Bakranath Shiva Temple

The main temple of Bakreswar is dedicated to Lord Shiva, worshipped here as Bakranath. Its distinctive Odishan-style architecture (a curvilinear tower (“rekha-deul”) rising above the sanctum) immediately distinguishes it from the typical Bengali temple. The temple complex contains two sacred lingas: a larger one representing Ashtavakra and the central Shivalinga of Bakranath. Numerous smaller Shiva shrines cluster around the main temple, many of them without any image, their empty sanctums speaking to an older, more austere form of worship.