Memorial of Daulat Hossain, Park Circus

Memorial of Daulat Hossain

Park Circus

Shaikh Daulat Hossain the name is definitely unfamiliar. He is no celebrity but a memorial stands in his memory in a remote corner of Park Circus. Strangely the memorial also seems to be have been forgotten. It lies is utter neglect and is heavily encroached upon.

Daulat Hossain Memorial

Shaikh Daulat Hossain was shot dead by dacoits in Park Circus area when he tried to prevent their decoity attempt. He died on the spot on 7^th October 1932 aged only 18.

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Nafar Chandra Kundu Memorial, Chakraberia Road (South)

Nafar Chandra Kundu Memorial

Chakraberia Road (South)

Nafar Chnadra Kundu, the name is quiet likely to sound unfamiliar because he is no celebrity he is just a common man on the street who did something extraordinary 114 years ago (in 1907). Although no longer remembered but his act of extraordinary courage was enough to turn him into a legend and an icon which today’s India needs more than ever.

Nafar Chandra Kundu Memorial

It was the month of May 1907 Nafar Chandra Kundu was walking down the streets of Chakraberia when heard shouts and desperate plea for help. He noticed a small crowd had gathered round a open manhole and the screams came from inside the manhole.

Plaque of the last legal Sati (Suttee) of Bengal, Scottish Church College

Plaque of the last legal Sati (Suttee) of Bengal

Assembly Hall, Scottish Church College, Kolkata

“In 1829 he lighted the one pyre of his dead father and living mother, the last legal suttee of Bengal.”

Plaque in memory of The Rev. Bipro Charan Chuckerbutty

The plaque in memory of The Rev. Bipro Charan Chuckerbutty, who lighted the pyre of the last legal sati of Bengal, stands on the walls of the Assembly Hall of Scottish Church College, in North Kolkata.

Jewish Cemetery, Kolkata (Calcutta)

Jewish Cemetery

Phoolbagan, Narkeldanga Main Road, Kolkata (Calcutta)

Also See: Kolkata (Calcutta ) Jews

“The synagogue’s members followed a custom ……… of depositing their writing in a special chamber in the synagogue so that they could be disposed of with special rites later. The chamber in which the documents were kept were known by the term ‘Geniza,’ a word that thought to have come into Hebrew from a Persian root, ganj, meaning ‘storehouse’ – a common element in place – names in India and Iran, …. like ‘Ballygunge’ and ‘Daltongunj.'”

Amitav Ghosh, In An Antique Land

The Geniza towers above the graves of Jewish Cemetery, Kolkata (Calcutta)

It may seem strange that common localities in Kolkata (Calcutta), like Ballygunge and Tollygunge, have derived their name from Geniza, the store house of abandoned Jewish religious text!!!!

Clive House, Dum Dum, Kolkata (Calcutta)

Kolkata’s Oldest Existing Building

“I have tried, quiet hopelessly, to discover Calcutta’s oldest building, I suspect it to be Clive’s Country House in Dum Dum.”

Desmond Doig, An Artist’s Impression

Panoramic view of the Courtyard of Clive House, Dum Dum, Kolkata

”…built on an artificial mound of considerable height above the neighboring country, and surrounded by very pretty walks and shrubberies. The house has a vulnerable appearance, and its lower storey, as well as the mound on which it stands, is said to be of some antiquity. The building is of brick, with small windows and enormous buttresses.”

Bishop Heber, 1824