My Chandernagore and her Jagaddhatri Puja: 2009

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Nritya Gopal Smriti Mandir

Built by Sri Harihar Sett, and donated to the people of Chandannagore. This building still serves as a theatre hall cum library. It was the pioneer of its kind in the entire locality.

Residences of famous personalities

Chandernagore had hosted a galaxy of famous personalities who had strong impact not only on contemporary society but also affected Indian History. The revolutionary leader Rash Behari Bose’s paternal house stands at Fatokgorah, near Chandernagore station. Kanailal Datta and the great social reformer Sri Harihar Sett were also of Chandernagore. Upendra Nath Bandopadhyay, the founder of Dynak Basumoti a daily bengali news paper, Mr. Jatindra nath Bandopadhyay were among the other renowned personalities of this historic town.

Nandadulal Temple

Built by Indranarayan Roychoudhury in 1970, The Nandadulal temple presents an excellent example of ancient Indian sculptures. There are many fascinating temples devoted to Kali, Shiva and other deities which show instances of brilliant craftsmanship and artistic taste of the contemporary people.

The Underground House (Patal-Bari)

The building is another beautiful instance of the advancement in the knowledge of architecture and the aesthetic sense of the people of those gone-by days. Its lowest floor is submerged in the River Ganga. The great and first nobel laureate from Asia, Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore frequently visited the place and appreciated a lot about the building. He felt that the place influenced him to a large extent and broadened his intellectual capabilities. Mention of Patal-bari can be found in many of his famous novels. The famous social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar also stayed in the building. The house was owned by the ruling family of nearby Bansberia.

The Sacred Heart Church of Chandannagar (l’Eglise du Sacré Cœur)

The church stands there to mark the beauty of the architecture during the French period for about two centuries. It is a must visit for tourists as well as historians. The remains of the Church of St. Louis also attracts tourists.

Chandernagore Strand

A beautiful tourist spot along the banks of the river Ganga the strand is a superbly decorated pavement studded with colorful lights surrounded by lushy greens. It is about 1 km (0.62 mi) in length and 7 metres (23 ft) in width with many buildings of historical importance surrounding the spot. It is very popular visiting spot of the local people too.Tourists love to stroll along enjoying the mild breeze and watching the small boats sail by the Ganga. Along the strand are present Vivekananda Mandir (a meditation centre) and a protruding structure into the river Ganga. This is supposed to be the best decorated bank of the river along her entire length of 2,500 km (1,600 mi).

Chandannagore Museum and Institute (Institut de Chandernagor)

Being one of the oldest and finest museums of the entire region, the Chandernagore museum presents an unmatching collection of French antiques like cannons used in Anglo-French war, wooden furniture of 18th century French lords, etc. The institute also teaches French through regular classes.

Places of tourist interest

Chandernagore is of great importnce to tourists as well as historians. Starting from the French museum to Chuti park, Chandernagore is full of places to visit.

Chuti and New Digha are two famous amusement parks located westwards in the city of Chandernagore.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Rituals and the idol

The formal difference between goddess Durga and Jagaddhatri lies in Mayatantra and Jagaddhatri is mentioned with reference to Durga in Krishnanda’s Tantrasaar. The rule to perform the special puja of the goddess on the ninth lunar day of the light fortnight in the Bengali month of Kartick has been mentioned in Krityatattarnab by Srinath Acharyachuramoni of the 15-16th century. The four-handed goddess is carried by the lion everywhere, an elephant lies at the feet of the lion. The idol has an old fashioned shaping, i.e. the face cutting is of a longish pattern; it has large eyes spread up to the ears and the four hands display conch, discus, shaft and bow respectively. The snake is her sacred thread. One of the main attraction of Jagaddhatri idol of Chandernagore is the ornamental decoration of the goddess with shola (stick) and daker shaj (beautiful canvas of mats) with aweful painting at the back of the image.

A brief history

The ancient history of Jagaddhatri Puja in Chandernagore is unknown even today. It is believed that Indranarayan Chowdhury introduced the Jagadhatri Puja in Chandernagore similar in rituals to Raja Krishnachandra of Krishnanagore. Jagaddhatri Puja made its debut in Krishnanagore in 1762. Indranarayan Choudhury died in 1756. So Indranarayan Choudhury by no means could have introduced the Jagaddhatri puja in Chandernagore. The beginning of Jagaddhatri puja in Chandernagore probably dates back earlier than 1750. Indranarayan Choudhury performed the Jagaddhatri puja at his own house in Chandernagore, at that time Raja Krishnachandra used to come to borrow money from Indranarayan Choudhury. Perhaps this was when Raja Krishnachandra was attracted to greatness of goddess Jagadhatri.

Wandering ???

Wandering all your memory lanes to match this one with something you have seen? It may be just a wastage of time.

Now let me Explain.

Its a cactus placed in an earthenware with the head of a clay doll placed in such place&way that it is enough to leave the sharpest brains wandering their memory lanes.

Where on earth is this ?

Don't worry. I have answer for that question also. It is in a house in Natun Para, Mankundu, Chandernagore, Hooghly, West-Bengal, India.

Wanna one for your place too ? !!!