I've gone to see the mountains
The oceans I have been to view
But I haven't seen with these eyes
Just two steps from my home lies
On a sheaf of a paddy grain
A glistening drop of a dew
As a family we always have enjoyed traveling to historic sites and we always had the notion that in order to visit history we need to have a train/plane ride . Couple of years back I first read about Chandraketugarh in one of the local newspaper. A site in North 24 parganas , where historical relics dating back to Maurya age have been excavated. I was surprised realizing that the site is not afar from our residence in Kolkata. This spring, we decided to visit Chandraketugarh.
The GPS showed that it is a fairly straightforward route, via Taki road and our destination is only 40kms away.
It was Good Friday weekend, the city roads were fairly quiet.
As we drove past Madhyamgram, the cityscape was replaced by greenery. Maa and Pupu had packed grilled sandwiches and sondesh, we savoured them enroute.
At Chandraketugarh there are two prominent look outs- the mound of Baraha-Mihir and the ancient fort of Chandraketugarh.The mound of Baraha-Mihir lies close to present day Berachampa. Archaeological digs were carried out in 1956-57 and it revealed the remains of a polygonal brick temple.
A 5 mins drive from this place leads to the second look out, unexcavated mound of ancient fort city Chandraketugarh. This site is covered with trees and on a first glance it looks more like a park than a fort.
Chandraketugarh was important city 2500 years ago. Being at the close proximity of the rivers Ganga and Padma, Chandraketugarh was an important port town of past. It has yielded silver and copper coins, terracotta figurines, beaded jewelery, various objects of metals and bones.
Many archeological remains were discovered by the Ashutosh Museum of Calcutta University. A significant amount of old relics have been collected by Shri Dilip Kumar Maite, who is a native of the place and also an avid history enthusiast. His residence has a small mueum which is open to all. The humble museum has impressive displays of various kinds of artefacts. We didn't get a chance to meet him, but his son was kind enough to show and explain the significance of the exhibits.
History enthusiasts may also go through his books on the history of Chandraketugarh: "Itihashe Deganga" and " Chandraketugarh ".
Apart from historical significance of the area, there are more earthly pleasures. We took a casual stroll in the adjoining village. Lovely morning light came filtering through the bamboo forests. An elderly lady was on the process of boiling parboiled rice. Unhusked rice was being boiled in an open stove top.
Flocks of ducks were wading a quiet pond.
My niece and I collected green mangoes which had fallen off from branches.
The stillness of the morning was often getting punctuated from hammering sounds coming from local metalsmith's shop.
Chandraketugarh is not the most evocative of all the Maurya era relics, but still is delightful.
The sun was almost over head. Before heading back we savoured a bit more the greenery around us and the wonderful feeling of long lost Maurya age air on the skin!
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