Reliving Kolkata street life

"Years ago, I left you

Kolkata and came away:

no, not to another city

nor another home.  "----- Pritish Nandy

#1: Parked hand pulled rickshaw 

Kolkata is a city which always evokes memories of my childhood visits. I did not grow up in the city but returned to it to complete my studies and start my working life.

Like Pritish Nandy's the relationship with the city was always intense. The initial visits on school holidays started with the cavernous Howrah railway station and negotiating one's way through hawkers, passengers, beggars and destitute pavement dwellers to the bus terminus. Repulsion was the overwhelming emotion mixed with wide eyed wonder for the boy from a small industrial town. 

    #2: View of Howrah Station from the river

Howrah station subway in the 1970s/80s was a distressing sight for a child. A powerful stench of urine, thin scavenging dogs,  destitutes lying in their own waste with flies buzzing hit my senses like a powerful bull dozer. However as I stepped out into the sunlight and boarded the then extant red double decker buses repulsion gradually gave way to wonder.  The bus crossed the magnificent Howrah bridge and plunged into the melee of Posta and Burrabazar with its hand pulled carts and porters balancing huge loads.   After crossing the business district with the lake and the food stalls the bus would pick up speed and go past the green Maidan eventually arriving at our destination -a leafy green suburb on the south western outskirts. I would end up repeating this trip over the years during school holidays. Over time the city started to work its strange charm. The crumbling buildings with its green damp infested walls, corner tea shops, white clad traffic police, the yellow taxis all blend into the experience of Kolkata. Later I would take in the different facets of city life - the college street bookshops, the packed buses and trams, political processions, the latest Hollywood blockbusters in Globe, New Empire and Lighthouse, Tibetan food, classical concerts in Rabindra Sadan and glorious cuisine that ranged from Indochinese street food to Anglo-Indian gourmet food served only in the colonial era clubs. 

Then somewhere in the early 2000s I left the city for work but returned every year to visit my parents my in laws and my friends

Over the last two decades of my absence in the city the pervasive human misery that so repulsed me as  a child has receded. So has the hidden ponds and lakes, coconut and betelnut groves. The city has emerged beyond its faded colonial ruins and crumbling buildings but encased itself in more concrete. There are more high-rises, swanky shopping malls, a well planned new town and comfortable commuting with the ubiquitous Ola and Uber taxi services. The continuing brain drain of young people seeking aspirational careers  have left the city to their pensioner parents.

This time (Oct 2021) I had gone back after nearly two years due to Covid lockdowns and travel bans. May be due to the gap more than ever my heart pined for the Calcutta of my childhood- the old colonial era buildings and their neglected, unpainted exposed brick surfaces. Also the hidden colonial houses and gardens you didn't know even existed, the smell of rotting leather in china town, the street life and the street food all beckoning me to a different more laid back and simple world. 

 This writeup is essentially a photo journey where I have stepped through my own nostalgia for the city.  These are a set of random photos which I have tried to structure to outline some of the key themes of Kolkata city life ranging from street food, local barbers, rickshaws to old dilapidated buildings and rain. 

Its no wonder then that I started my trip by indulging in memories of the city's street food.

#3: chicken chowmein shop 

The ubiquitous chowmein shops is a throwback to a rich cultural intermingling and in a culinary way one of the truest reflections of the city- its love for street food and its openness to experiment.  I clicked them when they were getting ready for the  busy evening time. 

The next two photos cover more on the association of food and the city.

#4: The muslim snack shop during Durga Puja

The Muslim food stall guys represent the mosaic of life in central Kolkata where Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities live close to each other

#5: The Bengali fishmonger

Fresh water fish in an integral part of Bengali cuisine and culture. A visit to the fish mongers is essential to really understand the bengali psyche. Open municipal bazars selling fish is still a common sight though increasingly fish is being sold from the air conditioned confines of supermarkets

#6: The neighbourhood barber shop. 

We landed just before the big Durga Puja festivities  when the local barber shops and saloons experience high demand as young men want to look their best during the festival days. This barber shop appealed to me as it was a throwback to the old Calcutta I knew before the advent of beauty parlours and boutique hair dressers. The faded framed photographs of freedom fighters, the white tube light, the blackened wooden chairs all reminded me of the way the city once was when life was so much simpler

#7: The solitary reaper

This ground floor grocery shop in an old building in a narrow central kolkata alleyway to me is such a metaphor for this city. The bright fluorescent blue paint  on the walls of a dilapidated but once grand private house, the disinterested and lonely grocer all adds up to 

#8: The fashion conscious rickshaw driver

This young rickshaw driver with his decked up Rickshaw  was waiting for customers next to the Durga Puja marquees in a central kolkata alleyway.  Very fittingly the background is a Christian church, the rickshaw driver is a muslim and the occasion a hindu festival

