Hugli-Chuchura

This article is about the municipality in West Bengal, India. For its namesake district, see Hooghly district.
Hooghly-Chuchura
হুগলী-চুঁচুড়া
Hooghly-Chinsurah
City
Hooghly-Chuchura
Coordinates: 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39Coordinates: 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39
Country  India
State West Bengal
District Hooghly
Population (2001)
 • Total 170,201
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 712101 712102 712103 712105 712106
Telephone code 033
Lok Sabha constituency Hooghly
Vidhan Sabha constituency Chunchura
Website hooghly.nic.in

Chinsurah (also known as Hooghly-Chinsura or Hooghly) is a city in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies on the Hooghly River, 35 km north of Kolkata (Calcutta). It is located in the district of Hugli and is home to the district headquarters. Chuchura houses the Commissioner of the Burdwan Range. It forms a part of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) region.[1] The District Court building of Chinsurah is the longest building in West Bengal.

Etymology

Hooghly-Chuchura was a municipality formed by the merging of two towns, Hugli and Chinsura, in 1865. The names are spelled in other ways including Hooghly, Hugli, Hughli, Ugulim (in Portuguese), Chinsura, Chunchura, Chuchro and Chinsurah.

The Grand Trunk Road (G.T.Road)passes through the town. Chuchura and Hugli are historic stations on the Howrah-Burdwan main line of the Eastern Railway. Ferry services on the River Hugli serves as a link with the district of North 24 Parganas.

Geography

Hugli-Chuchura is located at 22°54′N 88°23′E / 22.90°N 88.39°E / 22.90; 88.39.[2] This city is situated on the flood plain on the right bank of river Bhagirathi-Hooghly.

History

A View of Chinsura the Dutch settlement in Bengal

The Portuguese founded the town of Hooghly-Chuchura in 1579, but the district has thousands of years of heritage in the form of the great kingdom of Bhurshut. The city flourished as a trading port and some religious structures were built. One such structure is a Christian church dedicated to a statue of Mary, brought by the Portuguese.

In the 17th century, political disorder struck the city and the Mughal governor of Bengal expelled the Portuguese. The fleeing Portuguese lost the statue in the river, but local people later found it on the river bank. The arrested Portuguese were taken to Delhi, where a death sentence of trampling by elephants was decreed. When the emperor Shah Jahan heard this he ordered the priests released and granted a piece of land on the bank of the river Hooghly, where the statue of Mary was reestablished. There the Portuguese constructed a church to house the statue, which still receives pilgrims today. The church was renovated in the 1980s and has been declared as a basilica by the authority of Rome.

In 1656 the Dutch erected a factory on the site of the town. At that time Calcutta was the principal settlement in Dutch Bengal, who used it as a base for the Dutch intra-Asian opium trade.

In 1759 the garrison of Chinsura, on its march to Chandernagore, attacked a British force under Colonel Forde. The Battle of Chinsurah lasted less than half an hour and ended with the rout of the Dutch attackers. In 1795, during the Napoleonic wars, a British garrison occupied the settlement. The peace of 1814 restored Hughli to the Dutch. However, in 1825, the Dutch ceded many of their possession in India to the British, in exchange for the British possessions in Sumatra.

Both Chinsurah and Hooghly played a role in the Bengal renaissance and the Indian independence movement. "Vande Mataram", India's national song, was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay at Joraghat in Chinsurah, who had been an alumnus of the Hooghly Collegiate School . Nazrul Islam's revolutionary songs were penned while he was imprisoned by the British in Hooghly Jail.

Chinsurah N.S Road

Transportation

Hugli Chinsurah has three railway stations- Chinsurah (CNS) and Hooghly on the Howrah railway-line and Hooghly Ghat (HYG) on the Sealdah railway line. The Chinsurah railway station is well connected to Howrah, Bandel, Burdwan, and other cities. A few passenger and express trains stop at the Chinsurah station. The Hooghly Ghat station is situated just beside the Jubilee bridge, which plays as a connector between the eastern and the western side of the Ganges.

