Photography Exhibition
A photo exhibition on the domestic private heritage buildings of Chandernagore was conducted at the French Institute, Chandernagore. Inhabitants of Chandernagore across numerous age groups participated in the event and were sensitized about the wonder that is Chandernagore! The institute wall not only displayed fascinating photographs of these palatial buildings, but also excerpts from interviews of 'owner-custodians' that brought out lively phenomenological narratives and perceptions. It was a visual and emotional treat to the audience who felt attached to the place and space through these vivid illustrations and comments. Experts including A. Panda and Arul from INTACH Pondicherry were invited to deliver presentations to local inhabitants on strategies that had been successful to preserve the built heritage of the former French colony. There were lively presentations, interactions, exchanges among invited experts, project teams, 'owner-custodians', and other inhabitants of Chandernagore who turned up for the exhibition.
Multi-Stakeholder Round-Table at the British Council
A multi-stakeholder round-table conference was conducted at the British Council, Kolkata on involving the project team, the state government planning officers, secretary of the West Bengal Heritage Commission among others. That the project aims to come up with a comprehensive Heritage Management Strategy by 2020 was explained by the project team. There were brainstorming sessions and exercises involving all participants to explore strategies towards the accomplishment of the project objective. The participants discussed laws that needed to be mobilized, avenues of funding, as well as ways to get over the apathy of private heritage property owners towards conservation.
River-Symposium
Heritage site visits in Chandernagore and Serampore were conducted followed by river-symposium. Project team members including academicians, photographers, volunteers and invited resource persons (secretary of the West Bengal Heritage Commission and municipal planners) participated in the day-long programme. A fascinating presentation was delivered by the UK Co-PI Dr Helle Jorgensen on the cultural heritage of Tranquebar.
Places Visited:
Chandernagore: The sacred Heart Church of Chandernagore, Prabartak School, Ashram and Library, Surya Kumar Modak shop, Liberty Gate, Nrityagopal Smriti Bhavan, Cancer Hospital, Nandadulal Temple and some other old houses.
Serampore: Sir William Carey cemetery, Serampore college, Danish Tavern, Jagannath Temple, Serampore Rajbari, Serampore court and some other old houses.
School Sensitisation
A meaningful meeting and exchange with school teachers of Chandanagore was conducted at the Chandanagore Municipal Corporation to sensitize them about the heritage fest scheduled on November 25. While the Indian PI presented an overview of how this project was formulated as part of a collaborative venture between UK and India and explained in detail project objectives, agenda, and outcomes, the local lead honorary researchers informed the participants about series of events that will be conducted during the heritage fest. Detailed information was also provided about the use of LAYAR App. The honorable Mayor and Education Officer participated in the program and delivered briefly on the significance of this project and the need to scale it up.
Heritage Excursion
Itachuna Rajbari – A Case Study Visit
This one-hectare eighteenth-century palatial compound is one of the very few privately owned functioning heritage enterprise in West Bengal. The larger project team organised a day visit to understand its operational and marketing strategies. It caters to wedding, conference, trade, and for overnight stays and, crucially, it has a functioning dalaan devotional space at its centre with regular services. The place has a significant web presence at itachunarajbari.com
The initiative to start and build this enterprise has its origins with a key single member in the ancestral family who owns the palace. This individual gained commercial expertise in the US and then built up this hospitality enterprise in the former family seat. Although the family does have apartments in Itachuna, they generally reside in Kolkata or abroad. As other visitors, testify on the usual visitor websites, the project team found the place extremely well maintained and well run by professional staff, senior members have good knowledge of English. Team members found the views across the green and prosperous agricultural land from the roof with the rituals ringing out below was very impressive as the evening drew in. It is clear that a great deal of thought has been given to the delivery of the food and beverage offering which have elements of luxury built into it. It is clear that the venue positions itself as giving day visitors and overnight guests a taste of the luxury enjoyed by the Rajbari's Maratha owners since Shri Safalllya Narayan Kundu began its construction in 1766.
Clearly, Chandernagore and Hugli more generally, with its grand houses near the Hugli River would be the ideal location for homestays or for a similar form of enterprise and a detailed assessment of the viability of this will be a feature of the Project's future Hugli Heritage Management Strategy Report due in 2020. The contacts made with the senior staff during our visit will help us to learn more about this rare privately-owned success story in West Bengal.
