Maluti, a lesser known small village in the Jharkhand state near Dumka , just adjoining the Birbhum district of Bengal is a testimony to the bygone era The terracotta temples mostly dedicated to Lord Shiva built in between 17th -19th century under the Baj basanta dynasty still stand tall. Flanked by mud houses and a handful of cemented houses ,these temples portray different mythological scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata.
From the original 108 temples only a handful of 72 remaining temples have made it to a heritage site of the country.
The square structured temples were built in the Chala architecture, depicting the unique thatched mud houses of Bengal.
The intricate terracotta plaques were surprisingly not carved on the surface of the temples but stuck onto the surface using a indigenous mixture of molasses,horse hair, coconut fibre etc.
The Global heritage fund( GHF) has started the restoration of the temples and have declared it as one of the 12 endangered crafts architectural sites.
