It was quiet some time since I updated the blog but believe me I had no intention of discontinuing this exercise but it just happened with every Sunday and a holiday that I got. Some I went but did not update because of the copyright reason (like Greek Orthodox Church) and some I did not update because of non-satisfactory visits (Bandel Church and Serampore).
Chandannagar (Chandernagore as per some records) was French dominated area and the town till now has French bearings; some observations and inferences are mentioned in the subsequent writings. What was interesting in today's trip was the usage of to-to (local term for battery operated auto-rickshaw).
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| The Church in its glory |
The first on the agenda was the Sacred Heart Church. It was built in 1691 and credit goes to Fr. Jacques Duchatz, SJ for overseeing the same. It became parish in 1695.
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| The details written in French; I was amazed by the dates and the interpretations |
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| The banister design |
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| The banister leading upstarirs |
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| Ornate design in the Church |
We had to go through a monument erected by the H.E. Bernard de mont Ferrand (Ambassador of France to India on 10-April 2002). It is a beautiful yet unique piece. Next a small statue of Joan of Arc welcomes us before we head to the main church building.
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| The piece inaugurated by the French Governor at the entrance |
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| Statue of Joan of Arc |
As one enters the main prayer hall, one is simply awed by the sheer height of the structure and the beauty of it. It seemed like there has not been a fresh coat of paint ever since it was inaugurated 3 centuries earlier.
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| The main hall |
To the left is what seems to be a confession box.
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| The confession box |
There are two pathways parallel to the main pathway; one on each side. The left pathway ends with a statute of Mother Mary with the words AVE MARY inscribed below it. The right one ends with a statute of Joseph.
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| Liked the design on the confession box |
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| The left pathway which ends with a Statue of Mother Mary |
The entire structure is in an arc formation and is supported by 12 huge pillars upon which supports the entire building. Each of the 12 main pillars had some rare picture related to the life of Jesus; the description however was written in Bengali which made it difficult for me to decipher.
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| Beauty of a fresco painting |
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| Another fresco |
What is impressive is the beautiful frescoes on the high ends on each side of the wall. The ones behind the main altar catches the onlookers attention. Another unique thing which I found was the change from the typical banister design which I had seen in all the churches with the British touch.
As one makes it to the main exit gate, there is a huge inscription mention as QUE DIEU VOUS BENISSE; when translated to English from French, it turns out as God Bless You. Clearly outside, there is a small masonry work which has a structure of Jesus (hung on the Cross with INRI written) and is surrounded by St. John the Apostle, Mary Magdalene and Mary.
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| 3 onlookers of Jesus |
We immediately headed outside where we had the Sacred Heart School and then we headed for the famous gate which was built in 1937 to commemorate the fall of Bastille. It stands impressive today with a protrusion to the Hoogly river and a sitting ghat designed for almost half a kilometer of each side of the river along its banks. It mentions the name of Durga Charan Rakshit who won the Chevalier de Honour from the French Govt. in 1937. His name is mentioned as DURGACHORONE ROQUITTE.
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| French Gate |
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An enlarged design on the gate
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We came to know that the French Governor's house and the museum was closed because of today being a Saturday. We were a bit disappointed. We decided to take a stroll on the river bank.
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| Dupleix Bhawan |
To our joy we found the buildings presently being used as the Court, the police station, a cultural theatre part; all were historic. It was clear from their appearance.
Then we headed to the famous Nandadulal Temple built by Indranarayan Roychudhury in 1740. It has a unique design of double slope roof.
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The Nandan Ghosh temple
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| A designer view of the temple roof (just to highlight the complexity of the design) |
In all Chandannagar has 23 temples; we also caught up with the Bara Shivtala Mandir (built of terracota and having intricate designs)
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| The bara Shivtala Mandir |
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| The Shiva Linga (almost 1.4 mtrs high) inside the Shiva Mandir |
and Char Shiv Mandir (4 temples of Shiva together).
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| My companions in the sojourn |
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| Companions enjoying the river view |
Before I finally put the full stop, I must nention that I liked the city (oops town) because of the large number of grounds (all were agog with future footballers) and temples. At the end of the day, I was amazed over the fact that so near to Kolkata we have such a wonderful place where we have not only non-British but also some pre-British history. So much still to cover; it demands another full day.
