The terracotta temples guarded by lush green thickets makes Dwarhatta peaceful and serene. Located 41 km from Kolkata, Darhatta is one of the villages in Haripal, in the West Bengal’s Hoogly district. With its terracotta temples, simple and neat tribal huts, Dwarhatta welcomes you to spend a weekend in the calm ambience of its village life. The temples date back nearly three centuries and showcases rare examples of Pancharatna and Aatchala architecture.
Lodging and dining facilities in Dwarhatta
Our accommodation option in Dwarhatta is very unique and is the only of its type in Asia. The resort is entirely made of mud, glass bottles and rubber tyres. In total, 1600 tyres were used to make this eco-friendly resort with walls adorned with some beautiful hand paintings and beds made of glass bottles. Being, primarily constructed out of mud, the rooms are naturally air conditioned. As of now, our village resort offers 03 Four-Bedded rooms and 01 Double-Bed room decked with all kodern amenities like attached western bathrooms, geysers, comfy beds, wardrobes but purposely no Television for the guests to enjoy the ambiance and nature all around. A beautiful gazebo within the landsaped garden of our resort help guests to enjoy the real village life. Food is essentially sumptuous Bengalee cuisine served hot at the Dining Hall.
Dwarhatta Photo Gallery
Things to do in Dwarhatta
Apart from sightseeing, you can watch huge varieties of birds in the village of Darhata. You can also watch the village market that opens weekly – it is a spectacle in itself.
How to reach Darhatta
Darhata can be reached by availing any of the options stated below. Firstly, you can get on a bus from Kolkata, headed to Arambagh and get down at Gajar More, which is 6 km from Haripal in Hooghly. From Gajar more you have to turn left and travel a small distance of 1.5 km to reach the village of Darhata. Or you can also get on a bus from Howrah to directly reach Antpur, from where you can reach Darhata. If you want to avail train, you can board local train headed to Tarakeshwar from Howrah. On the way you have to get down at Haripal and then take a trekker to Antpur.
Best time to visit Dwarhatta
Since the place is sunny all round the year; you can visit Dwarhatta anytime in the year. In the summers, the green shade of the trees will protect you from the scorching rays of the sun.
Places to see in Dwarhatta
The major attractions of this place are its terracotta temples. The Vishnu and three Shiv temples constructed by Singha Rai family in the early 17th century are the most popular sightseeing spots here. The Singha Rais were the Zamindars of Dwarhatta. One of the three temples is Rajrajeswari-Shiva terracotta temple, constructed by Pannalal Singha Rai. The walls of this temple are adorned with scenes from Ramayana, Indian mythology, and Radha-Krishna. Though the temples of Shiva are in dire condition, they are being restored by the Archaeological Survey of India, who has acknowledged this as a heritage site. There is the temple of Dwarika Chandi, where a large fair and puja is organized every year. You can visit around this time to enjoy the festival.
Attractions around Darhatta
The village of Antpur, which is around 12 kms. from Dwarhatta is famous for its terracotta temples and an event that shaped the religious landscape of India forever. The most famous temple in Antpur is that of Radhagovindjiu with its exquisite terracotta carvings depicting stories from all the 18 puranas. This 100 feet high temple was constructed by Krishna Ram Mitra, the Diwan of Bardhaman Raj in 1786. Its Chandi Mandap and Dol Mancha have beautifully crafted wood carvings and terracotta. The temples of Gangadhara, Fuleswara, Rameswara, Jaleswara and Baneswara are also worth a visit in Antpur. The history-changing event took place on 24 December 1886 in the house of Baburam Ghosh (later Swami Premananda) at Antpur, when Swami Vivekananda and eight other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna took their vow of ‘Sannyasa’ . The Ramakrishna-Premananda Ashram of Antpur has built a temple on the birthplace of Swami Pramananda.
The temple of Tarakeshwar Dham is around 19 kms. from Dwarhatta, which is considered one of the most poular pilgrimage spots of West Bengal. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva who is worshiped as Taraknath or Tarakeshwarnath, who is a violent (Ugra) form of Lord Shiva who drank venom (Vish) during Samudra-Manthan. The temple was built in 1729 by Raja Bharamalla around the Swayambhu Linga (self-manifested) referred as Baba Taraknath. The month of Sravana (mid-July to mid-August) is auspicious for Shiva when celebrations are held here and millions of pilgrim visit Tarakeshwar.
Around 16 kms. from Dwarhatta is the Rabri Gram. Here , you would find the whole village cooking out the delicious Rabri, which is sold to various sweet shops in Kolkata. The sweetshops in Kolkata customise the flavours inhouse according to their speciality and sell it. Rabri is said to have come to Bengal from Varanasi and the existence of this sweet can be traced to the scripture of Chandimangala around 1400 AD. This quintessential sweet is prepared for long hours because the milk needs to be thickened by constantly cooling it from above while it is on slow-boil. You can visit Rabri Gram and taste the freshly prepared Rabri from the kitchens only.
