The Falling Temples Of Chandrakona Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

The temples of Chandrakona,
The falling temples of Chandrakona talk I, dream I,
The small-small temples,
Old-old, centuries old
And the mansions big-big
Fallen and dilapidating
With the temples left,
Abandoned and crumbling,
Made from limestone powder
And small bricks,
Baked bricks,
The temples of Chandrakona
Buried deep in history.

An old city
Of so many bazaars and lanes,
Mesmerizing
Go they
Crisscrossing
With the temples
Anonymous
With nothing sure of
Who built them
And when,
The temples of lime clay
And small brick-work?

Wherever go you
Bogsharpur, Tetultalabazaar, Bansdah,
Cchota Bansdah, Burobansdah,
Buro Bala, Cchoto Bala,
Govindapur, Gopinathpur,
Surahat, Jayantipur, Ayodhya,
Baidyanathpur, Gacchshitala,
Thakurbaribazaar, Gosaibazaar,
Mundamala, Gopsai, Malleswarpur,
Sitanagar, Gopalpur, Radhaballavpur, Kuapur,
Radhanagar, Tukuriapat, Maithani,
Raskundu, Dhoravilla, Dhamkura,
Sitanagar, Gopinathpur, Gazipur,
Go you there lie in
The ruins and debris of fallen temples.

A town of temples,
Old-old temples,
How to forget it,
How to forget
The history and tradition
Of it,
How did they build
The temples,
The old-old temples,
Small-small temples
With the miniature
And terracotta figurines
And the heavy pillars?

How had it been the day
When the temples decorated the town,
The old town
With the temples,
How had it been the evening prayers,
How did the shehnoi players,
The bagpipers would have played
The notes
From atop the posts,
The raised platforms
Breaking into melodies?