The century-old Kharshuti Shiva Temple, a sandstone temple located in Kharshuti village under Faridpur's Boalmari upazila, is on the verge of ruin due to years of neglect and lack of maintenance.

Despite locals demanding the temple's preservation, no step has been taken so far.

According to locals, the temple was constructed early 20th century by Ishan Chandra Ghosh, a landlord and businessman who became an assistant director of public administration during the British regime. The British Raj had conferred him the title of 'Roy Bahadur'.

Ishan Ghosh constructed the Shiva temple on 90 square metre land in front of his residence, and later a primary school next to his kachhari house in 1919.

The temple is now within the grounds of Kharshuti Chandra Kishor High School.

"This Shiva temple is one of the only five sandstone temples in the country. The sandstones used to construct the temple were brought from India's Rajasthan using waterways. The temple has a large area, and its altar is much higher than other temples. It has two entrances with two beautiful balconies. Inside the temple there is a black stone Shiva linga. There was also an ox made of white marble, and a trident on the apex of the roof, but these items got stolen, and the temple is now on verge of ruin due to negligence," said Md Alauddin, a freedom fighter and former chairman of Ghoshpur union parishad.

Visiting the temple recently, this correspondent saw the entrance is blocked by an iron fence. The wooden doorways are engraved with snake figures and the image of Lord Vishnu. Its octagonal pillars, each set upon a square base, feature inverted lotus designs at the top. Cornices are decorated with flower, leaf and spear patterns.

Selina Hossain, head teacher of Kharshuti Chandra Kishor High School said "Ishan Ghosh's house has been converted into the school. We have been taking care of this temple within the school compound. We have made a several attempts so that the archeology department could take charge of the temple. Some officials of the archeology department came to visit the temple, but no initiative has yet been taken to preserve it."

Md Rafiqul Islam, a retired teacher of the school and also a local resident, said unless the archaeology department takes steps to preserve this temple, it will be destroyed over time due to neglect and lack of maintenance, like some of the other buildings constructed by Ishan Ghosh.

The number of Hindus in the area has decreased significantly over the years. As a result, prayers are not offered at the temple any more, which led to its ruin," said Md Momin, a resident of neighbouring Amgachhia village.

Echoing him, Ranju Begum, a resident of Kharsuti village, said "After I got married in 1977, I came to this village and saw puja being held in this temple. The last priest of the temple was Kushi Das, who left in 2011. Since then, puja has stopped in the temple."

Tanvir Hasan Chowdhury, upazila nirbahi officer of Boalmari, said he was not aware about the temple.

"I will inquire about the temple and take steps to preserve it through the district administration," he said.