Heritage Walks
Heritage Walk 1
Tiasha De, student of Chandernagore College and also a member of Hooghly River of Cultures project writes her experiences of a Heritage Walk she conducted on 3rd October
On 3rd October 2018, the first-ever heritage walk delivered by Hooghly River of Cultures Project volunteers took place. It was delivered to forty or so students from the Department of English of Surendranath College for Women, who came up from Kolkata. It was surprisingly easy for me to prepare as I visited so many heritage sites in the course of my volunteering for the project team. I feel lucky when I was invited to deliver the walk at a relatively short notice. I tried my level best to perform the task. On the very day, we started our tour a little late due to some minor difficulties with the late arrival of the bus from Kolkata but it was fine from then on. My expert mentor Mrs Neline Mondal and myself were the ones who guided the students for this Heritage walk. It was a privilege for me to show them all the parts of my hometown. We visited various spots like the Strand, the Church, the Museum, the Library, and the Nandadulal Mandir. The participants were filled with awe on seeing the beauty of the Strand and were also amazed by the story behind every site The tour was successful as later many of them said that it was a great experience for them. I too had a positive experience as a heritage guide and showed them the place I grew up. Dr Ian Magedera and Dr Antara Mukherjee were a big help in shaping my preparation.
Though I did not get an ample amount of time to tell the group everything but it was a fulfilling experience for them and I was happy on seeing such happy reactions of the students. We hope that this kind of heritage walks will keep on happening so that the inhabitants, as well as the visitors, can gain a piece of proper knowledge about Chandannagar as a whole.
Heritage Walk 2
On Christmas day, 2018, Know Your Neighbour organized a Day long Trip to Chandannagar.
Our journey commenced from Howrah Station, while the rest of our group joined us at Chandannagar.
The first part of our program was ably guided by Souptik Choudhury of the Hugli River of Cultures Project who showed us around the town.
We visited the B.Ed College, an interesting example of colonial architecture built by local elites; the French cemetery where we saw the coming together of different European forms of architecture and the tomb of the controversial Radhanath Sikdar, recently discovered; the Lal Dighi where a fort once stood; the Gala Kuthi, where glue (needs better word) was crafted, and which later became the Cancer Hospital, one of the few places where the characteristic French window can still be seen; the Nandadulal temple, built by a local ijaradar in the 1740s, in the style of aatchala.
Stopping for stimulating tea and snacks in the crisp winter afternoon, we went through the Burrabazar area where we saw an old French school, and many examples of how older structures were making way for newer ones, in between catching a glimpse of the জগৎধাত্রী ঠাকুর এর কাঠামো and the Strand area, where we passed by the schools and offices of the yesteryears.
Our walk ended at the Sacred Heart Church, which beautifully lit and decorated for the Christmas.
We then proceeded for the next part of our program to the book fair. Here we had a discussion session on the 'Representation of the Minorities in the Media'. KYN volunteer Mohona Maitra introduced Know Your Neighbour and our work to the audience.
Sabir Ahamed elaborated on the importance of the initiative and its relevance in current times and spoke of how the media perpetuates stereotypical images of the minorities.
From his ongoing research, our special guest Samrat Amin explained how Bengali soaps and serials, portray images of the Muslims as barbaric, backward, uncivilized, and in dire of rescuing.
KYN Volunteer Madhuri Katti Di spoke on the importance of social media and how its power is being misused to spread ruses and rumours. We were pleasantly surprised at the responses from the audience, who shared with us their stories of amity and unity and made our initiative very meaningful. A local resident perfectly ended the program while sharing his experience with the beautiful Bhakti song of Lallan Fakir.
Our sincerest regards to all our volunteers Mohammad Reyaz, Sabir Ahamed, Madhuri di, Mohona, Sudip Da, and others, Anuran Kar Gupta for the great photos, Antara Muherjee of the Hugli River of Cultures Project, and all who attended the program. We hope you join us for our future events too."
Heritage Walk 3
On February 10, 2020, the Hugli River of Cultures Project organized a Heritage Tour in Chandannagar for Professor Mandira Chakraborty, Mr. Ron Mitra, and for Mr. Ashok Pande, a travel writer, and translator. The tour was conducted by Souptik Choudhury, a project volunteer. The tour explored the town's French colonial background, its revolutionary links to the freedom fighters, and the intangible Bengali heritage and culture.
