Uttarpara
Encyclopedia
Uttarpara is a small town of Hooghly District
, West Bengal
, India
. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority
.
It is a town of historical importance. Uttarpara is home to some of the biggest industrial setups in the state. It has the Shaw Wallace Distilliery, Shalimar Wire Products, Hindustan Motors
which is the only vehicle plant in West Bengal which manufactures the car Ambassador
.
Uttarpara Kotrung is the municipality
. Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality was established in 1853, much before the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
(1876).
. There is a man-made canal that clearly marks the boundary between Uttarpara and the adjoining Howrah District
.
.
Atul Krishna Ray, in his book Lakshmikanta: A Chapter In The Social History Of Bengal (1928) has written that Ratneshwar Roy Choudhury (1670–1720) belonged to the Sabarna Roy Choudhury
family of Barisha
-Behala
. In 1709 Ratneshwar had purchased Chakbali tract from Sheoraphuli
fiefdom of Manohar Roy. Since it was on the north of Chakbali, the place was called Uttarpara. He is the fourth generation in the family of Lakshmikanta, who was awarded the titles of "Roy" and "Choudhury" by Mughal Emperor Jahangir
. The entire Kolkata of today and the adjacent Sundarbans belonged to the Sabarna Choudhury family. Lakshmikanta's father, Kamdev Brahmachari, who had become a saint and resided at Varanasi, had expressed that a piece of tract be bought by the family on the same side of the Ganges as that of Varanasi. The Kalighat Kali Temple
was installed by Kamdev Brahmachari. Lakhmikanta was the great grandson of Panchanan Gangopadhyay, who had joined Emperor Humayun's Afgan cavalry and raised a haveli for which the place was called Havei Shahar, now Halisahar
.
Amarnathnath Bandyopadhyay, in his book Bangsha Parichay (1911), has detailed all the Brahmin and Kayastha families of the then Uttarpara. It contains genealogy of each and every family. Sabarna Choudhury Paribar Parishad of Barisha-Behala has copies of both the above books. Ootarpara, in those days was marshland - bereft of decent human settlement. Only fishermen of Patni, Malo castes and a few Muslim
s lived there. Their trade was fishing, marketing fishing equipments, ferry service and dacoity. Ratneshwar cleared the entire area and developed it as a progressive town.
The compulsion of Kaulinya system made Ratneswar, who was a non-Kulin Brahmin, to bring Kulin Brahmin families for matrimony. Gradually, many Brahmin families like Durga Charan Banerjee, Ramtanu Chatterjee, Ramnidhi Chatterjee, Nandalal Mukherjee etc. migrated and settled at Ootarpara through matrimonial relation with descendants of Ratneswar Roychoudhury. Many of these families afterwards took leading role in intellectual and spiritual development of Uttarpara. It is not know how and when 'Ootarpara' became more sober sounding Uttarpara. Jaykrisna Mukherjee, one of the renowned Zamindars of that time belonged to this historic town. He and his family members (Mukhopadhayy Bangso) are siad to be one the founder of modern Uttarpara.Jaykrisna Mukherjee a big lover of education and it was he who found the famous Jaykrisna library (India's largest reference library). He paid a great attention towards female education and found a school for the women which is still active.
Jaykrisna Mukherjee was the first person to sign a mass petition for enactment of a law for widow marriage (Bidhoba Bibaha). A part of the Jaykrisna library was opened for the famous poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta during his last few years.
Uttarpara is a land of culture.Every year in the month of January a classical concert is organised by the Sangeet Chakra where many famous classical maestros perform.
, Uttarpara Kotrung had a population of 150,204. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Uttarpara Kotrung has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 76%. In Uttarpara Kotrung, 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.
. Efforts are being made to revive the plant.
passes through Uttarpara. Central Kolkata
(Esplanade
) is just 18 km away from Uttarpara. Presently, Uttarpara is better described as a suburb of Kolkata. Majority of its population goes to Kolkata for work.
The two adjacent stations to Uttarpara are Hindmotor
and Bally.
of Bengal
, Sri Joy Krishna Mookherjee, who was related to the family of founder Ratneshwar through marriage, contributed towards establishment of library, a public hospital and a school. The town once boasted of sylvan peace, beautiful buildings, epitome of great architectural works and steeped in cultural heritage. But, that is fast giving way to flats and modern apartment buildings to accommodate the ever increasing populace. Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt
spent his last days in Uttarpara Joykrishna Library.
In 1909, Aurobindo Ghosh gave his last political speech before leaving for Pondicherry to embrace monkhood. This speech, known as 'Uttarpara Speech', is a valuable work for understanding Hinduism
and Sanatan dharma by Sri Aurobindo.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
also came to Uttarpara once and gave his political speech. A heritage building is under renovation process to keep the memory of this great freedom fighter.
