1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
3.
States and union territories of India
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India is a federal union comprising twenty-nine states and seven union territories. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and further into smaller administrative divisions, the Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any State between the Union and that State. The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by different ethnic groups throughout its history. Between 1947 and 1950, the territories of the states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, the new republic was also declared to be a Union of States. The nine Part A states were Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India, the Part B states were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin. The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners provinces and some states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Cutch, Manipur, Tripura, the only Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government. The Union Territory of Puducherry was created in 1954 comprising the previous French enclaves of Pondichéry, Karaikal, Yanam, Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras State. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised the states based on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states, as a result of this act, Madras State retained its name with Kanyakumari district added to from Travancore-Cochin. Andhra Pradesh was created with the merger of Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State in 1956, kerala was created with the merger of Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara districts of Madras State with Travancore-Cochin. The Laccadive Islands which were divided between South Canara and Malabar districts of Madras State were united and organised into the territory of Lakshadweep. Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra State and Kutch State, Rajasthan and Punjab gained territories from Ajmer and Patiala and East Punjab States Union respectively and certain territories of Bihar was transferred to West Bengal. Bombay State was split into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963, the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and the transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. The act also designated Chandigarh as a territory and the shared capital of Punjab
4.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
5.
Kolkata
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Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics, following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and his warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked, he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
6.
Kolkata district
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Kolkata district is an administrative district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It contains the part of the city of Kolkata. As regards civic infrastructure, the area of Kolkata District is under the administration of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. But other parts of the area, and of the citys suburban areas, belong to the districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly. Kolkata District is bordered by Howrah District, North 24 Parganas District, the office of the Kolkata Collector is in B. B. D. Bag, north of the General Post Office, none of the constituencies is reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates. Kolkata Uttar consists Chowringhee, Entally, Beliaghata, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Maniktala, cossipur, Shyampukur, Jorabagan, Barabazar, Bowbazar and Taltola constituencies formed the Calcutta North West. Entally, Beliaghata, Sealdah, Vidyasagar, Burtola, Manicktola, along with four assembly constituencies from South 24 Parganas district, Chowringhee, Rashbehari Avenue and Ballygunje constituencies formed the Calcutta South. According to the 2011 census Kolkata district has a population of 4,486,679 and this gives it a ranking of 35th in India. The district has a density of 24,252 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was -1. 88%, Kolkata has a sex ratio of 899 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 87. 14%. Kolkata metropolitan area Map of Kolkata district
7.
Kolkata Metro
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The network currently consists of one operational line of 27.22 km from Noapara to Kavi Subhash with five other lines in various phases of construction. The Kolkata Metro was the first metro railway in India, opening for services from 1984. On 29 December 2010, Metro Railway, Kolkata became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways, there are 300 metro services daily carrying over 650,000 passengers making it the second busiest metro system in India. After independence in 1947, the problem of Kolkata drew the attention of city planners. It was soon realized something had to be done quickly in order to cope with the situation. Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, first conceived in 1949, a survey was done by a team of French experts, but nothing concrete came of this. With a view to finding solutions to alleviate the suffering of commuters. The MTP, with help of Soviet specialists and East German engineers, prepared a plan to provide five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata. However, only three were selected for construction.45 km, and the work on this project was sanctioned on 1 June 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, on 29 December 1972, B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury - often against the prevailing socio-political stance of his contemporaries in the West Bengal government. The first metro was driven by Tapan Kumar Nath and Sanjoy Sil, the service was quickly followed by commuter services on another 2.15 km stretch in the north between Dum Dum and Belgachhia on 12 November 1984. The commuter service was extended up to Tollygunge on 29 April 1986 covering a distance of 4.24 km making the service available over a distance of 9.79 km. However, the services on the section were suspended with effect from 26 October 1992. After a gap of more than eight years, the 1.62 km Belgachhia-Shyambazaar section, another 0.71 km stretch from Esplanade to Chandni Chowk was commissioned shortly afterwards, on 2 October 1994. The Shyambazaar-Shobhabazar-Girish Park and Chandni Chowk-Central sections were opened on 19 February 1995, services on the entire stretch of the Metro were introduced from 27 September 1995 by bridging the vital gap of 1.80 km in the middle. The latest extension constructed was the 2.59 km elevated corridor from Dum Dum to Noapara on 10 July 2013, the state government has also prepared a detailed project report on a proposed extension of East West Metro from Howrah Maidan to Santragachhi. Rites, the agency for the 10 km East-West Metro extension project from Howrah Maidan to Santragachhi bus terminus, is set to start work on the corridor early in 2017. In 2010, the Railway Ministry announced plans for the construction of five new metro lines, commuters of Line 1 will be able to interchange trains going towards the Airport via Line 4
8.
Shobhabazar
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Shobhabazar is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Sheths and Basaks, well-to-do traders at Saptagram, were among the first to settle in Sutanuti and are said to have cleared much of the jungles in the area. Neighbouring Shyambazar was named after the deity of the Basaks, Shyam Roy. No historian touches upon the origin of the name of the neighbourhood but all link its fame and growth to the Deb family, who settled there. When Ramcharan Deb was murdered by Maratha marauders in the jungles of Midnapore, the house was washed away by the Hooghly River and they moved to Arpooly, and from there to Shobhabazar. Ramcharan’s youngest son Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb rose to fame and power, the glorious days of Shobhabazar starts with the decision of the British to build, after their decisive win in Battle of Plassey, the new Fort William in the heart of Gobindapur. The inhabitants of the village were compensated and provided land in Taltala, Kumortuli. Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb built his Rajbari at Shobhabazar, some say that he acquired it from Shobharam Basak and made major extensions, matching his taste for pomp and grandeur. At least money was not in short supply, after the death of Siraj ud-Daulah, Nabakrishna Deb along with Mir Jafar, Amir Beg and Ramchand Roy earned eight crore rupees worth of treasures from the secret treasury. Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb is said to have constructed the road from Upper Chitpur Road to Upper Circular Road, however, while half of the street was merged with Grey Street, another half became Shobhabazar Street. Another street north of it was named Raja Nabakrishna Street, Shobhabazar is spread over Ward No.9 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and is bounded by Baghbazar on the north, Shyambazar on the east, Nimtala on the south, and the River Hooghly on the west. Ward No.9 under Shyampukur police station had a population of 19,937 in the 2001 census. Maharaja Naba Krishna Deb started the Durga Puja in Shobhabazar Rajbari in 1757 and he set a pattern for the puja which became a fashion and a status symbol among the upcoming merchant class of Kolkata. The number of Englishmen attending the family Durga Puja became an index of prestige, religious scruples fell by the wayside. The nautch girls were mostly from Muslim gharanas, the Englishmen attending the dance-parties, dined on beef and ham from Wilson’s Hotel, and drank to their heart’s contentment. The Shobhabazar Durga Puja is split into two parts, near each other, but both the Pujas continue with their characteristic distinctions, karttikeya is dressed in breaches worn by Englishmen. In earlier days Nidhu Babu and kabials like Anthony Firingee and Bhola Moira vied for attention with the nautch girls, as the non-Brahmin patrons of Sovabazar Rajbari were not allowed by tradition to offer annobhog or rice in any form, they offered homemade sweets to the goddess. For the past 250 years, generations of haluikars from Bardhaman come down to the Sovabazar Rajbari and make lip-smacking delicacies like jibe gaja, khaja and nimki
9.