#9:Ghoshal Bari near college street

Though there numbers are dwindling through real estate development and sheer neglect, Kolkata is a treasure trove of old colonial era family mansions. Most of the buildings are dilapidated with plants growing from the cracks but they hark back to an earlier better time for the city. The once grand but now crumbling buildings  now besieged by multiple tenants, the working class areas with their small mosques and temples, sudden crowds of children

#10: College Street bookshop

A city with a dedicated marketplace/neighbourhood for books is a city with its heart at the right place. Kolkata's book street or Boi para-college street is a favourite haunt  for students, artists, teachers, budding poets, tourists and  all book lovers. If you are wandering around college street you would usually end up in the iconic coffee house for some unwinding and intellectual adda while sipping endless cups of sweet milky coffee

#11: The iconic coffee house near college street

#12: Buying Lakshmi Puja idols in Beliaghata

This photo was taken on the evening before Lakshmi Pujo!! This event on the full moon evening immediately after Durga Pujo in the Bengali calendar that is associated with so many childhood memories!! The intricate Alpana’s of the Goddess’s feet at the doorsteps, the gradually improving weather after the rains, the ritual offerings especially the khichuri, তিলের নাড়ু (sesame seed balls), grapefruits. Coming closely after the separation pangs of Bijoya dashami it offers some respite to the Bengali soul!

#13: Kolkata after rain

2021 saw unseasonal rain even after the rainy season was technically over.  Streets of kolkata like this one in Golf Green emerges in vivid watercolour images

   #14: Birds after rain

#15: Two lost souls in a rainy central Kolkata evening

As a friend reminded me on seeing the caption to this photo that all those wander are not lost and another suggested two souls encased in a concrete jungle. This photo of a rainy evening in a central Kolkata street evokes a sense of alienation and deep longing 

The rain always reminds me of  a poem from one of my favourite Bengali poet-Shakti Chattopadhyay. His poems resonate with me especially as Kolkata holds a special place of affection with him

"Rain on Kolkata's chest
(কলকাতার বুক পেতে বৃষ্টি)- Shakti Chattopadhyay

(translated from the original Bengali by Nandini Gupta)

Unasked, the rain arrives, the drops beating on tin sheds,
Like furious horse hooves, strewing roads with flowers.
Liquid streams down garbage mounds; a different Kalijhora this,
Flowing not amid bungalows but Kolkata’s hideous homes.
The rain arrives, flooding lanes, washing away
Tales, bedclothes, fish-scales, peels, the torpor
Of middle class homes, careless politics, ballot papers, dry bits of wood,
All that. Rain and rain-drenched picnics are necessary;
To Kolkata, and also to the dead grass.
Birthing rooms this way, Nimtala ashes that,
Life, death, and other trifles scatter in the rain.
Kapas cotton unfailingly lies down between satin covers.
The rain goes to bed a little late, on Kolkata’s chest."

Sacred Bengal Part 2: Bansberia, Kalna and Guptipara

The idea of a trip to see the Terracotta temples of Hooghly came to me from a chance encounter with some beautiful photographs of ruined temples.The images evoked loss and desolation but also stirred your memories and cultural roots  These photos were taken by a close friends school mate who happened to be a Government officer with a dual passion of photography and terracotta temples. That was the start of my journey about popularly little known and acknowledged part of Bengali heritage. My earlier trip in the autumn of 2017 took me deep into Hooghly hinterland- historically prosperous villages, trading towns and river ports in a land of agricultural plenty. I wrote about this in my blog https://desieyeinlondon.blogspot.com/2017/10/sacred-bengal-retracing-david.html
Some of the beautifully carved Terracotta temples in these villages and towns are in dire need of preservation like the Raj Rajeswar temple in Kotolpur whereas some like the Aatpur Aatchala temple is well looked after by the owning families. Some others have been badly preserved which I was horrified to learn have been painted over by some lurid red exterior paints. There are only a handful of temples in Hooghly which have been restored and are maintained by the ASI which I could not cover in my previous trip

This time our journey took us into a different direction towards north eastern Hooghly and the historical spiritual heart of Bengal around the Kalna-Guptipara. We started our day with an early morning trip along the Grand Trunk Road towards Hooghly and took a break while passing by a strikingly beautiful memorial standing alone by the roadside. It is the Memorial of Susanna Anna Maria in the outskirts of Chandannagar. Rumoured to have married seven times this was an unusual memorial to who was no a doubt a formidable Dutch lady in 19th century Bengal. She is rumoured to be the inspiration behind Ruskin Bond's acclaimed short story "Susanna's Seven Husbands"

1. Susanna Anna Maria Memorial: Chandannagar

Susanna Anna Memorial:
Built around 1809 its an octagonal monument with Corinthian columns
with dome and steeple with a series of steps leading to it

