Memorandum submitted to declare Baghbazar as heritage zone

The Gaudiya Math authorities along with three people’s representatives of Trinamool Congress have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to declare Baghbazar as a heritage zone.

Modi had visited the math on Sunday and later took part in its centenary celebration at Netaji Indoor Stadium.

Three people’s representatives, Sudip Bandopadhyay, Trinamool MP and two councilors Partha Mitra and Bapi Ghosh submitted the memorandum.

Baghbazar situated in the heart of North Kolkata had played an important role in the religio-cultural revolution in Bengal. It may be mentioned that the area has two roads named after a book and a magazine. They are Biswakosh Lane. Biswakosh, the first book of knowledge in Bengali was written by Nagendranath Basu and Mahatma Gandhi came to his house to congratulate him after his monumental work came out. Another road has been named after Udbodhan, the Bengali organ of the Ramakrishna Mission which has to its credit 117 years of uninterrupted publication.

Baghbazar also witnessed the publication of Amritabazar Patrika of Sisir Kumar Ghosh. The newspaper played a major role in Indian freedom struggle and during the Press and Vernacular Act when a ban was imposed on the publication it was converted into Bengali daily, Jugantar.

It was in Baghbazar, Margaret Elizabeth Noble, later known as Sister Nivedita had set up her school to give formal education to the girls coming from middle class families. The school has played a major role in women education movement in India.

Baghbazar was the home of great intellectuals like Rashik Mohun Vidyabhusan who had regular correspondences with Herbert Spencer, Pashupati Basu and his brother Nandalal Basu, Pashupati Shastri, Ashoknath and Gourinath Shastri, Chilal Basu, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Jamini Roy and Sailajaranjan Mukherjee. Freedom fighters like Kanailal Dutta, Sailendranath Mitra, Suresh Chandra Majumdar and Hemanta Kumar Basu were born in Baghbazar. Baghbazar Amateur Theatre played a very important role in the theatre movement in India. Theatre personalities like Girish Chandra Ghose, Khirod Prasad Vidyabinod, Manmatha Nath Basu, Bidhayak Bhattaharya were all residents of the area.  Aryan football club was set up in Baghbazar and IFA’s first Indian secretary Prafulla Kumar Mukherjee hailed from the area.

The area is a centre of religious tourism with thousands of both domestic and foreign tourists visiting Mayer bari, Mayer ghat and Balaram Mandir.

It may be recalled that an archive will come up at Girish Chandra’s residence soon.