Municipal corporation
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A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located, often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter. A city charter or town charter is a document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and is considered to be a version of a constitution. Traditionally the granting of a charter gave a settlement and its inhabitants the right to town privileges under the feudal system, townspeople who lived in chartered towns were burghers, as opposed to serfs who lived in villages. Towns were often free, in the sense that they were protected by the king or emperor. Today the process for granting charters is determined by the type of government of the state in question, in monarchies, charters are still often a royal charter given by the Crown or the state authorities acting on behalf of the Crown. In federations, the granting of charters may be within the jurisdiction of the level of government such as a state or province. In Brazil, municipal corporations are called municípios and are created by means of legislation at the state level. All municipal corporations must also abide by a municipal law which is passed and amended at the municipal level. In Canada charters are granted by provincial authorities, in Germany, municipal corporations existed since antiquity and through medieval times, until they became out of favour during the absolutism. In order to strengthen the spirit, the city law of Prussia dated 19 November 1808 picked up this concept. It is the basis of municipal law. In India, a Municipal Corporation is a local government body. This standard varies from state to state, according to laws passed by state legislatures, the Corporation of Chennai was the first Municipal Corporation in India. It was established on 29 September 1688 by the British East India Company, the second was Hyderabad Municipal Corporation established in 1869 by the Nizam rulers of Hyderabad State. The third was the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, established in 1876, the Bombay Municipal Corporation was established in 1888 by the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act. The Delhi Municipal Council was established in 1911 during the Delhi Durbar when New Delhi was proclaimed to be the new Capital of India and it was elevated to Municipal Corporation level on 7 April 1958 by an Act of Parliament which established the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
10.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
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Kolkata Municipal Corporation or KMC is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. This civic administrative body administers an area of 200.71 km2 and its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali script. KMC is headed by Sovan Chatterjee the present Mayor of Kolkata, the KMC was established in 1876. Later mayors include Deshapriya Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, Abul Kasem Fazlul Haque, the city is divided into 144 administrative wards that are grouped into 15 boroughs. Each of these elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee consisting of the elected from the respective wards of the boroughs. The Corporation, through the committees, maintains government-aided schools, hospitals and municipal markets and partakes in urban planning. The corporation as the apex body discharges its function through the Mayor-in-Council, consisting of a mayor, assisted by a deputy mayor, the mayor is responsible for the overall functioning of the KMC and has a tenure of five years. At present, the All India Trinamool Congress holds the power in the KMC, recently the KMC has faced a lot of criticism for legalising unauthorized construction largely responsible for a number of deaths because of fire. This was also responsible of the growth in the city. The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, the Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences. Another ancillary civic body is the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority responsible for the statutory planning, the KMA includes a large suburban hinterland around the urban centres of Kolkata. The jurisdiction of the KMC covers the area covered by the Kolkata Police, according to KMC website, erstwhile Joka-I & Joka-II Gram Panchayats were added to municipal limits, although information on their distribution into wards was not available. This addition increases the area of KMC to 200.71 square kilometres, in 2011, it was announced that Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation area will be coterminous. Kolkata Postal District however extends right up to Barrackpur in the North, Barasat in the East, up to Baruipur in South-East and Joka in South, the Postal code in this entire area starts with 700, indicating Postal Sorting District of Kolkata. Thus Kolkata Postal area is bigger than the area of KMC. In general term, people identify a locality with its Postal address, Postal address of people residing in the delivery jurisdiction of any of the 160 Delivery Post offices of Kolkata will be having PIN Code no. from 700001 to 700160. So for all practical purpose, anyone residing in Kolkata Postal area, the KMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city
11.
Lok Sabha
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The Lok Sabha is the Lower house of Indias bicameral Parliament, with the Upper house being the Rajya Sabha. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi, under the current laws, the strength of Lok Sabha is 545, including the two seats reserved for members of the Anglo-Indian community. The total elective membership is distributed among the states in proportion to their population, a total of 131 seats are reserved for representatives of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The quorum for the House is 10% of the total membership, term of the House The Lok Sabha, unless sooner dissolved, continues to operate for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and the expiration of the period of five years. An exercise to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies boundaries has been carried out by the Delimitation Commission based on the Indian census of 2001, the 16th Lok Sabha was elected in May 2014 and is the latest to date. The Lok Sabha has its own channel, Lok Sabha TV. A major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1858 to 1947, the Indian Councils Act 1861 provided for a Legislative Council consisting of the members of the Executive Council and non-official members. The Indian Councils Act 1892 established legislatures in each of the provinces of British India, although these Acts increased the representation of Indians in the government, their power still remained limited, and the electorate very small. The Indian Councils Act 1909 and the Government of India Act 1919 further expanded the participation of Indians in the administration, the Constituent Assembly was divided into two for the separate nations, with each new Assembly having sovereign powers transferred to it for the respective dominion. The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950, proclaiming India to be a sovereign, democratic republic. This contained the principles of the law of the land which would govern India in its new form. The Lok Sabha was duly constituted for the first time on 17 April 1952 after the first General Elections held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952 and he / She should not be less than 25 years of age. He / She possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament, a seat in the Lok Sabha will become vacant in the following circumstances, When the holder of the seat, by writing to the speaker, resigns. When the holder of the seat is absent from 60 consecutive days of proceedings of the House, when the holder of the seat is subject to any disqualifications mentioned in the Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament. A seat may also be vacated when the holder stands disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law, a member both of Parliament and of a House of the Legislature of a State. System of elections in Lok Sabha Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people of India, for the purpose of holding direct elections to Lok Sabha, each state is divided into territorial constituencies. This provision does not apply for states having a population of less than 6 million, note, The expression population here refers to the population ascertained at the preceding census of which relevant figure have been published. Lok Sabha has certain powers that make it more powerful than the Rajya Sabha, motions of no confidence against the government can be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha
12.
Vidhan Sabha
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The Vidhan Sabha or the Legislative Assembly is the lower house or the sole house of the state legislature in the different States of India. The same name is used for the lower house of the legislatures for two of the Union Territories, Delhi and Puducherry. The upper house in the seven states with a legislature is called the Legislative Council. Members of a Vidhan Sabha are direct representatives of the people of the state as they are directly elected by an electorate consisting of all citizens above the age of 18 of that state. Its maximum size as outlined in the Constitution of India is not more than 500 members and not less than 60 members. However, the size of the Vidhan Sabha can be less than 59 members through an Act of Parliament, such is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the Union Territory of Puducherry. In some states Governor may appoint 1 member to represent minorities, e. g. the Anglo-Indian community, if he finds that minority inadequately represented in the House. Those elected or nominated to Vidhan Sabha are referred to as Members of Legislative Assembly or MLAsEach Vidhan Sabha assembles for a five-year term, during a State of Emergency, its term may be extended past five years or it may be dissolved. The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years, but it may be dissolved even earlier than five years by the Governor on the request of the Chief Minister. The term of a Legislative Assembly may be extended during an Emergency, a Vidhan Sabha can also be dissolved if a motion of no confidence is passed within it against the majority party or coalition. To become a member of a Vidhan Sabha, a person must be a citizen of India and he or she should be mentally sound and should not be bankrupt. He or she should also state an affidavit that there are no criminal procedures against him or her, Speaker of Vidhan Sabha who is responsible for the conduct of business of the body, and also a Deputy Speaker to preside during the Speakers absence. The Speaker acts as a judge and manages all debates. A motion of no confidence against the government in the state can only be introduced in the Vidhan Sabha, if it is passed by a majority vote, then the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers must collectively resign. A money bill can only be introduced in Vidhan Sabha, in bicameral jurisdictions, after it is passed in the Vidhan Sabha, it is sent to the Vidhan Parishad, where it can be kept for a maximum time of 14 days. Unless by the Finance Minister of the state in the name of the Governor of that state, in matters related to ordinary bills, the will of Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision of joint sitting. In such cases, Legislative council can delay the legislation by maximum 4 months
13.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
14.
