Rabindra Setu as seen from Babu Ghat - Kolkata

2014-08-12 334

One can see the ferries, wooden boats and temporary floating docks in Hoogly River and seen far behind is the Rabindra Setu.

The Howrah Bridge is a cantilever bridge with a suspended span over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking the two cities of Howrah and Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate. It is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.

The bridge is one of four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu, and the newly built Nivedita Setu. It weathers the storms of the Bay of Bengal region, carrying a daily traffic of approximately 100,000 vehicles and possibly more than 150,000 pedestrians, easily making it the busiest cantilever bridge in the world. The third-longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, the Howrah Bridge is the sixth-longest bridge of its type in the world.

Babughat is name of the one of the many Ghats built during British Raj, along the river bank of Hooghly on its bank on Strand Road at Kolkata side.

The ghat has a tall colonial structure, which is the landing berth of the ghat. It is a fine Doric-Greek style pavilion with huge pillars. The ghat originally known was Baboo Raj Chandra Ghat is now only known by first words Baboo-ghat or Babu-ghat. Babu / Baboo in Bengali means Sahib or gentleman. The ghat is named after Babu Raj Chandra Das, husband of legendary Rani Rashmoni and zamindar of Janbazar, who built it in 1830, in memory of her late husband. A marble tablet beneath the pediment implies that some of the credit for the erection of the ghat must go to Lord William Bentinck as he encouraged such spending with a view to improve public amenities. It is second oldest ghat of Kolkata.

The pavilion today is completely encroached by vendors and pandas. The old colonial structure and stairs leading to river are in various stages of decay and derelict. A section of ghat originally meant for bathing of ladies has turned in to a garbage point. However, ever so, the ghat is bustling with crowds since morning till late evening with people who use it for bathing, puja, religious ceremonies, massage and leisure. During Chhat Puja huge crowd can be seen on Babughat performing their puja. The ghat is also used during Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja rather in all festivals for immersion of idols. People performing Chhat Puja on Babughat, Kolkata.

Further, Babughat is always bustling with passengers, who use it cross the river to reach Howrah Station just across the river and also other areas of Howrah, ferries for which are available at frequent intervals, which take off from the jetty connected to ghat. The water ferry is run and maintained by Inland Waterways Corporation. Ferry services are available from Babughat to Howrah, Chandpal, Telkal Ghat, and Bally.

Source: Wikipedia

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