Murshidabad Tour

I have been searching for interesting places around Kolkata for weekend tours. I have already visited three interesting places  - Bakkhali, Sundarbans and Digha. This time around we headed to Murshidabad.

Here in this post, I have liberally lifted from a government site on Murshidabad. So most of the info and language is from the site.

Murshidabad Site of the Govt.

Murshidabad is well connected with Kolkata. From Kolkata, Berhampore, the District capital town of Murshidabad is 195 Km. Tourist taxi, hired car, auto-rickshaw are available from Berhampore to visit the tourist spots at Murshidabad town, Azimganj, Jiaganj, Kandi, Sagardighi, Karnasuvarna ..etc .

Communication By Rail

Berhampore Court is the main station which is connected with Sealdah Station at Kolkata. The Bhagirathi Express & the Lalgola Passenger from the Sealdah Railway Station reach Berhampore Court Railway Station covering 197 km in 5 to 6 hours.

Khagraghat, the other station at the opposite bank of the river Bhagirathi is connected with the Howrah Station. Teesta Torsa, Kamrup, Hatey Bazare express have stoppage at Khagraghat Railway Station. The Khagraghat Railway station is also connected by local trains from Katwa, Salar, Bandel and Howrah. One can also reach Khagraghat Station from Howrah by Janshatabdi Express.

• Howrah - Maldah JanShatabdi Express

Farakka is the most well connected railway station of this district. Farakka is 98 km by road from Berhampore and is connected by every express bus coming from Malda, Siliguri, Raiganj, Coochbihar, New Alipurduar, Gangtok, Balurghat, and Jalpaiguri. The following trains stop at new Farakka Junction: -

• Sealdah Guwahati Kanchanjungha Express

• Sealdah New Alipurduar Teesta Torsa Express

• Howrah Dibrugarh Kamrup Express

• Sealdah New Jalpaiguri Darjeeling Mail

• Sealdah Katihar Hatey Bazare Express

• Sealdah Malda Gour Express

• Delhi Dibrugarh Bhramaputra Mail

• Bhiwani Malda Farakka Express

Also one can reach Berhampore from Azimganj. Teesta Torsa, Kamrup, Hatey Bazare, Kanchanjungha and Uttarbanga Express touch Azimganj Junction Railway Station. This place is well connected by bus from Berhampore. 

Communication By Road

Buses ply frequently from Kolkata (i.e. from Sahid Minar, Ultadanga etc) to Berhampore. Most of the North Bengal bound bus have a halt at Berhampore.

Buses from nearby district town of West Bengal i.e. Burdwan, Rampurhat, Suri, Bolpur, Malda, Krishnagar and Durgapur regularly ply to Berhampore.

The district got its present name in the early eighteenth century and its present shape in the latter half of the eighteenth century, the earliest evidences of history in the district date back to the pre-historic days perhaps as early as circa 1500 B.C.

The capital city of Sasanka, the great king of Gouda (comprising the most of Bengal) in the seventh century AD and perhaps that of Mahipala, one of the later Pala kings of Bengal, were in this district too. The Nawab Murshid Quli Khan made Murshidabad the capital city of Sube Bangla, comprising of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The East India Company reigned from here for many years after the Battle of Plassey; Travellers extolled its glory through ages.

Here thrived the cultures of many races and of religions like Buddhism, Brahmanism, Vaishnavism, Jainism, Islam and Christianity. Here settled the European traders like the Dutch, the British, the French and the Armenians.

The great river Bhagirathi has bifurcated the triangle shaped district and has divided it into two broad historical and geographical regions.

I) The Radha Area – This is the area on the right side of the Bhagirathi having the pre-dominant geographical character of a plateau. It was also known as Gouda.

II) The Bagdi Area – This is the area on the left side of the river formed by the Gangetic alluvial deposits. It was also known as Bangal. This area was formed later than the Radha.

Our trip started with a visit to an old palace in Berhampur.

Then we proceeded to the Cosimpur Raajbari or Palace, but found it locked, timings are 10 AM to 5 PM.