Battle of Plassey
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The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757. The battle consolidated the Companys presence in Bengal, which expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years. The battle took place at Palashi on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, about 150 kilometres north of Calcutta and south of Murshidabad, the belligerents were the Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, and the British East India Company. Siraj-ud-daulah had become the Nawab of Bengal the year before, Robert Clive bribed Mir Jafar, the commander in chief of the nawabs army, and also promised him to make him Nawab of Bengal. He defeated the Nawab at Plassey in 1757 and captured Calcutta, the battle was preceded by the attack on British-controlled Calcutta by Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah and the Black Hole massacre. The British sent reinforcements under Colonel Robert Clive and Admiral Charles Watson from Madras to Bengal, Clive then seized the initiative to capture the French fort of Chandernagar. Tensions and suspicions between Siraj-ud-daulah and the British culminated in the Battle of Plassey, the battle was waged during the Seven Years War, and, in a mirror of their European rivalry, the French East India Company sent a small contingent to fight against the British. Siraj-ud-Daulah had a superior force and made his stand at Plassey. The British, worried about being outnumbered, formed a conspiracy with Siraj-ud-Daulahs demoted army chief Mir Jafar, along with such as Yar Lutuf Khan, Jagat Seths, Omichund. Mir Jafar, Rai Durlabh and Yar Lutuf Khan thus assembled their troops near the battlefield, the battle was ended in 11 hours. This is judged to be one of the battles in the control of Indian subcontinent by the colonial powers. The British now wielded enormous influence over the Nawab and consequently acquired significant concessions for previous losses and revenue from trade. The British East India Company had a presence in India with the three main stations of Fort St. George in Madras, Fort William in Calcutta and Bombay Castle in western India. These stations were independent presidencies governed by a president and a council, the British adopted a policy of allying themselves with various princes and Nawabs, promising security against usurpers and rebels. The Nawabs often gave them concessions in return for the security, by then, all rivalry had ceased between the British East India Company and the Dutch or Portuguese. The French were a late comer in India trade, but they established themselves in India and were poised to overtake Britain for control. The War of the Austrian Succession marked the beginning of the struggle between Britain and France and of European military ascendancy and political intervention in the Indian subcontinent. In September 1746, Mahé de La Bourdonnais landed off Madras with a naval squadron, the defences of Madras were weak and the garrison sustained a bombardment of three days before surrendering
15.
Fort William, India
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Fort William is a fort built in Calcutta on the eastern banks of the River Hooghly, the major distributary of the River Ganges, during the early years of the Bengal Presidency of British India. It was named after King William III of England and Ireland, in front of the Fort is the Maidan, which used to be a part of the Fort and is the largest urban park in Calcutta. There are actually two Fort Williams, the old and the new, the original was built in 1696 by the British East India Company under the supervision of John Goldsborough. Sir Charles Eyre started construction near the bank of the River Hooghly with the South-East Bastion and it was named after King William III in 1700. John Beard, his successor, added the North-East Bastion in 1701, the original building had two stories and projecting wings. An internal guard room became the Black Hole of Calcutta, in 1756, the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah, attacked the Fort, temporarily conquered the city, and changed its name to Alinagar. This led the British to build a new fort in the Maidan, the rebuilding of the fort was started by Robert Clive in 1758, after the Battle of Plassey, and completed in 1781 at a cost of approximately two million pounds. The area around the Fort was cleared, and the Maidan became the Lungs of Kolkata and it stretches for around 3 km in the north-south direction and is around 1 km wide. Fort William is one of Kolkatas most enduring Raj era edifice. This is a fort of stupendous dimensions and is spread over an area of 70.9 hectares and it was built by Robert Clive in the year 1781. The Old Fort was repaired and used as a house from 1766 onwards. Today this fort located in the periphery of the lush green Maidan is the property of Indian Army, the headquarters of Eastern Command is based at Fort William and it has provisions for accommodating 10,000 army personnel. The Army guards it heavily, and civilian entry is restricted, the Fort is built of brick and mortar in the shape of an irregular octagon with an area 5 km². Five of its sides face landward, and three towards the Hooghly River, the design is that of a star fort, suited to defence against cannon, but from before the advent of explosive shells. It is surrounded by a dry moat 9 m deep and 15 m broad, there are six gates, Chowringhee, Plassey, Calcutta, Water Gate, St Georges and the Treasury Gate. There are similar forts at places like Thalassery in Kerala and it has a 9-hole golf course currently
16.
Gobindapur, Kolkata
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Gobindapur was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Kalikata and Sutanuti, Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city. While Kalikata and Sutanuti lost their identity as the city grew, tolly’s Nallah or Adi Ganga was then the outlet to the sea and ocean-going ships came up to around where Garden Reach is now, then the anchoring place for ships. Only country boats operated further up the river, possibly the Saraswati river was another watery life line. It started drying up from the middle of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese built a new port at Hugli in 1580. He dreamt of goddess Kali asking him to dig the land on the bank. He did so and discovered enormous qualities of wealth hidden underground and he stayed back and founded the place. It is said that the name of the place Gobindapur was named after him, gobindaji was the family deity of the Sheths and Basaks, and so they named the village Gobindapur. In 1596, the place is mentioned as a district of the Sirkar of Satgaon, in the book Ain-e-Akbari by Abul Fazal, as traders, the Portuguese were succeeded by the Dutch and finally the British. Job Charnock favoured Sutanuti as a settlement because of the security of the location and it was protected by the river on the west and by impassable marshes on the south and the east. Only the north-east had to be guarded, the three villages were part of the khas mahal or imperial jagir, whose zemindari rights were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of Barisha. On 10 November 1698, Job Charnock’s successor and son-in-law, Charles Eyere, the company paid regular rent to the Mughals for these villages till 1757. Within a short period Kolkata grew considerably, siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, was alarmed by the growing prosperity and enhanced fortifications of Kolkata. In 1756, he decided to attack Kolkata and captured it, Gobindapur was fired by the English themselves. The English evacuees set up quarters at Falta, some 40 miles downstream. What followed was a series of skirmishes finally leading to the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, one of the first things that the English embarked upon on their return to Kolkata was the construction of new Fort William. It commenced in 1758 and completed in 1773, the site chosen was in the heart of ‘populous flourishing’ village of Gobindapur. A portion of the ‘restitution money’ was spent in compensating the inhabitants who were given lands in other parts of the town notably in Taltala, Kumortuli and Shobhabazar
17.