The Hungry Generation literary movement
which changed the course of Bengali creative literature, was started by two brothers, Malay Roy Choudhury
and Samir Roychoudhury
, descendants of the founder of Uttarpara, Ratneshwar Roychoudhury. The literary movement had its meetings in their ancestral home Sabarna Villa on Choudhury Para Street, which was visited by such literary stalwarts as Sunil Gangopadhyay
, Shakti Chattopadhyay
and many others.
Hooghly District
Hooghly district is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal in India. It can alternatively be spelt Hoogli or Hugli. The district is named after the Hooghly River.The headquarters of the district are at Chinsura...
, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority is the statutory planning and development authority for the Kolkata Metropolitan Area in the state of West Bengal, India. The organisation was previously known as Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority and still retains the previous logo...
.
It is a town of historical importance. Uttarpara is home to some of the biggest industrial setups in the state. It has the Shaw Wallace Distilliery, Shalimar Wire Products, Hindustan Motors
Hindustan Motors
Hindustan Motors is an automobile manufacturer from India. It is part of the Birla Technical Services industrial group. The company was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog....
which is the only vehicle plant in West Bengal which manufactures the car Ambassador
Hindustan Ambassador
The Hindustan Ambassador is a car manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India. It has been in production since 1958 with few modifications or changes and is based on the Morris Oxford III model, first made by the Morris Motor Company at Cowley, Oxford in the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1959.Despite...
.
Uttarpara Kotrung is the municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
. Uttarpara Kotrung Municipality was established in 1853, much before the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. The organization is known, in short, as KMC . This civic administrative body administers an area of 185 sq. km. Its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali...
(1876).
Geography
Uttarpara is located at 22.67°N 88.35°E, within 10 km from Kolkata, the capital of the state of West Bengal. It has an average elevation of 15 metres (52 feet). Located at the south-eastern tip of the Hooghly District, on the banks of the river Ganges, it is just across the Dakshineswar Kali TempleDakshineswar Kali Temple
The Dakshineswar Kali Temple is a Hindu temple located in Dakshineswar near Kolkata. Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, an aspect of Kali, meaning, 'She who liberates Her devotees from the ocean of existence i.e Saṃsāra'...
. There is a man-made canal that clearly marks the boundary between Uttarpara and the adjoining Howrah District
Howrah District
Howrah district is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. It has thousands of years of rich heritage in the form of the great Bengali kingdom of Bhurshut. The district is named after its headquarters, the city of Howrah.-Geography:...
.
History
Uttarpara remains firmly locked with its history through the hymn of Satya-Narayan Puja in BengaliBengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
.
- "Gangaar Paschim Kul, Varanasi Samatul, Taar Madhya Uttam Uttarpara Gram, Sabarna Choudhury Dwija Narayan Naam..."
- (in English, "Uttarpara is located on west bank of the Ganges, just as Varanasi. It was set up by the descendants of Sabarna Choudhury...")
Atul Krishna Ray, in his book Lakshmikanta: A Chapter In The Social History Of Bengal (1928) has written that Ratneshwar Roy Choudhury (1670–1720) belonged to the Sabarna Roy Choudhury
Sabarna Roy Choudhury
Sabarna Ray Chaudhury family were the Zamindar of the Kolkata area, prior to the arrival of the British. On November 10, 1698, they transferred, by lease, their rights over the three villages – Sutanuti, Kalikata and Gobindapur - to the East India Company...
family of Barisha
Barisha
Barisha is a residential locality of Kolkata , West Bengal, India. Historically, it one of the oldest boroughs in Kolkata. It was the abode of the great Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. Barisha is known today for being the home of the Indian Cricket idol Sourav Ganguly...
-Behala
Behala
Behala is a neighbourhood in South West Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Behala was officially known as South Suburban Municipality until it was merged with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation on January, 1984. Now it is broadly spread across Ward Nos.118 and 132 of the KMC and is...
. In 1709 Ratneshwar had purchased Chakbali tract from Sheoraphuli
Sheoraphuli
Sheoraphuli is a small town in Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.- History :...
fiefdom of Manohar Roy. Since it was on the north of Chakbali, the place was called Uttarpara. He is the fourth generation in the family of Lakshmikanta, who was awarded the titles of "Roy" and "Choudhury" by Mughal Emperor Jahangir
Jahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
. The entire Kolkata of today and the adjacent Sundarbans belonged to the Sabarna Choudhury family. Lakshmikanta's father, Kamdev Brahmachari, who had become a saint and resided at Varanasi, had expressed that a piece of tract be bought by the family on the same side of the Ganges as that of Varanasi. The Kalighat Kali Temple
Kalighat Kali Temple
Kalighat Kali Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess Maa Kali. It is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.Kalighat was a Ghat sacred to Kali on the old course of the Hooghly river in the city of Calcutta. The name Calcutta is said to have been derived from the word Kalighat. The river...
was installed by Kamdev Brahmachari. Lakhmikanta was the great grandson of Panchanan Gangopadhyay, who had joined Emperor Humayun's Afgan cavalry and raised a haveli for which the place was called Havei Shahar, now Halisahar
Halisahar
Halisahar is a city and a municipality under Bijpur/ Naihati police stations of Barrackpore subdivision. in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.It was formerly known Kumarhata. It has an...
