Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple, Kolkata (Calcutta)

A Piece of Myanmar (Burma) in the Heart of Kolkata (Calcutta)

Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple, Kolkata (Calcutta)

As I climbed the dimly lit staircase of Kolkata’s (Calcutta’s) only Mayanmarese (Burmese) Buddhist Temple a few lines of Amitav Ghosh’s best selling novel The Glass Palace flashed in my mind.

“Rajkumar’s favorite haunt was a small Buddhist temple in the centre of the city…. They would make their way across town on a bus and get off at the stop for the Eden Hospital. They’d climb up the grimy marble stairs and when they reached the top, they would step into a hall that seemed to be a world away from its surroundings: full of light, perfumed with scent of fresh flowers…. “

Rajkumar, literally meaning prince, the principle character of Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Glass Palace was by no means a prince. In the first chapter of Glass Palace Amitav Ghosh descrbes Rajkumar as “His name meant prince, but he was anything but princely in appearance.”

As my memory wondered through the pages of The Glass Palace I made my way to the top floor of the building housing the small and beautiful shrine. Straight in front of me was the statue of Lord Buddha dressed in golden attire with is gleaming white face.

Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple, Signboard

The Maynmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple is located on 10 A Eden Hospital Road, next to the horse mounted statue of Rana Pratap, just off the Central Avenue. The two boards on the no descriptive three storied building are the only evidence of the Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple in Kolkata (Calcutta).

I have passed the building numerous time and have photographed it from the outside but never managed to get inside as it perennially remained under lock and key. Every since I read The Glass Palace by Amitabha Ghosh about a year back, the Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple has been my most sort after place in my explore Calcutta itinerary.

Inside Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple, Kolkata (Calcutta)

The Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple of Kolkata (Calcutta) was established in 1928 by U San Min and the building was purchased for Rs 47,000. It was called the Burma Buddhist Dharmmasala which later came to be known as the Myanmar Buddhist Temple. Today the shrine is located on the top floor of the three storied building. The ground floor is let out to raise funds for the maintenance of the temple while the first floor serves as a guest house or dharmasala for the Burmese monks visiting the city.

Recently Arnab Banerjee, a fellow Calcutta (Kolkata) enthusiast informed me that the Maynmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple remains open every day in the evening and photography is allowed inside. The very next weekend I was out to visit and shoot one of my most sort after places in Kolkata (Calcutta).

I entered the building through a entrance heavily encroached by hawkers. A winding staircase laid me to the top floor. Two Burmese monks welcomed me into the small but elegant temple, in spite of a severe language barrier it was definitely a very warm welcome.

Golden Buddha Statue, Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple, Kolkata (Calcutta)

The alter contains a magnificent statue of Lord Buddha with a glowing white face is covered with gold leaves. The statue is seated on a golden throne and dressed in golden attire complete with a golden crown and umbrella.The alter is also decorated with several other statues, coloured candles, incense sticks and last but not least Chinese made flashing lights.

Sadly a sheet of glass in front of the statue makes photography extremely difficult, only option is to shoot from the small openings on either side and it was all I did to capture one of the most magnificent Buddha statue of Calcutta (Kolkata).

Please seeAmitav Ghosh’s Twit on the Kolkata’s Historic Burese temple.

Reference:

• The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
• Lone Monk preserve Temple in Kolkata
• Trespass threat to Myanmar Temple

Special Thanks:

• Special thanks to Arnab Banerjee a fellow Calcutta (Kolkata) enthusiast who provided me with valuable information on the Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple, Kolkata (calcutta).

This article on Myanmar (Burma) Buddhist Temple, Calcutta (Kolkata) has been twitted by Amitav Ghosh.

Words of appreciation from Dr. Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh’s writing has always fascinated me. Although a mainly a fictional writer Ghosh has the ability of blending fictional characters in historical backdrop. For the last couple of years I have been reading his books and have read Calcutta Chromosome, Hungry Tide, Circle of Raesons, Shadow Lines, Glass Palace, Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke. I also read is non – fiction work In an Antique Land.

Top Left: Cover of Calcutta Chromosome; Top Right: Ronald Ross Memorial, Calcutta; Bottom: Ross’ Medallion and the two inscriptions

I have read most of Ghosh’s books from the library of International School of Business & Media (ISB&M), where I work as a visiting faculty teaching Mathematics, Statistics, Operation Research and Research Methodology for BBA students.