As the quintessential part of any Chandannagar heritage walk, the visitors experienced the fragrance of the French colonial heritage through structures such as the Barasat Gate, Sacred Heart Church, French Museum (formerly known as the French Governor's House), The Judicial Court compound (previously the Hôtel de Paris), St. Joseph's Convent, the Municipal Corporation building, the former Dupleix College (now known as the Chandannagar Govt. College) Registry Building along with the famous riverside Strand of Chandannagar and its various "Ghats". A walk around the Barabazar locality showcased for the visitors the area formerly known as the "Ville Blanche" or "the town for the white people" during the French rule with a few surviving French era buildings and bungalows.
As this tiny town was a major safe haven for the freedom fighters revolting against British rule, the visitors learned about some of the revolutionary activities of Kanailal Dutta, Makhanlal Ghoshal, Rash Behari Bose, Motilal Roy, etc. Gala Kuthi, an ideal place for hiding the revolutionaries is still imbued with the smell of ammunitions while the wind around the Prabarktak Ashram still whispers the words of Sri Aurobindo and Motilal Roy.
The elegant architectures of the magnificent Nritya Gopal Smriti Mandir and the beautiful Patal Bari present the rich history of local affluent and culturally important families like the Setts, Khans, and Rakshits. Nandadulal Temple, built-in 1740, now only laments the glorious past of the town before the British invasion while the 500-year-old Borai Chandi Temple portrays the presence of this locality in ancient times. An idle evening stroll around the old lanes of Sarisha Para gave the visitors the taste of a traditional Bengali "Para" culture, with its many "roak" or stone seats outside the houses where people still sit and have a chat with their neighbours during their leisure time. The unmatchable taste of steaming cups of tea and local bakery made biscuits at the local Bazar concluded the tour.
Heritage Fest
Pencil sketches of the town's important heritage sites by some of Chandernagore's young citizens who participated, representing their schools and colleges, in the drawing competition at the HeritageFest on 25 November 2018
Theme: 'The heritage building that is most important to me and how I want it to look in the future'
Pre-event drawing entries submitted online by participants for the HeritageFest organised on 25 November 2018
Theme: 'The heritage building that is most important to me and how I want it to look in the future'
List of Winners
PRE-EVENT DRAWING COMPETITION
- ALAPAN SAHA - Chandernagore Kanailal Vidyamandir, English Section - 1st
- SWASTIK MODAK - Chandernagore Kanailal Vidyamandir, English Section - 2nd
- ARPAN MALLICK - Sri Aurobindo Vidyamandir - 3rd
Special Mentions:
- SWETA DEY - CHANDERNAGORE COLLEGE
- BRINDA SAMANTA - CHANDERNAGORE COLLEGE
DRAWING COMPETITION
- ARITRA PAUL - Supreme Knowledge Foundation - 1st
- SOUMIT DAS - Khalisani Mahavidyalaya - 2nd
- ALAPAN SAHA - Chandernagore Kanailal Vidyamandir, English Section - 3rd
Special Mentions
- SWAPNIL MONDAL - CHANDERNAGORE BANGA VIDYALAYA
- SOHAM DASGUPTA - GANGES GURUKUL
- AMLAN MUKHERJEE - KANAILAN VIDYAMANDIR, ENGLISH SECTION
QUIZ
- SOHAM DASGUPTA - Ganges Gurukul - 1st
- SUDIPTA DATTA & ANUKA MANDI - Khalisani Mahavidyalaya - 2nd
- DIP BAIDYA & SUMIT ROY - Chandernagore Banga Vidyalaya - 3rd
QUIZ (AUDIENCE)
- SULAGNA CHAKRABORTY - 1st
- GAUTAM PAL & NIRMALYA KOLEY - 2nd
- REEMA CHATTOPADHYAY - 3rd
DEBATE (FOR THE MOTION – In the opinion of the house heritage conservation is an elitist activity)
- PREYASI SENGUPTA - Lalbagan Balika Vidyalaya - 1st
- SRIJATA SETT - Chandernagore College - 2nd
- SAYANTAN KHAN - Aurobindo Vidyamandir - 3rd
DEBATE (AGAINST THE MOTION – In the opinion of the house heritage conservation is an elitist activity)
- ADRIJA CHAKRABORTY - Supreme Knowledge Foundation - 1st
- PRIYASA MUKHERJEE - Chandernagore College - 2nd
- SHIRSHENDU PRAMANICK - Banga Vidyalaya - 3rd
- ANKANA BHAR - Lalbagan Balika Vidyalaya - 3rd
Participants Volunteers Speakers