Bhadreswar, a municipal town of Hooghly district of West Bengal can be reached both by road and rail. It is roughly forty minutes from Howrah by train in the Howrah-Bandel section of Eastern Railway. This industrial town finds mention in Bipradas’ Manasamangal. During the medieval times this area was a renowned seat of Sanskrit learning.
Continue reading Rathayatra in Akshay Tritiya at Telinipara, Bhardreswar, HooghlyCategory: Hooghly
Rathayatra of Dasghara
Hooghly district of West Bengal is famous for Rathayatra – Mahesh in Serampore, Guptipara and Dasghara to name a few. Last year I was pretty lucky to visit Dasghara in the afternoon. It was a very hot and humid day. I took a train from Howrah and reached Tarakeswar at about quarter to two in the afternoon. Then I went to the bus stand and boarded a bus going to Dasghara. I sat by the window and when the bus started, I found after some time the landscape changed from urban to rural. Yes, we are leaving the temple town of Tarakeswar. The bus was more or less packed; but nobody was standing. After some thirty minutes I got down at Bazaar para and started walking towards my destination. Continue reading Rathayatra of Dasghara
Henry Martin’s Pagoda
Serampore, a sub-divisional town in Hooghly district of West Bengal is only about 18 kilometres from Howrah. It is the eight station in Howrah-Bandel line of the Eastern Railway. The Grand Trunk Road passes through this town. The town can be reached either by road or by water; other than the rail route. This town has a rich history to offer. The Danes named this town as Fredericknagar in 1757 in the name of the then King Frederick V of Denmark.
Shandeswartala Temple, Chinsurah
Chinsurah or Chuchura is the district headquarters of Hooghly. It is situated about 37 kilometers north of Kolkata by the western side of the Ganges. This town was previously a Dutch settlement till 1825. The town had a number of heritage monuments.
Jateswara Shiv Mandir, Mahanad
Mahanad, a village about 13 kilometers from Tribeni in Chinsurah sub division of Hooghly district of West Bengal has a historical importance. Apart from the famous Mahanad Kali Mandir, there is another Shiva Temple dedicated to Jateswara Shiva. The god of Nath sect of Mahanad is Jateswara Shiv. It is not known as to when the Jateswara Shiva Temple was built; but considering the temple architecture it is assumed that it was built in the middle of the eighteenth century; though later the temple was renovated by Tarak Chandra Saha.
Tulsimancha
Manchas are of three types – rasmancha, dolmancha and tulsimancha. In my previous blog posts I have written about Rasmancha and Dolmancha. Today I will concentrate on tulsimancha. Of the three manchas, tulsimancha is the smallest and is mainly found in domestic households and also in many temples of West Bengal. A tulsimancha is built centering a tulsi tree.
Dolmancha
Manchas are of three types – dolmancha, rasmancha and tulsimancha. Of these tulsimanchas are present not only in domestic households but also in many temples of West Bengal. Of the three a rasmancha is larger than a dolmancha while the latter is larger than a tulsimancha. According to David McCutchion, “The dolmancha was most commonly built in the eighteenth century, …… they are spread over the whole of Bengal, wherever Krishna was worshipped.”
St. Olav’s Church, Serampore
Serampore, now a sub-divisional town, located about 20 kilometers from Kolkata was formally a Danish settlement from 1755 to 1845. This 90 year Danish rule in Fredericksnagore or Serampore had a number of glorious achievements of which the construction of St. Olav’s Church under the Governorship of Col. Ole Bie (1776-1805) deserves mention. Ole Bie’s twenty nine years as Governor was the longest sitting head of Serampore’s Danish Government. The Denmark Tavern (1786) was also opened during Bie’s Governorship. The Tavern, though set up at Serampore was surprisingly not opened by any Danish but by a British innkeeper named James Patt, who had prior experience at The London Tavern.
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