Hanseswari Temple

The Hanseswari temple stands in Bansberia, an industrial town between Bandel and Tribeni in Hooghly district. Its goddess, Hanseswari, is a form of Kali. The foundation stone was laid in December 1799 by Raja Nrisinhadeb Roy Mahasay, who died in 1802 after the second storey was finished, and his widow Rani Sankari completed the temple in 1814.

The building breaks with the usual temple patterns of the region. It is a five-storey ratna temple crowned by 13 towers, each shaped like an opening lotus bud. Its plan follows the Tantric idea of the body, the five storeys standing for the five channels of Bajraksha, Ira, Chitrini, Pingala and Sushumna. The complex also holds the Ananta Basudeba temple, and the Swanbhaba Kali temple built by the raja in 1788 is close by.