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Shri Hanuman Thakur Temple of Mahabali Forest
The temple is situated in Imphal on the bank of the Imphal river
amongst the groves, Mahabali forest. It was built by king Garib Niwaj in
the year of 1725 AD.
The temple was built in bricks and later a cement coating was given to the
entire structure. In front of the temple the Mandapa has been constructed which
has shadowed the structure of the main temple. The pedestal of the temple is not
visible from outside.
The sanctum cube and the porch walls are raised as a rectangular structure up
to the roof. The eastern and western walls have got a triangular window having
nine slits. The sanctum cube hall is covered with a dome shaped
hemispherical roof. The arches converge at the base of the crown, they are
distinctively visible through their raised ridges on the surface of the roof
from above. The top of the roof carries a double lotus crown in a criss-cross pattern. The Kalasas are rested over the crown, the uppermost vase carries the
pinnacle with Nilchakra. The roof of the porch hall is not dome-shaped but
barrel vaulted type. The temple is a hut -type of Bengal style. The stone icon of Hanumanjee is
raised on the pedestal wall. It is carved out on a big slab of stone. Hanumanjee
is shown in Human form.
The temple reminds us of the spread of Ramanandi cult of Hinduism in Manipur.
It is the only temple which was built during the period of Garib Niwaj. After
his death the Ramnandi cult also vanished from Manipur. The temple in thus
important and a monumental evidence in the religious history of Manipur.
Thangal General Temple of Wangkhai
The temple is situated in Wangkhai locality of Imphal
town.
It was built
by Thangal General in 1879 AD. The temple structure is raised on a distinct platform.
The plan of the pedestal
is square. The sanctum cube of the internal sanctum and the outer jacket
is raised straight up from the base up to the maulding cornice. The outer jacket
wall on each side opens out with a rectangular opening to lead in front
into four flying steps of staircases. This facilitates the approach to the
circumambulatory path or the pradakshna path from any side. The cornice is
achieved by stepping outward a few courses of brick layers to make a projection
and then making a slant to the projection. The railing is made by
alternate spacing and brick wall and finally giving a horizontal
brick layer on colonnades gripping the corner salas. The first railing
perfectly covers the terrace above the pradakshna path. The second railing is
the replica of the lower railing. The octagonal dome is after the second railing.
The arches converge at the base of the inverted kalasa placed at the top of the
dome. Each arch line can be seen having its ridge line on the dome surface from
above.
On the ground at all four corners,
there is one temple replica of Bengal
hut type on each corner. 'Garbha Griha', the internal sanctum is a square and is surrounded by
pradakshna path. The sanctum cube wall internally can be seen reaching up to the
dome. The parabolic lines of eight arches start from the last
brick layer on the sanctum cube. The ceiling of the circumambulatory path is
slightly curved.
The architectural design is in Bengal style.
The structure of the dome and
decoration of the railings reflect the Islamic influence. The entire
structure is in brick, the mastery of brick masonry is of high order. This also
reveals a step towards artistic adroitness.
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