last updated 18 October 2026

Key facts at a glance

Who were the Malla kings of Mallabhum?

Mallabhum was the kingdom ruled by the Malla kings, mostly within today's Bankura district. King-lists date the dynasty to 694 CE, when Adi Malla became its first ruler, though some accounts place the start at 695 CE. The origin stories describe a prince who halted at Laugram and was made a petty chief there, and they are largely legendary. The Mallas even kept their own calendar, the Malla era (Mallabda). The foundation inscription of the Shyam Rai temple gives its date as Malla year 949, which is 1643 CE.

The seat of power moved from Pradyumnapur to Bishnupur under Jagat Malla, the 19th king (994–1007 CE), who is credited with founding the Mrinmoyee temple to Durga in 997 CE. Durga Puja is still held there today, and a cannon is fired at the Sandhi Puja of Maha Ashtami, a custom said to continue from the days of the kings.

The king who changed Bishnupur's character was Bir Hambir, the 49th Malla ruler, who reigned from 1565 to 1620. Accounts of his life say he was moved by the Bhagavata recitations of the Vaishnava teacher Srinivasa Acharya and turned to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He allied with the Mughal general Man Singh during Akbar's campaign against the Afghan ruler Qutlu Khan Lohani, introduced the worship of Madan Mohan, and built the Rasmancha in 1600. The great Dal Madal cannon is traditionally linked to his reign. The temple-building age that followed, under his successors, is why Bishnupur is called the temple town of Bengal.

The kingdom declined in the 18th century. A Maratha siege in 1742 and the great famine of 1770 weakened it, and under British pressure the Malla rulers were reduced to zamindars. The kingdom was formally disestablished on 29 December 1947.

Where does the Malla dynasty fit in Indian history?

The Mallas were a small kingdom in the forested, hilly Rarh region, away from the Gangetic heartland where larger Bengal powers rose and fell around them. That distance is a large part of why they lasted so long.

In the sources we reviewed, none records a war between the Mallas and Shashanka, the Palas or the Senas. Reign dates for these kings vary by a few years between historians, hence the "c." By Bir Hambir's time the Mallas were dealing with the Mughal Empire, with which he is recorded as having allied.

When were the Bishnupur terracotta temples built?

The oldest dated brick temple is the Rasmancha of 1600, built by Bir Hambir. Most of the famous terracotta temples were built by his successors between 1643 and 1758.

What are the styles of Bishnupur temples?

• Ek-ratnaA single tower on a sloping roof above a square sanctum, with a porch of three multi-cusped arches on each side. Lalji, Kalachand, Madan Mohan and the Jor Mandir group follow this plan.
• Pancha-ratnaFive towers instead of one. Shyam Rai is the best-known example.
• Jor BanglaTwo village-hut roofs (do-chala) set side by side, one forming the porch and the other the shrine. The name means "twin Bengal-roof".
• RasmanchaA pyramidal-roofed structure that sources describe as having no known parallel elsewhere in India.

What stories are carved into the walls?

The terracotta panels on temples such as Jor Bangla show scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, stories from the life of Krishna, and floral and geometric patterns. The carving is so dense that the walls read like a story told in clay.

These stories travelled beyond the temples. Bishnupur's Baluchari silk saris, GI-registered in 2011, carry mythological scenes taken from temple walls. One heritage writer notes the Rasa lila of the Shyam Rai frieze reappearing in the pallu panels.

What is the Bankura horse?

The Bankura horse is a hollow, fired-clay horse with a stylised, long-necked form, made by hereditary Kumbhakar potter families, most famously in Panchmura village in Bankura district. It began as a ritual object. In the Rarh region, groups of terracotta horses of many sizes are offered in the worship of the folk deity Dharmathakur, and today the horse is one of the best-known symbols of Indian folk craft.

Each horse is built in parts. The legs, the neck and the face pieces are thrown separately on the potter's wheel and joined, the ears and tail are moulded and added, and the figure is dried slowly and fired. The kiln atmosphere decides the colour: red from an oxidising fire, black from a reducing one.

• GI statusRegistered on 28 March 2018 as "Bankura Panchmura Terracotta Craft", on an application by the Panchmura Mrit Shilpi Samabay Samity.
• Where it is madePanchmura, Rajagram, Sonamukhi and Hamirpur are the main production centres. Panchmura's style is considered the finest.
• Who makes itCraft families, with the whole household involved. Around 80 families practise the craft in Panchmura.

How is the horse connected to the temples? Both belong to the clay tradition of the same district. The temple panels were royal commissions. The horse is a village ritual craft. Local accounts link the Malla kings' patronage to the spread of terracotta art across the region, but we have not found a source saying the Mallas created the horse, and we don't claim that.

Visiting Bishnupur and Panchmura

Bishnupur is roughly 130–140 km from Kolkata, about three hours by train or bus. The Rasmancha, Jor Bangla and Shyam Rai temples are ASI-protected and ticketed. Panchmura, the home of the Bankura horse, is about 20–30 km from Bishnupur. If you go during Durga Puja, visit the Mrinmoyee temple for the cannon fired at Sandhi Puja.

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