Babughat is one of nearly 80 ghats that stand on either side of the Hooghly river, between Calcutta (Kolkata) and Dakshineswar. While the name Babughat is well known, not many people in Calcutta are aware who exactly this “Babu” is. So who is Babughat named after?
WHO IS THE BABU OF BABUGHAT?
The answer to this question lies in a plaque above the main entrance of the ghat. The plaque contains the following text…
“THE RIGHT HON’BLE LORD WILLIAM CAVENDISH BENTINCK, GOVERNOR GENERAL & c., WITH A VIEW TO ENCOURAGE THE DIRECTION OF PRIVATE MUNIFICENCE TO WORKS OF PUBLIC UTILITY, HAS BEEN PLEASED TO DETERMINE THAT THIS GHAUT, CONSTRUCTED IN THE YEAR 1830, AT THE EXPENSE OF BABOO RAJCHUNDER DOSS, SHALL HERINAFTER BE CALLED BABOO RAJCHUNDER DOSS’S GHAUT”
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ARCHITECTURE AND PRESENT CONDITION OF BABUGHAT
“Babus are very sophisticated people. Babughat is not very sophisticated”, writes Brian Paul Bach in his book Calcutta’s Edifice. The word in Bengali that I would use to describe the atmosphere of Babughat is “aadim”. The English translation, primitive, does not convey the same meaning or have the same flavour. When you enter Babughat, it feels like the new, emerging Calcutta of flyovers and shopping malls is some distant fantasy. Here, nothing has changed in a century or more. With its Doric columns and shuttered windows, Babughat is a colonial bungalow in miniature. Every inch of the interiors are occupied by Brahmin priests. “Recreational use of the river is primarily a Western concept”, says Gaur Mohan Kapoor of INTACH. “Indians used the river mostly for religious purposes such as bathing”. Bathing in the holy Ganges, here known as the Hooghly, remains the primary use of Babughat to this day. Priests offer Pujas for the devoted, services are conducted for the dead, flowers are on sale as offerings to the Gods as are neem branches, although their purpose is somewhat less holy. Neem branches are the traditional version of the toothbrush! It is also possible to find the odd man getting a massage by the riverside.
One passes through a set of Victorian brick arches behind the ghat structure, which holds up the Circular Railway line in this part of town. Beyond the arches are steps leading to the water. Since the Hooghly’s water rises considerably at high tide, the whole area is somewhat slippery underfoot. But what is overwhelming is the sheer amount of garbage that the area is filled with. A considerable part of that garbage is flowers from various pujas which have happened on the premises. There are also remains of idols which have been immersed in the river after worship as well are just regular filth generated when a large mass gathers in one area every day. What was once the women’s section, with changing rooms, is now inaccessible due to piles of garbage blocking the way. Only in India does one find the sacred and profane in coexisting peacefully!
In Colonel Mark Wood's Map of 1784, Babughat marks the Southern boundary of Dhee (from the Bengali Dihi, meaning village) Calcutta. From here began Dihi Govindpore, which extended as far as the Adi Ganga, known variously as Surman’s Nullah and the Tolly Canal. With every inch teeming with humanity, Babughat is a great place for street photographers. In a city that is rapidly changing, where magnificent old buildings are sacrificed for ugly glass and steel skyscrapers, Babughat continues to hold out, for good or bad. The only visible change is the ubiquitous mobile phone hiding in the folds of the priest’s dhotis.
- by Deepanjan Ghosh
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to my friends Projjwal Das and Ranajit Chatterjee for accompanying me to Babughat.
SOURCES
Calcutta’s Edifice – Bach, Brian Paul
Calcutta Old & New – Cotton, Henry Evan Auguste
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