Nawabhat 108 Shib Mandir

Hours: Typically 6am-12:30pm and 3pm-7pm (verify locally; morning session is best)
Entry: Rs 2-5 per person; parking available (Rs 25 for car, Rs 10 for bike)
This is the centrepiece and it merits being treated as such. The 108 Shiva Temple complex at Nawabhat, approximately 5km from the station on Suri Road, is one of only two 108-Shiva complexes in Purba Bardhaman as well as the older of the two (the other being the Naba Kailash Mandir at Ambika Kalna, built twenty-one years later in 1809).
The Setting
The complex is set in a large walled compound planted with trees. Two substantial ponds occupy the interior and the 108 temples are arranged around them in a rectangular formation rather than the circular plan used at Kalna. The aat-chala (Bengali eight-roofed) style of each individual shrine is architecturally humbler than Kalna’s, but the ensemble, 108 small terracotta shrines mirroring in the water, under a canopy of shade trees, has a different quality of peace.
History & Restoration
The complex was built and consecrated in October 1788 by Maharani Adhiswari Bishnukumari Devi, widow of Raja Tilak Chandra. According to legend, the Maharani received a divine dream instructing her to build the complex and the temples were designed to resemble 108 beads of a japamala (prayer rosary). By the mid-twentieth century the shrines had fallen into serious disrepair; they were restored (or largely rebuilt) by the Birla Jana Kalyan Trust in 1965. The complex is now managed by the 108 Shiv Mandir Trust Board and is in good repair.
The Bells
The most crowd-pulling feature beyond the shrines themselves is the extraordinary installation of 108 bells arranged in five twin rows, four rows of 22 bells each and a fifth row of 20, totalling 108, which visitors and devotees ring with considerable enthusiasm. The cacophony at a busy festival time is something to experience.
Maha Shivaratri
The temple reaches peak animation during Maha Shivaratri (usually February or March), when a week-long fair is held and pilgrims arrive from across the district and beyond. If your travel dates allow for it, this is the ideal time to visit: the evening atmosphere, with lamps lit in each of the 108 shrines, is genuinely spectacular.