Sutanuti
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Sutanuti was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Gobindapur and Kalikata, Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city. He settled in the village of Sutanuti, out of these four Betor, which was the focus of trade once upon a time, vanished in the seventeenth century. It was located around where Shibpur presently is and it was confined to the locality between Baboo Ghat, hard by modern Eden Gardens, and a point about a hundred yards to the north of Clive Street. Surrounding it was the portion of ‘Dhee’ Kolkata, and to the north was Suttanuttee. On the south stood Govindpore, high on the river-bank and covered with thick jungle, thence commenced the northern boundary of ‘Dhee’ Kolkata, and that village proceeded south as far as Baboo Ghat. Here Govindpore began and ended at the Govindpore Creek, afterwards called Surman’s Nullah, Satgaon or Saptagram on the west bank of the Hooghly, between Bandel and Tribeni was a great port. Lower down the river, on the bank, Betor was a large market town. Chitpur and Kalikata were neighbouring villages passed just before reaching Betor, Gobindapur and Sutanuti did not exist. Kalighat was a small sanctuary claiming just a bare mention, Tolly’s Nallah or Adi Ganga was then the outlet to the sea and ocean-going ships came up to around where Garden Reach presently is, then the anchoring place for ships. Only country boats operated further up the river, possibly the Saraswati river was another watery life line. It started drying up from the middle of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese built a new port at Hugli in 1580. Towards the end of the century, the merchant-princes of Port Pequeno were forced to seek another market for their trade. On the northern side of Dhee Kalikata, came up a place for sale of cloth, which was soon to become celebrated as Sutanuti Haat, the cotton bale market. In 1596, the place is noticed as a district of the Sirkar of Satgaon, in the book Ain-e-Akbari of Abul Fazal, as traders, the Portuguese were succeeded by the Dutch and finally the British came. Job Charnock is heard of in various positions and places associated with the East India Company from around 1658, after Cossimbazar and Patna he stayed for shorter periods at Hughli, Hijli and Sutanuti. He was convinced about the advantages of Sutanuti as a place of settlement but his colleagues and he lived for two and half years after that. Job Charnock favoured Sutanuti as a settlement because of the security of the location and it was protected by the river on the west and by impassable marshes on the south and the east
18.
Jorasanko
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Jorasanko is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata. It is so called because of the two wooden or bamboo bridges that spanned a small stream at this point, “The area thus became the cradle of Bengal Renaissance. ”It was earlier known as Mechuabazar. The earliest list of thanas in Kolkata was prepared in 1785 for both police and municipal administration, Jorasanko was one of the 31 thanas then recorded. Amongst the institutions in Jorasanko are – Adi Brahmo Samaj, the Jorasanko Bharati Natya Samaj, the Kalikata Haribhakti Pradayani Sabha, the earlier one was organised by Peary Mohan Bose at his house on Banarasi Ghose Street, in Jorasanko. The only play staged was Shakespeare’s Julius Caeser on 3 May 1854, Ganendranath Tagore established the second Jorasanko Natyasala, a home theatre, in 1865 and staged Krishnakumari written by Michael Madhusudan Dutta that year itself. Young Jyotirindranath had the first opportunity to act in it in the role of Ahalyadevi, at first men played women’s roles, but subsequently women of the family also acted before an audience of friends and relatives and even late before the public. As there were few good plays in Bengali, which could be taken up for staging, nabanatak written by Ramnarayan Tarkaratna won the first prize. He awarded the playwright Rupees two hundred and promised to bear the cost of printing a thousand copies of the play, buddhadev Dasgupta won the award for the Best Direction for the Year 2001 for the film Jorasanko Thakurbari for artistically unfolding the history of the house of the Tagores. Joanne Taylor who has written a book on the Forgotten Palaces of Calcutta was spell bound by the Jorasanko Thakur Bari, “These structures form the fabric of Kolkata’s history, ” she says. Jorasanko is an important centre of industry in Kolkata. However, the industry has not been in good shape in recent years, kolkata/North Kolkata travel guide from Wikivoyage
19.
Pathuriaghata
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Pathuriaghata is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is one of the oldest residential areas in what was Sutanuti, once the abode of the Bengali rich, the neighbourhood and its surrounding areas are now dominated by Marwaris. Even in the 21st century the area is replete with colonnaded mansions, amongst the oldest and most renowned residents of the neighbourhood were the Tagores. There is a named after his son, Darpanarayan Tagore. It is between Maharshi Debendra Road and Jadulal Mullick Road in Ward 21 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and that is just off Pathuriaghata, but under Jorabagan police station. The Tagore family established themselves at Pathuriaghata, Jorasanko, Kailahata and Chorbagan, the more prominent amongst those who stayed in Pathuriaghata were Hara Kumar Tagore, Prasanna Kumar Tagore, Jatindramohan Tagore and Prodyot Coomar Tagore. Prasanna Kumar Tagore built a mansion in Naptehata and named it ‘Palace’. People used to call it ‘Tagore Palace’, what was once Naptehata is now Prasanna Kumar Tagore Street. ‘Tagore Palace’ occupies house numbers 13, 13A and 13 B of this street, the more prominent house is ‘Tagore Castle’ at 26 Prasanna Kumar Tagore Street. Jatindramohan Tagore had made a departure in the way of building residences in India and he modelled the building on that of an English castle. It even had a 100 feet high tower in the fashion of Windsor Castle in England. There was a clock imported from England, reminiscent of Big Ben and he even had permission to fly the Union Jack. It was started by Jatindra Mohan Tagore and his brother Shourendra Mohan Tagore, the first play staged here was Kalidas’ Mālavikāgnimitram in Sanskrit, in July 1859. Jogendra Mohan Tagore of Pathuriaghata, helped Ishwar Chandra Gupta to publish Sambad Prabhakar, after passing through vicissitudes, it became a daily and played an important role in forming modern Bengali society. Next to the turrets of Tagore Castle on Prasanna Kumar Tagore Street is the house of the Mullick family topped by classical statuary, three large structures have already come up next to these, one of them is the Burrabazar branch of Metropolitan School, established in 1887. Jadulal Mullick had numerous contributions in social and law spheres, at one time he donated enormously to the Oriental Seminary from where he had passed Entrance, school-leaving examination. Jadulal Mullick has a named after him in the area. His son, Manmathanath Mullick, bought a pair of zebras from Alipore Zoological Gardens to pull his carriage through the streets of Kolkata and he had nine types of carriages and a stable full of horses
20.
Kalikata
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Kalikata was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Gobindapur and Sutanuti, Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city. He settled in the village of Sutanuti, Kalikata was much less important than Sutanuti and Gobindapur, and this, along with the consequent abundance of space, afforded the British room to settle there. While both Sutanati and Gobindapur appear on old maps like Thomas Bowrey’s of 1687 and George Herron’s of 1690, however, one variant of the name, ‘Kalkata’, is shown in Abul Fazal’s Ain-i-Akbari. A British trader Job Charnock landed at Sutanuti on 24 August 1690 with the objective of establishing the East India Company’s Bengal headquarters, as Kalikata did not have any settled native population, it was easy for the British to occupy the site. In 1696, construction of old Fort William began without legal title to the land and it is from this date that Kolkata came legally under British control. However, other state that a founder only impressed Man Singh in 1612. They were apparently reluctant to transfer their rights as landlords but were forced to do so under pressure from the Mughal court. In Colonel Mark Wood’s map of 1784, published in 1792 by William Baillie, Kalikata was called ‘Calcutta’ by the British and the metropolis that grew around it acquired that name, it was renamed Kolkata in 2001 as per the colloquial Bengali version of the name. According to H. E. A. Cotton, “The pivot of the settlement must be sought in what is now Dalhousie Square, as Calcutta became settled Sutanuti was gradually abandoned by the English as a place of abode. As the English withdrew to ‘White Town’ restricted mostly to the north of the old fort, Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, was alarmed by the growing prosperity and enhanced fortifications of Kolkata. In 1756, he decided to attack Kolkata, after capturing Kolkata, Siraj ud-Daula named it Alinagar, after his grandfather Alivardi Khan. The name of Kolkata was restored in 1758, after the British regained control of Bengal, “To the English indeed, the sack of Kolkata must have appeared little short of devastation. ”The English evacuees set up temporary quarters at Falta, some 40 miles downstream. What followed was a series of skirmishes finally leading to the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, the re-establishment of British power was followed by the construction of the new Fort William, in 1758 and the demolition of Gobindapur. The Indians moved out mostly to the north, european inhabitants gradually forsook the narrow limits of the old palisades and moved to around the Maidan. The most important public buildings and imposing private houses lined the side of the Esplanade. “Esplanade Row, ” wrote Mrs. Fay, “seems to be composed of palaces. ”The movement of the population was then directed towards Chaurangi, then a small village. The latter areas were taken over by ‘the rest’, which included half-castes, Portuguese, Armenians and so on, with the passage of time, as the metropolis grew it absorbed the village of Kalikata and it lost its identity, except in the books of history
21.
