Betor

Betor (also spelt as Bator, Betore) was a major trading centre, the location being around present Shibpur in Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
In addition to the three recognised hamlets, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata around which the city of Kolkata has grown up, must be added at least four others as the elementary constituents of the city (including Howrah on the opposite bank.) These are Chitpur, Salkia, Kalighat and Betor. Out of these four Betor, which was the focus of trade once upon a time, vanished in the seventeenth century.
At the end of the fifteenth century a poem in praise of the serpent-goddess written by Bipradas Pipilai gives us the first authentic glimpse of the area. Satgaon or Saptagram on the west bank of the Hooghly, between Bandel and Tribeni was a great port. Lower down the river, on the same bank, Betor was a large market town, where travellers paused to buy provisions and worship the goddess Chandi. Chitpur and Kalikata were neighbouring villages passed just before reaching Betor. Gobindapur and Sutanuti did not exist. Kalighat was a small sanctuary claiming just a bare mention.
Caesar Frederick, a Venetian who had travelled in the East from 1563 to 1581 and has left behind an account about some important cities, ports and business centres of India and of Bengal, mentions, “A good tides rowing before you come to Satgan, you shall have a place which is called Buttor, and from thence upwards the river is very shallow, and little water.”
At present only a simple temple of Betaichandi still exists.

Adi Ganga

Adi Ganga also known as Gobindapur creek, Surman’s Nullah and Tolly’s Nullah, was the main flow of the Hooghly River from the 15th to 17th century but has subsequently virtually dried up.
The earlier course of the lower Ganges as it flowed through the Bhaigirathi channel was somewhat different from what it is in the beginning of the 21st century. At Triveni, near Bandel, it branched into three streams. The Saraswati flowed in a south-westerly direction, past Saptagram. The Jamuna (not the same river as in north India or many streams of that name in eastern Bengal) flowed in a south-easterly direction. The Hooghly flowed in the middle. The Hooghly glided down to around the place where Kolkata now stands and then flowed through the Adi Ganga, past Kalighat, Baruipur and Magra to the sea.
In the 16th century, the main waters of the Bhagirathi, which earlier used to flow through the Saraswati, began to flow through the Hooghly. The upper Saraswati is a dead or dry river and the Hooghly has abandoned the Adi Ganga channel and adopted the lower course of the Saraswati to flow to the sea.
In his Manasamangal, Bipradas Pipilai has described the journey path of Chand Saudagor, the merchant, as going past Chitpur, Betore, Kalighat, Churaghat, Baruipur, Chhatrabhog, Badrikunda, Hathiagarh, Choumukhi, Satamukhi and Sagarsangam. The description of Bipradas Piplai tallies to a large extent with Van den Brouck’s map of 1660.
Some quarters ascribe the virtual drying up of Adi Ganga to its being artificially linked to the lower channel of the Saraswati, whereby that became the main channel for ocean going ships and the Adi Ganga became derelict. This feat is ascribed by some to Nawab Alivardi Khan. Others thinks that there was only a tidal creek connecting the Saraswati and the Hooghly, near the point where the Adi Ganga branched off. It is rumoured that the Dutch traders re-sectioned this tidal creek to let sea-going vessels come up the Bhagirathi.
It was known earlier as Gobindapur Creek and marked the southern boundary of Gobindapur village. It was excavated by Edward Surman and it bore his name for some time. Surman was leader of the eventful embassy to Delhi in 1717. The nullah was deepened by Colonel William Tolly in 1773 and connected to the Circular Canal. Thereafter, it bore his name. In 1775, Col. Tolly connected the Adi Ganga to the Vidyadhari.
Ever since Tolly’s renovation the Adi Ganga remained a navigable river. However, the neglect of waterways in general and other factors such as population pressure and unplanned urbanisation caused further silting of Adi Ganga. It ultimately turned into a sewer channel for the south-western part of Kolkata. The waterway is already gasping for life with the human usurpation of its flowing course. At some places the course has totally dried up.
The Kolkata Metro(underground railway system) stretch from Dum Dum to Tollygunj is a totally underground track, except the two terminal stations. A decision was taken to extend the southern end of the Metro by 8.5 km to Garia. The major difference for this extension is a totally over ground stretch running on an elevated track, quite contrary to the existing underground one. The Tollygunj-Garia section will run over the Adi Ganga. In 2007 the track work has completed and train started to ply. The railway track is laid over a row of concrete pillars on the bed of Adi Ganga. Six out of the seven stations on this new stretch will be elevated stations. Social activists opine that Metro railway’s construction activity will finally sound the death knell of the Adi Ganga.
When me (Biswendu) was working as a investigative journalist in a tv channel, made a series of documentaries and investigative reports how the blocking of channel can create a hell like situation in the monsoon season(till then the work has just started). And I am not happy today seeing my documentation spelling right oracle.