Recently I picked up the courage to write to Amitava Ghosh sharing a link of my blog entry on Ronald Ross Memorial, which was the centre of attraction of Ghosh’s best selling novel Calcutta Chromosome.

My Letter to Dr. Amitava Ghosh

Reading Calcutta Chromosome at ISB&M, Kolkata library (photo courtesy: Akash Mondal)

Dear Dr Amitav Ghosh, I am one of your numerous reader and one of the numerous persons to write to you. I have read many of your books but the one that fascinated me most is “Calcutta Chromosome.” Centered round Ronald Ross’ Nobel Prize winning discovery the book has left an enormous impact on me.

My first encounter with the Roland Ross Memorial, located on the western wall of the Presidency General Hospital, happened during my days of Post Graduation in the Department of Business Management of Calcutta University’s Alipur Campus (1998 – 2000). During the two years I regularly walked past the memorial and often stopping to read the inscriptions over and over again

I read Calcutta Chromosome a couple of years back and it was enough to ignite my decade old passion on the memorial. I decided to have a small writeup (along with photos) on the Ronald Ross Memorial in my Blog.

I am sending you the link Ronald Ross Memorial.

I would be ever grateful if you come up with your comments and suggestions.

Eagerly waiting for a reply.

Regards
RANGAN DATTA

Left: Inscription from Roanld Ross memorial; Right: A page from Calcutta Chromosome showing the inscription

To my utter surprise Ghosh not only replied immediately but also posted my letter in his blog, along with a note of appreciation. In spite of his tight scheduled Ghosh also had the time to go through several other entries of by blog and have also appreciated my post on Kolkata’s Chinese Temples and Zorostrian Temple.

Dr. Amitav Ghosh’s Reply

From Kolkata Rangan Datta sends the letter below with a link to an interesting piece on the Ronald Ross memorial. There are several other interesting posts on his page, including an excellent piece on Kolkata’s Chinese temples and one on the Zoroastrian temple, which he visited when it was under renovation (the temples are otherwise closed to (non-Zoroastrians).

To see my letter and the reply visit Amitav Ghosh’s Blog.

Special thanks:

• Akash Mondal, fellow photo enthusiast and my colleague at ISB&M, Kolkata for shooting my photo.
• Gobinda Pahari. librarian at ISB&M, Kolkata.

Ronald Ross Memorial, Calcutta (Kolkata)

Ronald Ross Memorial, Calcutta (Kolkata)

“It’s strange,” she said. “I’ve changed buses here hundreds of times. I can’t even begin to count how often I’ve walked past this wall. But I’ve never noticed that inscription up there.” this words are said by Urmila one of the major character of Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Calcutta Chromosome.

Urmila, who happens to be a journalist, in Ghosh’s best selling novel was not aware of the Ross Memorial. But Ghosh’s Urmila is no exception great many of the Calcuttans are not aware of the memorial dedicated to Ronald Ross, Calcutta’s first Nobel Laureate.

Ronald Ross medallion flanked with two inscription

Located on the Northern wall of the Presidency General (PG) Hospital, lies a arch shaped memorial dedicated to Ronald Ross, Nobel Prize winner of Medicine in 1902.

Ronald Ross (1857 – 1932) studied malaria from 1881 to 1899. Finally on 20th August 1897 Ross, working at the PG hospital discovered that malaria was transmitted by female  anopheles mosquito. 20th August is celebrated as the “World Mosquito Day.”

Sadly the culturally active Calcuttans have forgotten Ross and his memorial lies in utter neglect. The arch contains a central medallion of Ronald Ross which is flanked on either side by two marble inscriptions.

The inscription on the left describes the process in which malaria was transmitted. while that on the right contains a poem written by Ronald Ross himself. Only the first three paragraphs of the poem were written on the marble plaque.

The two more paragraphs of the poem read as follows:

Inscription on right

Half stunned I looked around
And see a land of death –
Dead bones that walk the ground
And death bones underneath:.

A race of wretches caught, 
Between the palms of need 
And rubbed to utter nought,
The chaff of human seed.

Note:

• Words of appreciation from the best selling author Amitav Ghosh
• My blog entry on Amitav Ghosh’s words of appreciation

Reference:

• Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh
• Photos from my Personal Website

List of my Blog entries on Calcutta (Kolkata)