John Zephaniah Holwell
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John Zephaniah Holwell FRS was a surgeon, an employee of the English East India Company, and a temporary Governor of Bengal. He was also one of the first Europeans to study Indian antiquities, Holwell was a survivor of the Black Hole of Calcutta, June 1756, the incident in which British subjects and others were crammed into a small poorly ventilated chamber overnight, with many deaths. Howells account of this incident obtained wide circulation in England and some claim this gained support for the East India Companys conquest of India and his account of the incident was not publicly questioned during his lifetime nor for more than a century after his death. However, in recent years, his version of the event has been called into question by many historians, born in Dublin, he grew up in London, and studied medicine at Guys Hospital. He gained employment as a surgeon in the English East India Company and was sent to India in 1732 and he served in this capacity until 1749. In 1751, he was appointed as zemindar of the Twenty-four Parganas District of Bengal and he then served as a member of the Council of Fort William and defended the settlement against Siraj Ud Daulah in 1756. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1767, as also the mythology and cosmogony, fasts and festivals of the Gentoos, followers of the Shastah. And a dissertation on the metempsychosis, commonly, though erroneously, an Account of the Manner of Inoculating for the Small Pox in the East Indies with Some Observations on the Practice and Mode of Treating that Disease in those Parts. Account of John Zephaniah Holwell, Esq, the European Magazine, and London Review. McCabe, Joseph Holwell, John Zephaniah A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists Watts & Co, London, pp. 356–357 OCLC262462698 Urs App. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, contains a 66-page chapter on Holwell, the Black Hole, Money, Myth and Empire
22.
Marwari people
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The Marwari or Marwadi are a South Asian ethno-linguistic group that originate from the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India. Their language, also called Marwari, comes under the umbrella of Rajasthani languages, the term Marwari once referred to the area encompassed by the former princely state of Marwar, also called the Jodhpur region of southwest Rajasthan in India. The word Marwar is considered to be derived from Sanskrit word Maruwat, others believe that word Marwar is made up of Mar from alternate name of Jaisalmer and last part war of Mewar. It has evolved to be a designation for the Rajasthani people in general and those communities, whose traditional occupation has been as traders, comprise the Barnwals, Agarwals, Khandelwals, Maheshwaris and Oswals. Dwijendra Tripathi believes that the term Marwari was probably used by the traders only when they were outside their home region, Marwari traders have historically been migratory in habit. Their abilities were valued by Rajput rulers because, in the prior to the influx of the British to northern India. Marwari traders often acted as connecting dots and intermediaries amongst them, often providing them with money, medha Kudaisya has said that the Marwaris. Made the transition from being niche players in trading to becoming industrial conglomerates, by the 1950s, the Marwaris dominated the India private industry scenario, emerging as the establishers of its most prominent business houses. Marwari, or Marrubhasha, as it is referred to by Marwaris, is the traditional, historical, the Marwari language is closely related to the Rajasthani language. The latter evolved from the Old Gujarati, language spoken by the people in Gujarat, the Marwari cuisine is mainly vegetarian, yet offers a diversity of different dishes. The locally famed Dal-Baati-Churma is a popular dish among Marwari people, post millennium age Marwaris have started having meat but in smaller percentage. One thing common for Baatis, irrespective of their technique, is that they are always served dipped in ghee, accompanied with panchmel, or panch kutti dal. The dal is cooked with ghee, the masalas in the dal are fried in ghee, tarachand Ghanshyamdas Birla Family Shekhawati Marwari Muslims
23.
Hooghly River
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The Hooghly River or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, called Ganga traditionally, is an approximately 260-kilometre-long distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, India. It splits from the Ganges as a canal in Murshidabad District at the Farakka Barrage, the town of Hugli-Chinsura, formerly Hooghly, is located on the river, in the Hooghly. The origins of the Hooghly name are uncertain, whether the city or the river was named first, the Farakka Barrage is a dam that diverts water from the Ganges into a canal near the town of Tildanga in Murshidabad district. This supplies the Hooghly with adequate water even in the dry season and it parallels the Ganges, past Dhulian, until just above Jahangirpur where the canal ends and the river takes its own course. Just south of Jahangirpur it leaves the Ganges area and flows south past Jiaganj Azimganj, Murshidabad, the river then flows south past Katwa, Navadwip and Kalna. At Kalna it originally formed the border between Nadia District and Hooghly District, and then further south between Hooghly District and North 24 Parganas District and it flows past Halisahar, Chinsurah, Serampore, and Kamarhati. Then just before entering the cities of Kolkata and Howrah. At Nurpur it enters an old channel of the Ganges and turns south to empty into the Bay of Bengal through the estuary of about 20 mi wide, two of its primary tributaries are Damodar and Rupnarayan. The tide runs rapidly on the Hooghly, and produces an example of the fluvial phenomenon known as a tidal bore. This consists of the head-wave of the tide, hemmed in where the estuary narrows suddenly into the river. It is felt as high up as Kolkata, and frequently destroys small boats, the difference from the lowest point of low-water in the dry season to the highest point of high-water in the rains is reported to be 20 ft 10 in. The greatest mean rise of tide, about 16 ft, takes place in March, April or May - with a declining range during the season to a mean of 10 ft. In its upper reaches the river is known as the Bhāgirathi. In 1974, the Farakka Barrage began diverting water into the Hooghly during the dry season so as to reduce the difficulties at Kolkatas port. Like the rest of the Ganges, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly is considered sacred to Hindus, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly river system is an essential lifeline for the people of West Bengal. It was through this river that the East India company sailed into Bengal and established their settlement, Calcutta. People from other such as the French, Dutch, Portuguese. The river provides a supply of water to the plain of West Bengal for irrigation
24.
Shyampukur
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Shyampukur is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. As a neighbourhood, it covers an area but its importance is primarily because of the police station. Shyampukur is in the heart of what was Sutanuti and it was one of police stations mentioned in the earliest list of police stations of Kolkata prepared in 1785. After the Battle of Plassey, in 1757, the British settled down to more organised administration in Kolkata, one of the developments was the police station, which also provided civic facilities. The Police Commissioner doubled as Municipal Chairman till 1888, Shyampukur was one of the twenty-five Police Section Houses in 1888. Shyampukur was overtaken in importance by Shyambazar and Baghbazar, the area being the citadel of Bengali aristocracy, Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police is spread over Shyambazar, Bagabazar and Kumortuli and a part of Shovabazar. Bagbazar ghat, Promoda Sundari ghat, Kashi Mitra ghat, Kumortuli ghat, Shyampukur police station area spread over ward nos.7,8,9,10, and 11 had a total population of 110,420 in 2001. Out of this 66,359 were males and 54,061 were females, certain pockets such as ward nos.8,9, and 11 recorded negative decadal growth. In 1891, Mohun Bagan shifted its ground from Phariapukur to Shyampukur as a result of the benevolence of the Maharaja of Shyampukur, later, the clubs ground was moved to Shyam Square. When Jamshedji Framji Madan entered the scene in 1902, he began to screen films in tents set up on the Maidan. The barowari Durga Puja organised at Shyampukur in 1911 was the second in Kolkata, in 1885, Ramakrishna Paramhansa stayed at 55 Shyampukur Street, known as Shyampukur Bati, for several days after leaving Dakshineswar for treatment of throat cancer. He stayed there before moving to Cossipore Udyanbati, the house has now been converted into a museum displaying articles used by him during his stay there and some paintings. Among other objects on display are parts of the camera with which the first picture of Ramakrishna was taken, kolkata/North Kolkata travel guide from Wikivoyage
25.