2. Hooghly Imambara: Hooghly

On our way to Bansberia we took a small detour to visit the beautiful Hooghly Imambara on the banks of the Hooghly river. Built between 1841-1861 by noted philanthropist Haji Muhammud Mohsin  this Imambara (a Shia mosque complex and prayer hall) is unusual as its Twin Towers on the entrance Gateway host a Big Ben style clock which rings every 15 minutes. The sound is exactly the same as that of the Big Ben in London

Hooghly Imambara: Twin Towers

Hooghly Imambara: Left Wing

Hooghly Imambara: Porticoed entrance to Hallway

The Hooghly Imambara is an awe-inspiring structure with its incongruous 19th century Big Ben style European clock and stained glass windows but in urgent need of renovation. Some repair work is already underway as you can make out from scaffolding on the twin towers.

3. Ananta Basudeb & Hongseswari Temples: Bansberia

The Bansberia temple complex consists of two temples constructed in different times in completely contrasting architectural styles. While the Ananta Basudeb is built in the traditional Bengali Terracotta style the onion domed Hongseshwari temple is  completely unique with no parallels in Bengal.

Built in 1679 by Rameshwara Dutta, the Ananta Basudeb is one of the rare temples in Hooghly to be restored and is maintained by the ASI. It is one of the finest and best preserved examples of the Eka-Ratna( single turret) architectural  style. The Ratna style is known to have evolved from Indo-Islamic confluence in Architecture,  The Eka-Ratna in Ananta Basudev has an Octagonal Tower and the temple facade itself is well known for its beautiful and intricately designed Terracotta panel work. As in other temples religious and mythological themes dominate. But there are scenes from daily life and battle scenes as well. 

Ananta Basudev, Bansberia: Eka Ratna temple with a Garden complex

Ananta Basudev, Bansberia: Example of temple facade Terracotta panel work

Ananta Basudev, Bansberia: Scenes from daily life in Terracotta panel work

The adjoining Hongseshwari Temple was built much later around 1814. Built in a completely alien onion domed smooth style the Hongseswari defies classification but you could argue that its a unique  adaptation of the "Ratna" architecture

Hongseshwari Temple,  Bansberia: Unique Spired structure 

Hongseshwari Temple,  Bansberia: Front Facade

Bansberia Raj bari: Now ruined entrance to the Raj Bari complex
(Photo courtesy ©  Amit Mitra)

Bansberia has been part of the prosperous Saptagram or Seven villages in the pre-middle and middle ages. One of the prosperous river port towns it was built on a revered site of  Triveni or the confluence of three rivers. This temple complex is also intriguing from the coexistence of the Vaishnava Bhakti tradition with the Shakta-tantric tradition. The older Ananta Basudev temple is dedicated to Vishnu while the later Hongseshwari temple is dedicated to Shakti.

3. Wooden bridge from 18th Century: Kuntighat

On our way to Kalna from Bansberia we stopped briefly on the Kunti river. We were told by a local about a wooden bridge which has survived from Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daula's times ( to be verified) few minutes driving distance away.

18th Century Wooden Bridge at Kuntighat over Kunti River

Kunti River, Kuntighat: Fresh vegetables being transported down river by boat just as it would have been in Siraj ud Daula's time

4. Nabakailash 108 Shiva Temple: Kalna

Situated on the western bank of the Bhagirathi-/Hooghly river Kalna has historically been an important trading hub and a spiritual centre of immense importance in Bengali culture.  Along with Nabadweep in the western bank and Santipur on the eastern bank its a revered place in the Vaishnava Bhakti movement and closely associated with the life story of Shri Chaitanya. In addition its closeness to Gupitpara-the seat of Shakta and Shaivite traditions make it a holy place for the Shakta spiritual school as well. 

Once the residing place of the Bardhaman royal family the town hosts a string of well preserved Terracotta temples. We started our exploration with  the 108 Shiva temples complex which is also known as Nabakailash

Constructed by the enigmatic Bardhaman Maharaja Tejchand in 1809 Nabakailash is the most beautiful example of Shiva temples which usually dot thousands of Bengal villages. The complex has two concentric rings with a deep well in the centre. The outer ring consists of 74 temples and the inner ring 34 temples. the Shivalingas in each of the temples point north- to Mount Kailash the abode of Lord Shiva.

