Blog of Kinjal Bose

Durga Puja of Serampore Dey Bari

Durga Puja is held in many bonedi households in Serampore of which Dey Bari in Dey Street is one of the oldest. This year I paid a visit there in the afternoon and came to know that Durga Puja started way back in 1748 A.D by Ram Chandra Dey.

Family Durga Pujas in Janai and Baksha

A number of families in Janai and adjoining Baksha in Chanditala II block of Hooghly district celebrate Durga Puja with great pomp and splendour even today. Some of the pujas are pretty old. This year I decided to cover four such pujas – two each in Janai and Baksha, though there are other pujas also.

Twin Shiva Temples, Baranagar

There are a number of temples in Baranagar – some of which are pretty old. One such temple situated near Kutighat is a twin Shiva temple more than 160 years old.

Bhadrakali Temple, Doltala, Uttarpara

Uttarpara, the fourth station in Howrah-Bandel section of Eastern Railway is roughly 11 kilometres from Howrah. This small yet beautiful town of Hooghly district has a number of things to offer.

Shyamsundar Temple, Jhikira, Howrah

Jhikira and Rautara are two side-by-side villages in Amta II block of Howrah district. They are famous for temples – some have even intricate terracotta works on them. The oldest temple in Jhikira is Shyamsundar Temple of Madhyapara.

Rasmancha, Baro taraf, Hadal Narayanpur, Bankura

The twin villages of Hadal Narayanpur located in Patrasayer block of Bishnupur subdivision of Bankura district has a number of terracotta temples and a seventeen pinnacled octagonal rasmancha.

Shiva Temples of Sahaganj, Hooghly

Bandel, a junction station, in Howrah-Barddhaman main line is roughly 38 kilometres from Howrah. On one sunny Sunday morning in March this year I boarded the Bandel local from Howrah and reached there. From Bandel I took an auto and headed for Sahaganj which is around 4 kilometres from there via Chinsurah-Bansberia Road. My destination is the Shiva Temples of Sahaganj founded by the Nandi family.

Temples of Rautara, Howrah

Rautara, a village in Amta II block of Howrah district about 57 kilometres from Kolkata is situated on the eastern side of Jhikira, another nearby village. The village of Rautara has a number of terracotta temples and other architecture of which Damodar Temple in Sarkarpara deserves special mention. The south-facing barochala (twelve roofed) temple has an adjoining aatchala dolmancha, a nahabatkhana and an octagonal rasmancha. This type of temple is pretty rare in Bengal temple architecture. Possibly this barochala has ratha projections.

Temples of Baksa, Hooghly

Baksa, a village in Chanditala II block of Serampore subdivision of Hooghly district has a number of temples from aatchala to nabaratna and they are more two hundred years old.

Ram Sita Temple, Doltala, Uttarpara

Uttarpara, the fourth station in the Howrah-Bandel line, is roughly about 11 kilometers from Howrah. It can be reached either by road or by rail and even by water. Uttarapara being the first municipality of Bengal was created in 1853. This beautiful town houses the first public library built by Joykrishna Mukhopadhyay in 1849, which, at that time was the biggest library of India.