The Denmark Tavern, Serampore

A Slice of Colonial History. Nestled in luxury, The Denmark Tavern is a bit of Danish hygge by the Hooghly with eclectic furniture and design from the 18th century. It is one of the oldest known hotels established in 1786. Overlooking the promenade and the Ganges in the historic town of Serampore, The Denmark Tavern is a charming stop-over to take in this piece of our history

The Muslin Weavers at Kalna

Jyotish And Rajib Debnath of Kalna

The Muslin-Jamdani tradition is the finest in the world

Puritanical Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (17th century A.D.) upbraided his daughter for apparently wearing nothing when she was wearing seven layers of clothing made of soft, light, and sheer muslin. The world’s finest textile, muslin, was created in Bengal for the emperors of India. 6 yards of this material could pass through a ring. And, when inlaid with delicate Jamdani motifs, the effect is mesmerising. The oppressive British colonists systematically decimated muslin-weaving to promote British-made cheap mill-made cloth, woven from Indian cotton. The muslin weavers’ thumbs were cut off to stop them from weaving. Many of the threatened weavers escaped present-day Bangladesh and settled in the eastern districts of West Bengal. Muslin-weaving slowly became extinct. We visit the 6th generation Muslin weaver family in India, to see, appreciate, learn, and perhaps buy the finest Muslin fabric, stoles, and sarees from the weavers. Their clientele includes Gucci, Sabyasachi, and many international and Indian designers who source their fabric and jamdani designs from this family.

The 108 Shiva Temples and the Terracotta temples at Ambika Kalna

Kailash Mandir is a Shiva temple in Kalna City of Purba Bardhaman district, West Bengal. The temple structure consists of a combination of two concentric circles with a total of 108 small temples, each temple is dedicated to Shiva. It represents the constellation of a bead, and the walls of this temple depict episodes from Mahabharata and Ramayana and many hunting scenes. There are seventy-four temples in the outer circle and thirty-four temples in the inner circle, which are built according to mythology. Each of these 108 temples has a Shiva Linga. Each Shiva Linga in the inner circle, symbolising Sadashiva, is white, while half of the Shiva Linga in the outer circle, symbolising Rudra, is black, and the other half is white.

The Terracotta Temples, Kalna

The Rajbari complex temples were built at different periods by the Kings of Burdwan and their family members. After their family premises and temples at Dainhat were destroyed due to the Bargi attack, Burdwan kings chose this town to build a Thakur Bari or Rajbari complex. Similarly, Thakur Bari was constructed at Chandrakona town of West Medinipur. That Thakur Bari was known as Raghunathbari. Inside the Rajbari complex, the visitor first encounters the Odishi Deul-structured Pratapeshwar temple. This temple was built in 1849 by Ramhari Mistri under the supervision of Peary Kumari Devi, the first wife of Raja Pratap Chand (son of King Tejchandra). Pratapeshwar temple has unparalleled terracotta works on its four walls. Check out for plaques with the battle of Ram and Ravana with Goddess Durga as Mahishashurmardini in the center, Rama as king of Ayodhya with Sita seating beside him, and a huge horizontal panel showing the various forms of Krishna Lila. There are terracotta plaques on all the outer walls of the temple as well as in its inner sanctum. Various social scenarios as well as scenes from Krishna Lila can be observed here. There are terracotta-decorated false doors on three sides of the temple.

An unmissable excursion into the stunning temple city of kalna