Nabakailash Temple, Kalna: Panorama view of the inner and outer rings

Nabakailash Temple, Kalna: Outer Ring of 74 Shiva temples with some of the inner ring temples visible to the right and  the crown of Lalji temple visible in the centre

Nabakailash Temple, Kalna: Inner ring of temples with the well to the right

Nabakailash Temple, Kalna: Path from inner courtyard to outer courtyard

Nabakailash Temple, Kalna: Inside view of Shiva linga oriented towards North

5. Rajbari Temple Complex: Kalna

Adjoining the beautiful Nabakailash temple is the stunning Rajbari temple complex with its treasure trove of  Ratna, Rekha Deul and Rasmancha style temples and structures. These temples were all constructed by the Bardhaman royal family various times between 1740 and 1849.

Rajbari Temple Complex, Kalna: left to right Pratapeshwar temple, Rasmancha and Lalji temple

Rajbari Temple Complex, Kalna: Pratapeswhar Temple

As you enter the temple complex the first temple to greet you is the Pratapeswar Temple. Constructed in 1849 by Maharaja Tejchand this temple is a rare example of the Rekha Deul architecture which is similar to the Odisha style of temples. It also has one of the best preserved Terracotta facades 

Pratapeshwar Temple: Carved doorway

Pratapeswar Temple: Details of the Terracotta on the doorway

Pratapeshwar Temple: Lady in Balcony terracotta detail

Rajbari Temple Complex, Kalna: The Rasmancha with hints of  Islamic  influence  in the architecture

Rajbari Temple Complex: Krishna Chandra Temple

The Krishna Chandra Temple is one of the rare and best known examples of a Panchabingshati Ratna ( 25 Ratna). There are only a few surviving 25 Ratnas in Bengal today. This temple was constructed by Lakshmikumari in 1752.

Krishna Chandraji Temple: Example of detail from Barsha (Flank)

Krishna Chandra Ji Temple: Example of a rare erotic themed panels

Rajbari Temple Complex Kalna: Vijay Vaidyanath Temple

Unfortunately we were not able to visit the famous Lalji Temple of this complex since the temple was closed in the afternoon -it being the resting time of Lalji.

6. Gopal Jiu Temple at Gopal Bari, Kalna

Gopalbari Temple, Kalna: Panchabinghsati Ratna

The Gopal Jiu temple at Gopal Bari is one of the oldest surviving Pancha Bingshati Ratna temples. It was built by Krishna Chandra Barman in 1766

7. Jagannath Bari at Jagannath Ghat: Kalna

The Jora Shiva  temples at Jagannat Ghat are built with the  Aatchala style. Originally on the banks of the Bhagirathi the river has now receded changing its course. It was built by Bishnukumari and has now fallen into a state of disrepair

Jagannath Bari,  Kalna

8. Mahaprabhu Mandir at Gauri Das Bati, Kalna

This place is not known for any Terracotta temples rather is an important part of  Shri Chaitanya lore. This mandir is located in the house of Gauridasa Pandit in Ambika Kalna. Gauri Das is known to be one of five Vaishnava Sadhaks who Shri Chaitanya consulted before taking Sanyas, Gauri Das was the only one among the five who disapproved of this decision. After taking Sanyas, Shri Chaitanya is known to have visited Gauri Das's house to placate him. The spot where they met has his foot marks preserved under a giant Tamarind Tree (Tentul/imli tolla)

The meeting took place at night after Shri Chaitanya crossed the river with Nityananda and gifted the boat's Oar to Gauri Dasa saying “With this you should cross over the ocean of material existence, taking all the living entities with you”

The oar is still preserved in the museum at this house. 

Shyam Sundar Bati: Gouridas Pandit's House in Ambika Kalna

Imli tolla: Shri Chaitanya's preserved footprints
(Photo courtesy ©  Amit Mitra)

Imli tolla: 500+ years old Tamarind Tree where the meeting between
 Shri Chaitanya and Gouri Das pandit took place

9. Brindaban Chandra Math, Guptipara

On our way back from Kalna we visited Guptipara. Its popularly believed that Guptipara is where Shakti or Kali worship originated in Bengal. Another ASI maintained  site with a lawn, this complex has the oldest surviving Terracotta Temple in Bengal. It has the iconic Ek Ratna temple- the Ramachandra Temple

Brindaban Chandra Math, Guptipara: Jor Bangla Temple- oldest surviving Terracotta temple in Bengal

Brindaban Chandra Math,Guptipara: Brindaban Chandra Temple

Brindaban Chandra Math, Guptipara: Ram Chandra Temple

We signed off  our visit with the Brindaban Chandra Math at Guptipara. It was a fulfilling day. 

This beautiful architecture is a unique testament to a people's culture and way of living for centuries. While some of these temples are well preserved thanks to restoration by ASI there are hundreds of other temples that are languishing and fallen into various stages of ruin and dilapidation. We owe it to ourselves and our forebears to preserve these outstanding examples of temple architecture.

( special thanks to my friends Shri Amit Mitra and my friend , guide and Terracotta expert Shri Prosenjit Kolay without whom this trip would not be possible)