Photos: Prabir Das

The Bhawal estate is considered to be one of the largest zamindar estates of Bengal. The estate is spread over 1,500 kilometers which included 2,274 villages and a population of 55,000 villagers. Over time, the estate has transformed into a developing town which we all know as Gazipur. Though we have left the zamindars far behind in time, their establishments can still be found in this town. The Bhawal's biggest establishment is the Bhawal Rajbari, which is now used as a government office. A little south of the palace remains the mysterious Bhawal temple and Shoshan Ghaat (cremating area).

Located in Joydebpur, the temple was built by Kalinarayan, also known as the Bhawal Raja. The temple was first built to serve only the royal family. After their deaths, it was open to the public. Though the temple is in ruins, locals consider this place as one of the prominent haunted places of Gazipur. The tale revolves around the second Kumar (Prince), Ramendra Narayan Roy. 

"The second Kumar of Bhawal was known for spending most of his time hunting, in festivities, and with women, having several mistresses," says Taposh Pal, one of the priests of the temple. In 1905 he had contracted syphilis, and went to Darjeeling to seek treatment but was reported to have died there at the age of 25. His body was supposedly cremated in Darjeeling the next day and customary funerary rites were performed.

"I heard from my father that there was a lot of talk about this cremation," says Taposh Pal. It is said that Ramendra Narayan's body disappeared right before the cremation and it was never found.

The second part of the tale extends to the famous Indian court case – the Bhawal Case. A decade later, a sannyasi (ascetic) appeared in Buckland Bund in Dhaka covered in ashes. It was rumored that this man was the second kumar and he had returned to take over his inherited property. A lot of people weren't convinced and a case was filed to insure the sannyasi's true identity. He later won the trial but died just two days after the verdict. 

Rumor has it that the spirit of the sannyasi, prince or not, still roams around the temple. A lot of villagers have reported that they have seen a shadowy figure roam around the cremating area around night time. "I have never seen such thing, but have heard a lot of complains about it," says Taposh Pal. 

Haunted or not, this temple gives an amazing glimpse of how grand architecture was in those days.

The design on the red stone building makes one marvel at the creative genius of the architects that built it. "A lot of people come to visit this historical place, but there is no one to maintain," says Taposh. 

A lot of bricks were stolen from the temple. What is left is not maintained, and if this persists, we may be losing one of our oldest haunted places and a fascinating piece of Bengal's History.