The Jagadhatri Puja of Sir Gooroodas Banerjee, the first Indian vice-chancellor of Calcutta University enters its 152nd year.
Chandannagar, West Bengal. (File image)
The Jagadhatri Puja of Sir Gooroodas Banerjee, the first Indian vice-chancellor of Calcutta University enters its 152nd year.
This is one of the oldest Jagadhatri Puja in the city.
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Sir Gooroodas, a judge of Calcutta High Court started the puja in 1872. Since then the puja has been held uninterrupted. The puja is held at the house, which Sir Gooroodas constructed on Shasthitala Road in Narkeldanga.
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The puja has not been stopped even for once. During the past 152 years, the city witnessed two World Wars, communal riot of 1946, partition in 1947, naxalite movement in the late 1960s.
The puja is organised by the descendents of Sir Gooroodas. He had four sons and for them he constructed four houses at Shasthitala Road. Two roads in the city have been named after two of his sons, namely, Sarat Banerjee Road in south Kolkata (Sarat Banerjee was his second son) and Upen Banerjee Road in east Kolkata (Upen Banerjee was third son).
The puja is observed maintaining all rituals. At night, the family members present a drama. Keeping up with the long-cherished tradition the family members will present a play reading session of a famous blank verse, written by Banaphul, the pen name of famous writer Dr Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay.
Sir Gooroodas was a friend of Sister Nivedita and the former editor of The Statesman SK Ratcliff. He was an important figure, who drafted the national education policy during the Swadeshi movement.
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