Say the word Imambara to the average Bengali in Kolkata,
and what he or she is likely to think of first, is the Hooghly
Imambara. Prod a little further and the Nizamat Imambara will come up.
Located in Murshidabad, it is the largest in Asia. The really well-informed
will be able to name the Sibtainabad Imambara in Metiabruz where Wajid Ali
Shah, the last Nawab of Oudh is buried. But what the vast majority of people in
Kolkata don’t know is that there are some 20 imambaras in city, most with long
histories and some are spectacularly beautiful. For Muharram this year I would
like to highlight this unknown aspect of Kolkata.
