A ceturies-old Payradanga temple at Kachari Payradanga village under Nageswari municipality of Kurigram has remained neglected for long by the authorities concerned.

The temple is situated beside the Kurigram-Nageswari-Bhurungamari road on 15 decimals of land at Kachari Payradanga village in Nageswari municipality under Nageswari upazila of the district.

No one knows exactly when it was built, but locals say it is around three hundred years old.

The temple was constructed with bricks and choon-surki (powdered lime and brick). Due to neglect, a 180-foot-high banyan tree has grown on it.  

There are 21 Hindu families living beside the temple. They requested the mayor and local lawmaker several times to take up maintenance of the temple and build a boundary wall around the land, but no steps have been taken for that purpose.

Amol Krishna Sarkar, 48, secretary of the temple committee, said, "We requested the local public representatives to renovate the temple. They said before the elections that they would do it, but they forgot about the temple after getting elected."

"We, have been observing Durga Puja, Shitali Puja and Haribash (Mahanam Jaggo) here for years. Thousands of Hindus come here from Hasnabad, Kaliganj and Bhitarband unions, and from Nageswari municipality. We have erected a 27-foot long tin-shed for conducting our activities," said Amol.

Hasen Ali, ward commissioner of the municipality, said, "Payradanga temple is one of the oldest temples in the northern part of the country. Here, thousands of Hindus observe various pujas every year. I raised the issue in our development meeting, and the mayor agreed to give some allocation in the coming budget for constructing its boundary wall."