Here's a pic from outside

Then we proceeded to the Dutch Cemetery

Next we went to Motijheel. Motijheel is about one km South of Lalbagh. This beautiful horseshoe shaped lake was excavated by Nawazesh Mohammad, the husband of the famous Ghasseti Begum. In the palace adjoining it (now in ruins) Lord Clive celebrated the acquisition of the Dewani of Sube Bangla (Bengal, Bihar & Orissa) in 1765. Moti Jheel was the home of Warren Hastings when he became the Political President at the Durbar of the Nawab Nazim ( 1771 - 73 AD ). Sir John Shore, afterwards Lord Teinmouth, also lived here. Moti Jheel is also known as the "Company Bagh", due to the fact of it having been in the occupation of the East India Company. The only old building existing is the Mosque of Shahamat Jang

To the east of Nawajesh Muhammad's mosque, is a small enclosure within which are four tombs and to the east of which and outside it is one tomb. Here lies the mortal remains of  Shahamat Jang alias Nawajesh Muhammad, Ekram-ud-Doula the younger brother of Siraj-ud-Doula, Ekram-ud-Doula's Tutor, Shumsheree Ali Khan the General of Nawajesh Muhammad, and the Nurse of Ekram-ud-Doula..

Couldn't get an aerial pic of the beautiful Lake.

Then we went to see the JahanKosha Gun. It is a  huge cannon and is about 1 km of Katra.  It was built in the early 17th century by craftsman Janardan Karmakar of Dhaka. Kadam Sarif is a beautiful mosque near Jahan Kosha said to contain a replica of the footprint of Hazrat Mohammad, the prophet. The canon is 17.5 ft long and weighs 16,880 lb., with a girth of 5 feet at the touch hole end. The diameter of the touch hole is one and a half inches, and that of the orifice is 6 inches.

It was very crowded and unfortunately i couldn't get a clear shot!!! :(

Off then to Katra Mosque.

Katra Mosque is about one and a half km from Murshidabad Railway Station on the Berhampore-Lalgola Road. This imposing structure was built by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan in 1723-24 and it remains one of the most important tourist attractions. The gorgeous building with its huge domes and high minarets has a simple cemetery of the Nawab below the front staircase.

Next from the car we saw the Footi Mosque. Footi Mosque is an unfinished work by Nawab Sarafraz Khan. Though not well publicised, it is worth seeing for its unique architectural style. About three quarters of a mile to the east of the Hazarduari Palace, at Kumrapore, is the Footi Masjid. It is said to have been built by Sarafraj Khan in a single night.

Next we saw the Kathgola or Kath golaper Bagan. Katgola, the palace garden of Raja Dhanpat Singh Dugar and Lakshmipat Singh Dugar and their famous Adinath Temple were built in 1873, by Harreck Chand. The walls of this temple are also intricately designed. A typically Jain style of ornamentation lends a unique beauty to this Jain temple. It is about half a km South-East of Mahimapur. Though some of its glory has been lost, it still remains a major tourist attraction, chiefly because of the beautiful temple with an admirable work of stucco.

Here are two beautiful pieces from there.

The rest of the tour in the next post.

 

Profile Picture

With a minor manipulation on a picture shot by Sourav during the Digha trip, I have started using a new picture on my profile in some other sites like Facebook, My YearBook, etc.

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Please don't forget to tell me what you think of it.

Chandaneswar Temple

Working on Portraits

Sourav @ Digha

Fishnet

Seller

A young shopekeeper outside a temple in Orissa, a few kilometres from Digha, West Bengal

Chess Blog

More such chess games, of myself and GMs, and other helpful bits on chess on my new chess blog.

A Game of Chess

Bug

Like it?

New Blog

I have started a new blog on Indian food recipes - microwaveable. Check it out here

Inspiration

Abinav Bindra won a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 10 m Air Rifle Shooting.

Call it inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me @ Shankarpur cont

The enormity of the sea makes me realize my insignificance!!!!!!!!!

Me @ Shankarpur

That's me at Shankarpur Jetty.

Don't miss the Indian Flag in the background sticking up from my head, ;)

Olympics

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Map of China

Here's a map of China that i found on the website http://www.wordtravels.com/

Visit the site for details

Olympics 2008

The Olympic Games 2008 ay Beijing is just around the corner. Barely five days away, and i'm planning to write regularly on the games. So keep watching .......