.
Amarnathnath Bandyopadhyay, in his book Bangsha Parichay (1911), has detailed all the Brahmin and Kayastha families of the then Uttarpara. It contains genealogy of each and every family. Sabarna Choudhury Paribar Parishad of Barisha-Behala has copies of both the above books. Ootarpara, in those days was marshland - bereft of decent human settlement. Only fishermen of Patni, Malo castes and a few Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s lived there. Their trade was fishing, marketing fishing equipments, ferry service and dacoity. Ratneshwar cleared the entire area and developed it as a progressive town.
The compulsion of Kaulinya system made Ratneswar, who was a non-Kulin Brahmin, to bring Kulin Brahmin families for matrimony. Gradually, many Brahmin families like Durga Charan Banerjee, Ramtanu Chatterjee, Ramnidhi Chatterjee, Nandalal Mukherjee etc. migrated and settled at Ootarpara through matrimonial relation with descendants of Ratneswar Roychoudhury. Many of these families afterwards took leading role in intellectual and spiritual development of Uttarpara. It is not know how and when 'Ootarpara' became more sober sounding Uttarpara. Jaykrisna Mukherjee, one of the renowned Zamindars of that time belonged to this historic town. He and his family members (Mukhopadhayy Bangso) are siad to be one the founder of modern Uttarpara.Jaykrisna Mukherjee a big lover of education and it was he who found the famous Jaykrisna library (India's largest reference library). He paid a great attention towards female education and found a school for the women which is still active.
Jaykrisna Mukherjee was the first person to sign a mass petition for enactment of a law for widow marriage (Bidhoba Bibaha). A part of the Jaykrisna library was opened for the famous poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta during his last few years.
Uttarpara is a land of culture.Every year in the month of January a classical concert is organised by the Sangeet Chakra where many famous classical maestros perform.
Demographics
India censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Uttarpara Kotrung had a population of 150,204. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Uttarpara Kotrung has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 76%. In Uttarpara Kotrung, 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Hindustan Motors
Uttarpara is home to India's first car factory - Hindustan MotorsHindustan Motors
Hindustan Motors is an automobile manufacturer from India. It is part of the Birla Technical Services industrial group. The company was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog....
. Efforts are being made to revive the plant.
Transportation
Uttarpara is well connected by road and rail. There is a railway station at Uttarpara that connects Uttarpara with Howrah via the main line axis which connects the metropolis of Kolkata with the rest of India. At Bally, just a kilometre off, three major railway lines converge. The historically famed and the nation's prime road artery, the Grand Trunk RoadGrand Trunk Road
The Grand Trunk Road also formerly known as Uttarapatha, Shah Rah-e-Azam or Sadak-e-Azam or Badshahi Sadak is one of South Asia's oldest and longest major roads...
passes through Uttarpara. Central Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
(Esplanade
Esplanade
An esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns...
) is just 18 km away from Uttarpara. Presently, Uttarpara is better described as a suburb of Kolkata. Majority of its population goes to Kolkata for work.
The two adjacent stations to Uttarpara are Hindmotor
Hindmotor
Hindmotor is a small town of Hooghly District, West Bengal, India, situated on the western bank of the river Ganges. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority....
and Bally.
Culture
Uttarpara boasts of a rich cultural heritage. Philanthropic zamindarZamindar
A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...
of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, Sri Joy Krishna Mookherjee, who was related to the family of founder Ratneshwar through marriage, contributed towards establishment of library, a public hospital and a school. The town once boasted of sylvan peace, beautiful buildings, epitome of great architectural works and steeped in cultural heritage. But, that is fast giving way to flats and modern apartment buildings to accommodate the ever increasing populace. Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Michael Madhusudan Dutta was a popular 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagardari , on the bank of Kopotaksho [কপোতাক্ষ] River, a village in Keshobpur Upozila, Jessore District, East Bengal . His father was Rajnarayan Dutt, an eminent lawyer, and...
spent his last days in Uttarpara Joykrishna Library.
