In a bid to revive history, Bhraman Adda and Bhadreshwar Municipality in Hooghly district have taken a major step to revive a haat at Srimani Ghat every Wednesday.

Haats have played a major role in the lives of semi-urban and rural people for the past 500 years. Haats were organised once a week, and the days were fixed. In Kolkata, we get two major haats, namely, the Harisha haat on Saturday, which is basically a haat to sell garments, and the Pakhir haat on Grey Street on Sunday, where animal cubs, birds, and ornamental fish are sold. In Howrah, Mangla haat is held every Friday.

Earlier, in the haats, saris and dhotis made by local weavers, different types of food items, local sweets, and locally made toys were sold.

Mr Sanjay Bhattacharya, joint secretary of Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo Nilay, a sociocultural organisation in Chandernagore, says, “The local artisans and businessmen are doing brisk business. Many people, particularly the younger ones, are visiting the haat regularly and are buying wares made by the local artisans to encourage them. Nilay has also opened a stall, and books and different items are being sold.” An interesting feature of the Tatini haat is that both buyers and sellers have to sit on the ground to see various items and buy them.

The organisers of the haat say, “Local items like bori (dried lentil dumplings) of different types are being sold along with achar, which is close to pickles, which is a hot favourite among the buyers. There was a time when the elderly women used to make bori, which was added to improve the taste of various food items like mixed vegetables and some fish items.” Earthen pitchers, which were used to store water, are being sold at the haat.

In addition to this, tree saplings, garments, locally made toys, books, tea, and locally made costume jewellery made by the local artisans are being sold. The farmers bring some locally produced vegetables. A unique feature of the haat is that people can bring old, unused garments, and those who want them can get them free of charge. Stories narrated by some local historians on the history of the haats have become very popular. Local singers are presenting music without microphones; the way earlier, singers used to present their songs at local gatherings.

Bhadreshwar, at one point in time, was called a “ganja”, which means in between a town and village. There was Saptagram Port, where traders used to come. However, this port slowly became defunct as big ships could not enter the port. It was situated at the confluence of the Hooghly and Saraswati rivers.

History says that in Bhadreshwar haat, English, French, Dutch, and German traders used to come to the haat with various products. In many households, toys made in England, Germany, or Italy are still found. It shows that people used to attend the haat more than a century ago and buy those items. Bamboo-made baskets made in Europe are still found in some households today.

Bhadreshwar is situated at the border of Chandernagore, which was a French colony. There were landed aristocrats and peasants.

One of the highly appreciated items in the haat of Bhadreshwar many years ago was matki ghee, made of buffalo milk. It used to be brought from Bihar. In Rabindranath’s poem on Damodar Seth, one gets a reference to Matki Ghee. “Anbe Katki juto, Matki ghjee o ano” (bring shoes made in Odisha along with Matki ghee). History books said 2.5 maunds of Matki ghee were priced at Rs 100.

In the books written by Bipradas Pillai more than five years ago, one gets reference to the haats of Bhadreshwar.

“People are now habituated to going to the big shops and shopping malls that have come up across the state. But haats have a different flavour. Here, people get a chance to meet the producers of different items, be they food or weavers. There is a taste of rural Bengal, and some old food items and sweets are being sold. People get a chance to know the history and heritage of haats, which played a major role in the lives of our ancestors,” says one of the organisers of Tatini haat. He hopes that people from other areas along the Hooghly River will bring back the haats to set up a bridge between the past and present.