Jorabagan
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Jorabagan is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. As a neighbourhood, it covers an area but its importance is primarily because of the police station. Jorabagan, meaning ‘a pair of gardens’ in Bengali, was so named because the road through it led to the houses of Gobindram Mitter. Jorabagan is part of old Sutanuti and it is in this neighbourhood that Job Charnock made his famous landing at Sutanuti ghat in 1690. Mohunton’s ghat between Beniatola and Sobhabazar ghats lurks the forgotten traditional landing place, there was a large tree under which Job Charnock is believed to have rested. The Court, upon an Expert Committee finding, declared that Job Charnock cannot be regarded as the founder of the city, nimtala ghat in the neighbourhood is the burning ghat where Hindus cremate their dead. Amongst the more renowned people cremated there was Rabindranath Tagore and the place is marked with a memorial structure, nimtala ghat now has an electric crematorium. Jorabagan police station area spread over ward nos.19,20,21,24, the entire area recorded negative decadal growth. The neighbourhood is dominated by Marwaris and is largely Hindi-speaking, jorabagan Kolkata/North Kolkata travel guide from Wikivoyage
26.
Ganesha
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Ganesha, also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains and Buddhists, although he is known by many attributes, Ganeshas elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences, as the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rituals and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions, several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography. Ganesha emerged as a deity in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, during the Gupta period. He was formally included among the five deities of Smartism in the 9th century. A sect of devotees called the Ganapatya arose, who identified Ganesha as the supreme deity, the principal scriptures dedicated to Ganesha are the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana, and the Ganapati Atharvashirsa. Brahma Purana and Brahmanda Purana are other two Puranic genre encyclopedic texts that deal with Ganesha, Ganesha has been ascribed many other titles and epithets, including Ganapati and Vighneshvara. The Hindu title of respect Shri is often added before his name, the name Ganesha is a Sanskrit compound, joining the words gana, meaning a group, multitude, or categorical system and isha, meaning lord or master. The word gaņa when associated with Ganesha is often taken to refer to the gaņas, the term more generally means a category, class, community, association, or corporation. Some commentators interpret the name Lord of the Gaņas to mean Lord of Hosts or Lord of created categories, Ganapati, a synonym for Ganesha, is a compound composed of gaṇa, meaning group, and pati, meaning ruler or lord. Though the earliest mention of the word Ganapati is found in hymn 2.23.1 of the 2nd-millennium BCE Rigveda, it is however uncertain that the Vedic term referred specifically to Ganesha. The Amarakosha, an early Sanskrit lexicon, lists eight synonyms of Ganesha, Vinayaka, Vighnarāja, Dvaimātura, Gaṇādhipa, Ekadanta, Heramba, Lambodara, Vinayaka is a common name for Ganesha that appears in the Purāṇas and in Buddhist Tantras. This name is reflected in the naming of the eight famous Ganesha temples in Maharashtra known as the Ashtavinayak, the names Vighnesha and Vighneshvara refers to his primary function in Hinduism as the master and remover of obstacles. A prominent name for Ganesha in the Tamil language is Pillai or Pillaiyar, a. K. Narain differentiates these terms by saying that pillai means a child while pillaiyar means a noble child. He adds that the words pallu, pella, and pell in the Dravidian family of languages signify tooth or tusk, also elephant tooth or tusk. Anita Raina Thapan notes that the root word pille in the name Pillaiyar might have meant the young of the elephant
27.
Ratha-Yatra
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Ratha Yatra is an Odia festival that involves moving deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana on a ratha or rotho, a wooden deula-shaped chariot). Notable ratha yatras include the Ratha yatra of Puri, the Dhamrai Ratha Yatra, the festival was originated in Puri, Odisha. The English word juggernaut was originated from Jagannath that is related to the massive, ratha-yatra is derived from two Odia words ratha/rotho meaning chariot and yatra meaning journey. The festival involves a procession of deities. Other names for the festival are ratha jatra or chariot festival, Ratha-Yatra, at Puri in the state of Odisha, is the largest and most visited Rath Yatra in the world attracting a large crowd every year. Rathayatra of Mahesh in Serampore, West Bengal Ratha Yatra is the second oldest in the world, Rath Yatra of Kolkata is the second largest Rath Yatra in the world. Rath Yatra also takes place in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State, which is known to be the third largest in the world, sukinda Ratha Yatra in Odisha is also known to attract a large number of devotees. Dhamrai Jagannath Roth, at Dhamrai in Bangladesh, is the most famous Rath Yatra in Bangladesh, ISKCON Dhaka Ratha Yatra is the second famous Rath Yatra in Bangladesh. Rajbalhat Ratha Yatra, West Bengal, India, people of Bastar region observe Ratha yatra during Dussehara. Radha Rani Rath Yatra, held at the Radha Madhav Dham temple near Austin, Texas, Rath yatra in Silicon Valley is organized at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, USA Ratha Yatra is celebrated in more than 108 cities around the world. This festival is known as Rath Yatra, meaning the journey of the chariots, the Rathas are huge wheeled wooden structures, which are built anew every year and are pulled by the devotees. The chariot for Jagannath is approximately 45 feet high and 35 feet square, the huge chariots of Jagannath pulled during Rath Yatra is the etymological origin of the English word Juggernaut. The Ratha-Yatra is also termed as the Shri Gundicha yatra, the most significant ritual associated with the Ratha-Yatra is the chhera pahara. During the festival, the Gajapati King wears the outfit of a sweeper and sweeps all around the deities, the Gajapati King cleanses the road before the chariots with a gold-handled broom and sprinkles sandalwood water and powder with utmost devotion. As per the custom, although the Gajapati King has been considered the most exalted person in the Kalingan kingdom and this ritual signified that under the lordship of Jagannath, there is no distinction between the powerful sovereign Gajapati King and the most humble devotee. As per another ritual, when the deities are taken out from the Shri Mandir to the Chariots in Pahandi vijay, in the Ratha Yatra, the three deities are taken from the Jagannath Temple in the chariots to the Gundicha Temple, where they stay for nine days. Thereafter, the deities again ride the back to Shri Mandir in bahuda yatra. On the way back, the three chariots halt at the Mausi Maa Temple and the deities are offered Poda Pitha, a kind of baked cake which are consumed by the poor sections only
28.
Evan Cotton
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Sir Harry Evan Auguste Cotton CIE, better known as Evan Cotton or H. E. A. Cotton, was a Liberal politician, barrister, administrator, journalist, historian and writer. His Calcutta Old and New, first published in 1909, remains unsurpassed to this day and he had his early schooling at Mount Liban School, Pau and then at Sherborne School. He held a scholarship at Jesus College, Oxford, where he obtained a second class in Classics Honour Mods, followed by second class degrees in history. He was a debater and was elected secretary and then treasurer of the Oxford Union. He was called to the bar by Lincolns Inn, Cotton practised at Calcutta High Court from 1893 to 1908. He served as a member of Calcutta Municipal Corporation and he covered the Delhi Durbar of 1903 as a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. He subsequently served as the Kolkata correspondent of the Daily News and he undertook the editorship of India, the weekly organ of the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. He served as President of the Bengal Legislative Council from 1922 to 1925 and he was an active member of the Indian Historical Records Commission and was chairman from 1923 to 1925. Evan returned to England in 1906 and joined the Liberal Party and his father was himself a Liberal MP who sat for Nottingham East from 1906–1910. In March 1913 he was re-elected to the LCC, In July 1918, Cotton was an obvious candidate to defend the seat for the Liberal Party. The Coalition Government chose to endorse the Unionist candidate who was the sitting MP for the old Central seat. In all his activities, his concern was for India. He provided strong support to the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms and served on a committee at the India Office in connection with the 1919 Act. He was pivot of a group that supported reforms. However, the political environment dampened his spirits. He later became a critic of the constitutional changes that led to the Round Table Conference. In 1896, he married Nora, daughter of William H. Grimley of Bengal ICS
29.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
30.
