Echoes of Devotion: Documenting the cultural heritage and Architectural odyssey of the Radha Gobindo temple at Maheswarpasha, Bangladesh

Abstract

The cultural heritage of Bangladesh is under increasing threat due to rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, and a lack of conservation efforts. Among the region’s architectural legacies, the Jor-Bangla style, typified by twin-hut structures with curved roofs and rich terracotta ornamentation, stands out as a unique vernacular expression. This paper focuses on the Radha Gobindo Temple at Maheswarpasha, Khulna, an 18th-century Jor-Bangla temple that remains undocumented in official records and is currently in the state. This study aims to bridge this gap through systematic documentation and analysis, thereby contributing to heritage conservation efforts. A mixed-method approach was employed, integrating measured drawings, photographic surveys, spatial and stylistic analyses, oral history collection, and visual damage mapping. This study reveals a fusion of traditional Bengali and Indo-Islamic architectural features, highlighting the temple’s cultural hybridity and regional significance. Despite partial collapse and environmental damage, key architectural elements and iconographic motifs remain visible, offering insights into historical construction techniques and devotional aesthetics. The findings underscore the urgency of conservation and advocate for community-based awareness and intervention. The documentation generated serves as a foundational resource for future preservation initiatives, emphasizing that recording heritage is not just a technical task, but also an ethical and cultural imperative. The study concludes by recommending structural stabilization, vegetation removal, and symbolic reconstruction of key elements, and proposing this temple as a model for localized, culturally responsive conservation efforts in South Asia.