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Page6
The
construction of the Jagarnath temple at Jagarnathpur was not an isolated attempt at
building a Hindu temple in a land where predominantly the animistic tribes lived. Round
about the time the Jagarnath temple at Jagarnathpur was built, another Hindu temple was
reared at Chutia, which is now a part of the town of Ranchi. The Chutia temple is a small
square enclosure, with four flanking bastions and a well in the centre, which is
approached by a gradually descending, covered passage.
There is an inscription on the
northern wall of the temple, which shows that the temple was constructed in Samvat 1742
(1685 A.D.) by one Hari Brahmachari, the Guru of the Raja during the reign of Raja
Raghunath, the fiftieth in descent from Raja Phanimukut. At Doisa or Doisanagar, another
village 40 miles south-west of Ranchi, there axe ruins of ancient palaces of the Rajas of
Chotanagpur. Round the ruins of the palaces are numerous temples, one of which contains
curious underground chambers.
The temples and buildings are of carved granite. There is an inscription on the temple
of Kapilnath, which bears 1767 Samvat or 1710 A.D.
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