European grandeur in rural West Bengal
Subhasish Chaudhuri, Calcutta: The Bengal government is exploring the scope of tourism, clubbing heritage sites located in and around the Dhanyakuria — the village of European-style castles — in Basirhat in North 24-Parganas.
A team of West Bengal Heritage Commission led by chairman Alapan Bandopadhyay, who is also chief adviser to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, visited the village on Saturday.
“State heritage commission chairman and members visited several sites, particularly the Gaine Castle as per the advice of chief minister Mamata Banerjee…. However, the exact project plan was not disclosed,” an official of North 24-Parganas district administration said.
Located under the Basirhat-II administration block, Dhanyakuria is famous for its architectural uniqueness. In the second half of the 19th century, several rich landlords who settled in Dhanyakuria, built mansion and castle-type buildings, replicating the European styles of the day and seamlessly embedding them into the Indian architectural pattern. Local historians said that what one landlord did was followed by others, and soon the village was dotted not just with mansions and castles, but also schools, health clinics and libraries in the European style.
The Gaine and Sawoo families were some of the landlords who helped develop the village.
The Gaines prospered by trading jute, producing jaggery and other farm produce in collaboration with the Sawoo and Ballav families.
The State Heritage Commission has already declared three sites as heritage properties, which include Gaine Castle, Dhanyakuria High School and Dhanyakuria Hospital. The Gaine Rajbari and Gaine Garden draw tourists and are used to shoot films and television serials.
District administration sources said the state government is keen to make Gaine Castle, built by Gobinda Chandra Gaine and his son Mahendranath in the latter half of the 19th century, a big tourist draw.
“The village has ample scope for tourism….”, said Manojit Gaine, a member of the Gaine family who accompanied the WBHC team.
“We paid a visit to the gracious buildings and castles to examine the scope of development… we will submit a report to the chief minister,” Bandopadhyay said.