Transportation within Chinsurah is mainly by bus, auto and rickshaw. Buses from the stand go to towns such as Memari, Tarakeswar, Serampore, Chandannagar, Arambagh, Bankura, Digha. Apart from being connected by railway services, Chinsurah is well-connected to Naihati by ferry services, which is a delightful experience.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census,[3] Hugli-Chinsurah had a population of 5520389. Males constitute 51.06% of the population and females 48.94%. Hugli-Chinsurah has an average literacy rate of 82.55%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 87.93%, and female literacy is 76.95%.

Temples, churches, and attractions

The basilica of the Holy-Rosary, Bandel
Hooghly Imambara
Jubilee Bridge on the Hooghly River between Naihati and Bandel

Schools

  • Hooghly Collegiate School (established 1812), boys, Bengali language.[4]
  • Hooghly Branch School (established 1834), boys, Bengali.
  • Auxilium Convent School(established 1951), girls, English.
  • Don Bosco School, Bandel (established 1978), boys, English.
  • Bandel St.Johns High School, boys, Bengali.
  • Hooghly Gourhari Harijan Vidyamandir, co-ed.
  • Deshbandhu Memorial boys High School, boys, Bengali.
  • Balika Bani Mandir, girls, Bengali.
  • Hooghly Duff High School(1849), boys, Bengali.
  • Jyotish Chandra Vidyapith, girls, Bengali.
  • Jyotish Chandra Vidyapith, boys, Bengali.
  • Balika Siksha Mandir, girls, Bengali.
  • Hooghly Binodini Girls High School, girls, Bengali.
  • Deshbandhu Memorial Girls High School, girls, Bengali.
  • Hooghly Modern School, co-ed, English.
  • Techno India Group Public School, co-ed, English.
  • Abbot Shishu Hall (established 1979, co-ed, English.
  • Elite Co-Ed school Hooghly, co-ed, English.
  • Bandel Vidyamandir, co-ed, Bengali.
  • Ramkrishna high school, co-ed, Bengali.
  • Hooghly Girls high school, girls, Bengali.
  • Bikramnagar Haranath Nirada Sundari Ghosh Vidyamaidir(H.S), established 1964, co-ed, Bengali.
  • Elite Coed School,English.
  • Ghutiabazar Mallikbati Paath Shala (established 1829), boys, Bengali.
  • Shib Chandra Shom training academy, boys, Bengali.
  • Around 66 junior schools.
  • Duff High School,chinsurah.
  • Mahatma Gandhi Hindi Vidyalaya, Bandel
  • St.Antony High School, Chandannagore
  • St. Joseph's Convent,Chandannagore
Sri Aurobindo Vidyamandir,Chandernagore
  • Akuni B.G.Bharilal Institution, Akuni,chonditala
  • tribeni tissues vidyapith, co-ed, English.

Colleges

The famous Chinsurah Court building is known to be the longest building in West Bengal.

Festivals

Durga Puja, Eid, Jagadhatri Puja, Maharam, Kartick Puja, Kali Puja & Deepawali, Saraswati Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Navabarsho (Bengali New Year), Basanti Puja, Manasa Puja, Christmas et cetera are the main festivals celebrated here.

Banks

Notable residents

The town was home to Jyotish Chandra Ghosh (Mastar mashay), hailed as a guru by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Notable figures associated with the town include Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Shashi Bhusan Chatterjee, Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, Akshay Chandra Sarkar, and Dr. Murarimohan Mukherjee.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Base Map of Kolkata Metropolitan area". Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  2. ↑ "Yahoo maps location of Hugli-Chuchura". Yahoo maps. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
  3. ↑ http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/prov_data_products_wb.html?. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Official website of Hooghly Collegiate School". Hooghly Collegiate School.

External links

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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Hugli (town).
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