Photographer: Joseph David Beglar
Joseph David Beglar embarked on a tour of Bengal in 1872 , visiting a large number of sites of historical interest and documenting them thoroughly. He travelled 4500 miles between 1872 and 1873 examining sites in districts such as Bankura, Patna, Birbhum and Gaya to name just a few. The picture shows the Chinpur temple's shikara (tower) in a dilapidated state. Bengal list, pp. 16-17; J.D. Beglar, Report of a tour through the Bengal provinces... (A.S.I. Vol. VIII, Calcutta, 1878), pp. 203: "a solitary laterite temple, but of no ancient date." Laterite is a red clay soil which would have been used to make the bricks which formed the Shikara.
Source: British Library