Alipore
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Alipore is the headquarters of South 24 Parganas district and a neighbourhood in South Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area is the most posh and costliest locality in Kolkata, the postal code of Alipore is Kolkata 700027. One of the most historical, eventful and elite localities of the city of Kolkata and it was in the middle parts of the 18th century that the British began exploring the areas outside their settlements of Fort William and the Dalhousie Square area beyond the Race Course. The Belvedere Estate was one of the oldest establishments in Alipore, the then Governor General Warren Hastings built it for himself and it became the Governors residence until the Government House came up later. It was about this period of time that Alipore started attracting more and more British settlers who built their mansions and bungalows with gardens. In 1820, William Carey built the Agri Horticultural Gardens behind the Belvedere Estate, also, the Alipore Zoological Gardens was thrown open to the public in 1875. The locality was also witness to the Alipore bomb case and a spectator to the struggle of the Indian revolutionaries. Post independence of India, Alipore became popular among the elite of the city. The Pauls, the Birlas, the Goenkas, the Dalmiyas, the Jalans, the Kotharis, in 1952, the Imperial Library shifted to its present premises on Belvedere Estate. The Alipore Mint was also inaugurated the same year, several consulates like those of Russia, Germany, France, Italy and residences of Hon. Consul General of Canada, Denmark, Greece, Peru, etc. are located in Alipore, by the late eighties and nineties other places like New Alipore and Ballygunge competed with Alipore as the most elite areas of Kolkata. Alipore is located at 22. 53°N88. 33°E /22.53,88.33 and it has an average elevation of 14 metres. Alipore area is bordered by the following roads - AJC Bose Road to the north, D L Khan Road to the East, Diamond Harbour Road to the West, Alipore is connected to all parts of the city by extensive bus services. Alipore is served by the Majherhat and New Alipore railway stations on the Budge Budge section of Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kalighat metro station of the Kolkata Metro as well as the Jatin Das Park station is close to Alipore. Some of the best healthcare options in the city are located in Alipore Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, Alipore Road CMRI, Diamond Harbour Road B. M
31.
B. B. D. Bagh
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Bagh, formerly called Dalhousie Square, is the shortened version for Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh. It is the seat of power of the government, as well as the central business district in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. Stands for three young Indian independence freedom fighters — Benoy, Badal and Dinesh — who on 8 December 1930 shot dead the Inspector General of Prisons, simpson, in the balconies of the Writers Building of the then Dalhousie Square. The square had been named after Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856, at different times it has been called ‘The Green before the Fort’ or Tank Square. Bagh area is near the Hooghly River in the part of central Kolkata and is a square built around the old Lal Dighi tank. The old fort built by the British was near where the General Post Office now is, the area was in the heart of Kalikata or the White Town in old Calcutta. Bagh was created as the center of the British East India Companys trading post along the banks of the Hooghly River, between the river and the tank, lay the original Fort William. In the summer of 1756, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah of Bengal, Bihar, the survivors of the attack were sent to a garrison within the fort which spurred an incident infamously known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. The British soon retook the city after the Nawab retreated from the forces of Robert Clive, within a year, the British East India Companys forces had taken all of Bengal and Calcutta, along with the square, was established as the commercial and political center of British India. Over the next one and a half centuries, the square grew in importance and influence and it was named after Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India. After the fall of company rule in India, the Writers Building became the secretariat of the Viceroy of India, a number of corporations and institutions opened offices and headquarters in and around the square, giving it its role as the central business district of the city. In 1912, the capital of British India was officially moved to New Delhi, during the first half of the 20th century, the Indian Independence Movement began to reach its peak and took a violent turn in Bengal. On the eighth of December 1930, three revolutionaries, Benoy, Badal, and Dinesh, stormed the building and fatally shot the Inspector General of Prisons, the three committed suicide and the square was renamed B. B. D. Bagh in their honor after Indian independence, in 1947, the political establishments were officially handed over to the government of India and the government of the newly formed state of West Bengal. Over the next few decades, Calcutta would go through rapid economic decline, Bagh would remain the heart of East India. Bagh is still the commercial and political center of all of East India and many of the business, the centerpiece is the Writers Building which is the secretariat of the Government of the State of West Bengal and houses the office of the Chief Minister of West Bengal. The native name of the area is Office Para, to the north lie the Royal Exchange Building which houses the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Calcutta Stock Exchange, the Standard Chartered Building, and many financial establishments. The eastern end also houses a number of offices till Chittaranjan Avenue, the area south of the square is home to the Raj Bhavan, which is now the residence of the governor and the former residence of the viceroy and governor-general of India
32.
Bagbazar
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Bagbazar is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area, under Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police, has been, along with neighbouring Shyambazar, Bagbazar has played an active role in growth and development of Kolkata. The name, Bagbazar, is derived from two words put together from old Bengali literature, bagh meaning garden and bazaar meaning market. So it refers to a place where flowers are abundant, as Kalikata became settled, Sutanuti was gradually abandoned by the English as a place of residence. However, it was frequented from around 1746 and by 1752 was sold for Rs.25,000. Captain Perin was owner of several ships, scott began manufacturing gunpowder at the garden. We can divide this glorious history in two very distinguished parts, the first period is from 1919 to 1930 and 1930 onwards and this was the first Puja of Calcutta organised by people communally and not inside a Zamindar home. Members of the Public contributed money and continued the Puja and it was named as Lebubagan Baroyari Durga-puja and it was continued in that very place for more three more years before being shifted in 1924 to the junction of Bagbazar Street and Pashupati Bose Lane. Next year it was placed at Kantapukur and in 1927 it tookplace in the Bagbazar Kali-temple and he is also the person who gave the name of the organization and set up the structure for a communal durga puja which was emulated by hundreds of other groups around the city thereafter. In 1929 for the occasion of the puja an exhibition took place, for the required space to organize the exhibition he selected this very place where the Durganagar of today is situated. This place was known as Metal-Yard formerly, and it used to the storage of Calcutta Corporations road-repair department, durgacharan Bandyopadhyay requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then to requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then for the due permission. Mr. Bose approved his request and agreed for a joint exhibition with the participation of Corporation. He also donated five hundred rupees to this organization, from 1930 itself the inaugural and closing ceremony of the occasion over here is a very integral and important part and an innumerable fellow persona had their presence in these occasion. The inauguration takes place on the shukla-panchami of the month of Ashwina whereas the closing ceremony takes place on the day of the sublimation of Goddess Laxmi. Basu, Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose, Acharya Prafulla Ch. Roy, Sir Harishankar Pal, in 1938-1939 this organization was privileged by the active participation of Netaji Subhash Ch Bose as the president. Patriot Pulin Das the renowned member of Anusulan Samity used to be present in the occasion of Birastami until when he was unable to join it. From the late 1990s the organization tried to move the higher authority for converting the yard to a permanent park under the control of this organization. We are hopeful to have all the charge of this park soon and this street is one of the most old and famous streets of Bagbazar, where the main Bagbazar Post Office is also located
33.
