Chandrakona is a town and a municipality in the Ghatal subdivision of Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India.

A traceable history of Chandrakona and its adjoining areas begins to emerge about 690 A.D. when the Malla Dynasty was founded at Bishnupur.

But tucked into the less-populated, forest covered fringes of the Chotonagpur plateau, the kingdom of Bishnupur lived by its own standards.

And thanks to its excellent supply-system of agriculturally rich areas irrigated by river Shilaboti and its canals, Chandrakona grew in eminence, though gradually.

17th century scholar Jagamohan Pandit, in his Sanskrit geography-text Deshavali Vivriti, described Chandrakona as an important place in Bhan Desh - a land lying between the rivers Kangsabati and Shilaboti; a rich land where quality jute grew in abundance and sustained a renowned jute-textile industry.

This prosperity was gained even as the Mughals and the Pathans clashed over the terrain for dominance till the former emerged victorious.

The political stability required for this prosperity came Chandrakona's way as the chief of a Rajput contingent, Indraketu, established almost independent rule here in the early 15th century.

At about the same time another Rajput, Gajapati Singh, assumed the rule of Bagri, lying west of Chandrakona.

These two tiny kingdoms fought each other several times during the next centuries, so that their family trees and fate became inextricably entangled.

Guru Nanakji and Mardanaji came to Chandrakona in 1510 on their way to Puri and set up a manji here which has now evolved into a gurudwara revered and visited by Sikhs from different parts of the state.

They efficiently ruled over the town for about 150 years, till in the early eighteenth century Maharaj Kirtichandra of Burdwan overthrew Raghunath Singh, the last of them.

However, most of what constitutes the glory of Chandrakona, its temple complexes and its large tanks, tell us of the interest the Bhan rulers took in public works as well as of their patronage of religion and art.

The legendary prosperity of Chandrakona, a town with fifty-two market places and a network of fifty-three inter-linked roads, owed itself to the efficient administration of the Bhan rulers.

Some of them, like the one at Mitrasenpur, are decorated with excellent terracotta plates depicting events from the Mahabharata and the Avatars of Vishnu.

In addition to the temples, there are three Asthals i.e. monastic establishments of the Sri Vaishnava Ramanuja sampradaya hailing from the spiritual lineage of the Ahobila Mutt.

- Binoy Ghosh, historian[12] Chandrakona and its surrounding areas have numerous temples, some built of laterite, and some are brick-built.

These temples are superb articulation of local architectural styles and present a wide array of terracotta decoration.