Moi

That's me @ Peter Cat, Park Street, Kolkata

Cute Teddy

I didn't click this one. My wife did, and found the teddy adorable.......

Grasshopper

I'm Back

I am back on blogger .

I have been away, had taken a break from the internet and technology for a while, but couldn't seem to be able to survive without. So i am back, and back for good.

I assure u, that u will see more of me now.....

Travelling around Kolkata - Scoop

And this what I had @ Scoop, Princep Ghat - As You Like It!

Travelling around Kolkata - Millennium Park

Been quite some time since my last post. I am sorry, but I have been really very, very busy with my office responsibilities. The pressure is on.

Last Sunday, Sayan shot this picture of Sourav at the Millennium Park, Kolkata. I liked it and decided to post it here.

Would appreciate your comments.

THANK YOU

I would like to convey my heartfelt thanks to all those who took time out from their daily schedules to peep into my blog. To be very honest, I haven't been very regular with my posts. Neither have I stuck to any one theme nor topic. I choose to put in whatever appeals to me at that moment. Whereas I would like to apologize for my inconsistent posting, I much appreciate the visits by all who chose to. THANK YOU!

I would be delighted if all of you who visit this blog, take some time out and scribble your comments, which will not only help shape the direction of this blog, but also provide an invaluable boost and inspire my postings.

Looking forward to a warm response.

Indian Cricket - The Selectors Suck

It’s official now. The BCCI Selectors of the Indian Cricket Team have all lost it. The panel which was dubbed “a bunch of jokers” in the yesteryears, have truly lived up to their name and reputation by axing Sourav Ganguly from the forthcoming one-day triangular series in Australia featuring Australia, India and Sri Lanka. To top it all they have still kept out Rahul Dravid who appeared to be all set, back in form and ready to take on the challenge in the lively pitches of Australia.

Not only is this decision to keep out the duo shocking, it is absolutely demoralizing for the millions of fans, who look up to these players for inspiration and motivation. Between the two of them they have the rich experience of over 600 ODIs. And both of them are in fine form now. In fact, just have a look at Sourav’s performance since his comeback. He has played 32 matches and scored 1240 runs at an average of 44+. Mr. Chairman of Selectors, who was the Man of the Series in the last completed series? Mr. Chairman of Selectors, who scored the second highest runs in the last calendar year in the world?

The disgusting Secretary of BCCI thinks Sourav isn’t fit for the team because of his running between the wickets and fielding. Mr. Secretary, if Sourav’s running between the wickets and fielding is poor, please show the fans and lovers of Cricket in India, another one poor runner and fielder who has amassed 11,221 runs in 308 matches at an average of over 40. Sourav has improved his running between the wickets and fielding with every passing year and is currently on a high in terms of form and motivation and this is the worst decision that could have been taken, and that is exactly what the Chairman of the “bunch of jokers” ordered.

And someone from the selection panel please explain to me why VVS Laxman doesn’t deserve to be in the ODI team? Laxman is probably one of the most successful batsmen against Australia. He could have easily replaced totally out of form and injured Yuvraj Singh. And why is Murali Kartik out? He is one of the most respected spinners in the Indian colours.

Horrible decision. This is not cricket.

Somehow, the double standards keep continuing. On one hand it is Ganguly’s alleged poor running and fielding and on the other hand, the BCCI wants a young team. Right, you have a young team. But a cardinal rule and probably the most logical rule in cricket selection is that you keep faith in your most experienced guys who are fit enough to see you through difficult tours against tough opposition. All experimentation is reserved for the minnows, where surprisingly the BCCI doesn’t ever seem to experiment.

Injustice has been meted out to the two greatest cricketers of India, and people all over the country would protest, I am sure. I would also like to let the advertisers know that this may harm your interests as interest in cricket may reach such an abyss that your earning will start taking big dives. Take note, one and all, and attempt to redress the situation at the earliest.

Hyderabad continued

The Charminar

Qutb Shahi Tombs
Qutb Shahi Tombs
Taramati Mosque, Golconda Fort

Outb Shahi Tomb, Tomb of Md. Quli Qutb Shah

Bruni

Images of Bruni, the pet dog

Railway Tracks

Tried to capture lines.............

Village Pictures