Jatar Deul and finally the Horse Race

Horse Race at Jatar Deul

Kankandighi, Raidighi, 24 Parganas (South)

Also see: Jatar Deul and the Illusive Horse Race

It was the second day of the Bengali new year 1420 (16 April 2011), my friend Amitabha Gupta and I headed for the Jatar Deul to witness the horse race. After a 4 + hour journey via train, auto and motor van we finally made it to Jatar Deul only to be informed that the horse race has been postponed to 25 Baikash (9 May) because of Elections.

Galloping past cheering crowd, horse race at Jatar Deul

Amitabha and I decided to retrace out steps back to Jatar Deul for the illusive horse race. On 9^thMay we repeated our 5 hours long journey only to be informed that the race was called off due to unofficial reasons. (Also see: Jatar Deul and the Illusive Horse Race)

JATAR DEUL AND THE ILLUSIVE HORSE RACE

My first encounter with Jatar Deula happened on an early December afternoon of 2004. The journey was no easy one and with almost no information on the web or on print it was almost a venture into unknown.

My initial train journey from Sealdah (South) to Diamond Harbour went on smoothly. It was followed by a bus journey on route No. 10 bus to Raidighi. The distance was not great but the bus stopped at regular intervals for prolonged period to pick up passengers and after two hours of bus journey I finally arrived at Raidighi.

Jatar Deul, Towering above the Agricultural Fields

Now the really adventure began, as I boarded a motorized country boat (locally called Bhut – Bhuti) to cross the Moni River. Although Raidighi had a boarding platform Kankandighi, on the other side of the river, didn’t have one. I got down from the boat several feet away from the bank, with shoes in my hand and my jeans rolled well above my knees. After wadding through knee deep water and mud I finally made it to hard ground.