Of all the temples constructed in Bengal before 12-14th century, few have survived. All of these are shikhara type. Inspired by the Orissan style, these temples have a tall, rising tower above the sanctuary of the deity, which may be ridged or smooth. Commonly, the tower has curved walls that meet at the peak.
Pirha temples are mostly found in Pashchim (west) and Purba (east) Medinipur. Although, like Rekha, they draw on the Orissan style, the towers of Pirha temples are not curvilinear but are stepped as their size decreases towards the top. The elevation is relatively low.
Dochala/Ek-Bangla temples have sloping, curved roofs over a hut, inspired by the architecture of huts. The tomb of Fateh Khan in Gour displays similar architectural style.
Two Ek-Bangla temples fused at their sides forms a Jor-Bangla temple. They have two conjoined curved roofs.
A hut-like structure with four curved roofs meeting at the top is called Charchala, or four roofed temple. The tallest extant Charchala is located in Birbhum’s Dabuk village.
The Atchala is an extension of the Charchala form, where above the four-roofed structure, a short cuboid tower supports another, smaller four-roofed structure.
The twelve-roofted Barochala is a further extension of the Atchala, where above the Atchala, another cuboid tower supports the four-roofed structure at the top. Temples of the Barochala style are extremely rare.
Ekratna temples have a single turret at the centre of a roof with curved cornices (although some later temples have horizontal cornices).
Similar in their structure to the Ekratna temple, Pancharatna temples have one central turret, surrounded by four, smaller turrets.
Navaratna temples have nine turrets. Usually, two storied, the lower roof has four turrets at four corners, with an upper roof built in the manner of the Pancharatna, i.e. with a central turret, surrounding by four turrets.
With four turrets at each level, temples may rise to three or four storeys to feature thirteen, seventeen or twenty-one turrets. Examples of these types are rare.
The most elaborate of the Ratna style, the Panchavimsatiratna has twenty five turrets arranged at various levels on roofs. Examples of this type are rare but the ones that exist are remarkable.
Structures with flat roofs and cornices are known as Dalan or Chandni temples. The architectural type proliferated in the 18th and 19th centuries. Occasionally, small iterations of Chala or Ratna temples are found atop the flat-roofed Dalan temples.
The typology has been prepared by Atmajit Mukherjee.
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