Baishnabghata Patuli Township
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Baishnabghata Patuli is a township located in the southern part of east Kolkata in West Bengal, India. It constitutes a portion of Garia. Baishnaghata Patuli Township is a World Bank–funded project on the fringes of EM Bypass. Small sweet shops like Nnoni, Giriraj, Palace of Sweets, Madhumalancha, besides there is a cafeteria opposite the State Bank ATM called Muzik Cafe which is a rather good proxy for Coffee House. A Mio Amore outlet is located just beside the State Bank ATM which is a high functioning food shop. There is a park juxtaposed to Ashabari Housing Complex called Satyajit Ray Park where wedding, cultural or any type of social ceremonies can be held
34.
Bansdroni
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Bansdroni is a locality in South Kolkata. Bansdroni used to be a port during the 17th century when the Adi Ganga was the flow of the Ganges into the sea Bay of Bengal. It was the gateway to a vast hinterland in South 24 Parganas, Bansdroni takes its name from Bangsho Dron meaning a bamboo forest. The area is mainly an area, with nearly every building a residential one. The Usha Fan Factory is located here, vidyasagar Park Lane is an important locality here. Now, Bansdroni houses important retail stores like Reliance Digital, Spencers, LG Shoppe, Max Fashions, Cafe Coffee Day, Bata, Khadims, Elite, Leather Line and this area verges the Bansdroni & Netaji Nagar Police Stations. Rifle Club, Jaysree, Dinesh Nagar, Congress Nagar, Ananda Pally, Subodh Garden, Postal Park, reputable fresh vegetable, fruits & fishes market / bazaar are also found here. The place is connected to the city with the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road linking Naktala and Garia in the south-east, the Kolkata Metro touches Bansdroni at the Masterda Surya Sen Metro Station. Bansdroni is close to Garia, Naktala and Tollygunge all on the main Netaji Subhash Road, the Shiva Temple holds prominent place here. There is also a church named Queen of Peace Church
35.
Barisha, India
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Barisha is a residential locality of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Historically, it is one of the oldest boroughs in Kolkata and it was the abode of the great Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. Barisha is known today for being the home of the Indian Cricket idol Sourav Ganguly and it is one of the major educational and cultural hubs of the metropolis. Barisha is situated in the southwest of Kolkata about 10 kilometres from the city centre Esplanade, although originally a separate village, it is now under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and is spread over four wards, the 123,124,125 and 126. The area starts from Vivekananda Womens College in the north and is spread to Thakurpukur in the south, the Diamond Harbour Road and the James Long Sarani runs through the heart of Barisha. The origin of the name is a matter of research, according to the sources of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury Paribar Parishad three theories have been put forward. Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury got the Jaigirdari of huge area of lands in CE1608 from Man Singha and it was then that the place of Barisha came under his dominion. He started a durga puja here in CE1610, which is at present the oldest durga puja of Bengal, also in total, eight durga pujas are being held in the family at present. The descendants of Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury later on started living here from the year CE1716 and carried on developmental works and since then it is the biggest settlement of the Sabarna family. The family also established other pujas like Chandi puja, Jagatdhatri puja etc. and also founded a number of temples like the Annapurna Temple, Radhakanto temple. The Barisha Rathayatra Utsav started in 1719 is one of the oldest in the city and is quite famous. Sabarna Prithivi There is also a Lord Jagannath Temple at Sakherbazar, Barisha is also renowned for the Durga pujas. The six Durga Pujas of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family are world-famous, the other pujas of the Sabarna family at Barisha are those of Baro Bari, Mejobari, Kalikingkar Bhawan, Benaki Bari, and Majher Bari. Sabarna Prithivi Chowrasta is the gateway to Barisha. It is a four-point crossing that takes you to Behala in the north, Tollygunge to the East, Shakuntala Park to the west, Chowrasta is also synonymous to be celebrated neighborhood of Sourav Ganguly, his residence is merely a few metres away from the 4-point crossing. This market was founded by Tarini Charan Roy Choudhury of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family, visitors should be careful while negotiating the crossing, for its highly crowded during peak hours. Sabarna Sangrahashala is the museum of the Sabarna family. It is located at Baro Bari and this museum is a great attraction to the visitors who want to know about the family and about the history of Kolkata. The museum is also a research center and it has been developed by Sabarna Roy Choudhury Paribar Parishad. The cricket centre was run by Sourav Gangulys father Chandi Ganguly
36.
Behala
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Behala is a neighbourhood in South West Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Behala was officially known as South Suburban Municipality until it was merged with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in January,1984, Behala, Parnasree, Thakurpukur, Haridebpur and Sarsuna police stations serve this area under the South West Division of Kolkata Police also known as Behala Division. Behala is one of the oldest residential areas of the city, the Sabarna Roy Choudhurys, one of the oldest zamindar families of western Bengal and the trustee of Kalighat Kali Temple lives here. It is also home to Sourav Ganguly, former Indian national cricket captain and Sovan Chatterjee, Behala is also an important industrial area of the city. There are many factories and industries include the manufacturing units like chemicals, plastic and plastic recycling, spray painting. There are many schools, hospitals, banks and other important institutes in the region, the Durga Puja celebration of Sabarna Roy Choudhury family at Barisha was launched in 1610 by Laksmikanta Majumdar, making it the second oldest family Durga Puja in western Bengal. Today Durga Puja at Behala is marked by exotic theme-based sarbojanin pujas, Barisha Chandi Mela, a 10-day fair held every year in November–December since 1792, is another notable festival. The major landmarks at Behala are West Bengal State Archaeology Museum, Sabarna Sangrahashala, Behala Airport, Sonar Durgabari, Barisha Chandi Mandir, the word Behala is commonly believed to have its root in Behula, the name of the female protagonist of Manasamangalkavya. Alternatively, the name may have derived from the Bengali term Bahulapur. Bahula is also an epithet of the goddesses Chandi and Kali, rev. James Long, who used to live in this parts, described Behala as Byala in one of his early writings. Names like Rajarbaganbehala, Sahapurbehala, Naskarpurbehala and Santoshbatibehala are also found in the old proceedings of South Suburban Municipality, Behala was once a part of the Sunderbans. The history of Barisha dated back to the Pala Era, in the 12th century, Barisha was a small village of farmers, fishermen and honey-gathers when a Kulin Kayastha named Dhananjay Mitra settled here. During the reign of Akbar Barisha came under the lordship of Basanta Roy who set up his capital at modern-day Sarsuna, roy’s nephew and the king of Jessore Pratapaditya murdered him and incorporated Barisha with his kingdom. After the Mughals defeated Pratapaditya, Laksmikanta Majumdar of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family was given jagirdari of a vast tract of land by Raja Man Singh in 1608. On 10 November 1698, to the dissatisfaction of the entire Sabarna Roy Choudhury family, settlement in the area dates back to the 1797, but its urbanization is relatively recent. Population growth started in Behala after the partition of India, aath-chala-the ancestral home of Sabarna Roy Choudhurys zamindari could be regarded as the most ancient historical structure in the entire city of Kolkata. It is the structure, sitting under which under a lease from the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family on 10 November 1698, today, Behala encompasses one of the largest suburban agglomerations of the city of Kolkata. It consists of small localities like Parnasree Pally, Taratala, Sahapur, Behala Tram depot, Manton, Behala Chowrasta, Sakherbazaar, Silpara
India