In 1909, Aurobindo Ghosh gave his last political speech before leaving for Pondicherry to embrace monkhood. This speech, known as 'Uttarpara Speech', is a valuable work for understanding Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Sanatan dharma by Sri Aurobindo.
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
Subhash Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose known by name Netaji was an Indian revolutionary who led an Indian national political and military force against Britain and the Western powers during World War II. Bose was one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement and is a legendary figure in...
also came to Uttarpara once and gave his political speech. A heritage building is under renovation process to keep the memory of this great freedom fighter.
The Hungry Generation literary movement
Hungry generation
The Hungry Generation was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet i.e. Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Roy alias Haradhon Dhara, during the 1960s in Kolkata, India...
which changed the course of Bengali creative literature, was started by two brothers, Malay Roy Choudhury
Malay Roy Choudhury
Malay Roy Choudhury is a Bengali poet and novelist who founded the "Hungryalist Movement" in the 1960s. His literary works have been reviewed by sixty critics in HAOWA 49, a quarterly magazine which devoted its January 2001 special issue to Roy Choudhury's life and works...
and Samir Roychoudhury
Samir Roychoudhury
Samir Roychowdhury , one of the founding fathers of the Hungry Generation 1961-1965 ,was born at Panihati, West Bengal, India in a family of artists, sculptors, photographers and musicians...
, descendants of the founder of Uttarpara, Ratneshwar Roychoudhury. The literary movement had its meetings in their ancestral home Sabarna Villa on Choudhury Para Street, which was visited by such literary stalwarts as Sunil Gangopadhyay
Sunil Gangopadhyay
Sunil Gangopadhyay , is a celebrated Indian poet and novelist.-Early life:...
, Shakti Chattopadhyay
Shakti Chattopadhyay
Shakti Chattopadhay was a Bengali poet and writer, widely regarded as one of the greatest poet of 20th century Bengali literature. -External links:...
and many others.
People
- Joykrishna Mookherjee
- Poet Biharilal Chakraborty
- Freedom fighter Amarendra ChatterjeeAmarendra ChatterjeeAmarendranath Chatterjee was an Indian independence movement activist. In charge of raising funds for the Jugantar movement, his activities largely covered revolutionary centres in Bihar, Orissa and the United Provinces....
- Singer Manilal Nag http://www.raga.com/interviews/interview215.html
- Malay Roy ChoudhuryMalay Roy ChoudhuryMalay Roy Choudhury is a Bengali poet and novelist who founded the "Hungryalist Movement" in the 1960s. His literary works have been reviewed by sixty critics in HAOWA 49, a quarterly magazine which devoted its January 2001 special issue to Roy Choudhury's life and works...
, founder of Hungry generationHungry generationThe Hungry Generation was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet i.e. Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Roy alias Haradhon Dhara, during the 1960s in Kolkata, India...
Movement. - Samir RoychoudhurySamir RoychoudhurySamir Roychowdhury , one of the founding fathers of the Hungry Generation 1961-1965 ,was born at Panihati, West Bengal, India in a family of artists, sculptors, photographers and musicians...
member of KrittibasKrittibasKrittibas is a Bengali poetry magazine that first appeared in Kolkata in 1953. It played a highly influential role in the Kolkata literary scene in the decades after Indian independence, and provided a platform for young, experimental poets, many of whom went on to become luminaries of modern...
group and co-founder of the "HungryalistHungry generationThe Hungry Generation was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet i.e. Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Roy alias Haradhon Dhara, during the 1960s in Kolkata, India...
" movement - Mritunjoy Sen Gupta resident tutor of Bank Park
Education
- Raja Peary Mohan College
- Uttarpara Govt. High SchoolUttarpara Govt. High SchoolUttarpara Government High School is a school situated in Uttarpara , a town of Hooghly District, West Bengal, India. The school is directly under the Government of West Bengal. The present Headmaster is Mr...
- Uttarpara Amarendra VidyapithUttarpara Amarendra VidyapithUttarpara Amarendra Vidyapith which was established on 6 March, 1939, is a prestigious as well as heritagious institution of Uttarpara, a small town in Hooghly district India...
(Boys') - Uttarpara Amarendra VidyapithUttarpara Amarendra VidyapithUttarpara Amarendra Vidyapith which was established on 6 March, 1939, is a prestigious as well as heritagious institution of Uttarpara, a small town in Hooghly district India...
(Girls') - Uttarpara Union High School (Boys')
- Uttarpara Girls' School
- Makhla Deviswari Vidya Niketan
- Bhadrakali High School
- Uttarpara Children's Own Home
- Swami Nissambalananda College (For Girls)
- Vision International School at Makhla
- Indira Gandhi Memorial Academy at Makhla (Class I to X)
- Vision International
- Dreamland School