Kalighat paintings

Kalighat paintings originated in Bengal with the patua artists, a local artistic tradition. The bazaar painters around the famous Kalighat temple adapted this style to produce works for the visiting devotees. The golden age of Kalighat art spans from the mid nineteenth century up until the 1920's.
They are highly prized and sought after because they are seen as the beginning of Indian modern art, because it was the first folk style art that created a new direction from the meticulously finished Indian and Mughal miniature tradition. They were very influential on later artists because of the quick and spontaneous drawing and simple flowing color and line.
During the early part of the 20th century Indian artists were searching for a style of art that they felt truly reflected Indian experience and Kalighat paintings were like a breath of fresh air sweeping away the dusty academia of the European style. The introduction of watercolor paint with the British, who loved to go outdoors and paint landscapes and flora, had shown these artists the potential of this quick acting medium. Watercolor lends itself to the 'sketch' or quick impression.
Parallel to this spontaneity, the subject matter also broadened into other areas. The patua painters who worked in this style would of course paint the deities for the pilgrims but they also painted quick scenes of contemporary life in Bengal ( like the europeanised Babu and his mistress, trying so hard not to be too Indian), proverbs and tales (like the cat with the lobster signifying the fat cat priest), and also current newspaper scandals and stories.
Very often several artists were involved in the finished work, one sketching out the line, another quickly filling in the color, and maybe another one finishing off with detail or silver/gold highlights.
Later artists like Jamini Roy were very influenced by this quick drawn sketch as opposed to the lengthy worked out paintings or the dominant British academic oil painting style. They felt that this was truly an indigenous Indian art. Jamini Roy, in fact, started out as a highly accomplished British trained artist painting portraits and post-impressionist landscapes, until he specifically sought another more Indian style and used the local patua, Santhal and Kalighat art as a starting point.
Original Kalighat paintings are highly prized by collectors and are getting more difficult to find, because they are seen as the beginning of the trajectory of Indian modern art which has gathered such a momentum in the past decade.
Today, there are still Kalighat artists producing this style of work.

©Peter Louis 2005

WoodCarving

The village community halls also known as chandimantaps, which were the centres of rural culture had the best of pillars, brackets beams etc. made out of beautifully carved wood. Some of the chandimandaps can be seen at Antpur and Sripur-Balagarh in the Hooghly district and also in Ula-Birnagar in Nadia district. The examples of wood carving of West Bengal can best be seen in the wooden images of village temples. Some domestic shrines are also made of wood and beautifully carved. Carved figures in classical tradition though simple are very expressive. The style is folk and the subject includes folk gods, goddess and figures. The wood from Bel and neem is used for carving and the figures are then painted with colours.
In Burdwan district of West Bengal, the wood carvers are known as sutradhars and are best known for huge platters and bowls which are made out of mango wood. In south Bengal, in the districts of 24-parganas and Howrah, both Hindu and Muslim community practises this craft form. Beautifully wood carved furniture is made here with teak, sisham and mahogany. Delicate and fine carving can be seen on wood panels and furnitures here. Bengal is also famous for the Raths which are made of wood and festooned with carved panels. The panels of the raths have figures carved into geometric and floral motifs. The raths usually also have a pair of horses.
Wood is widely used for making toys and decorative panels. Kalighat dolls & Natungram wood carvings are worth mentioning. Image made in wood relate back to traditional icons, deities some of them stylised to a modern look.
New materials and innovative techniques are being used by the artisans to produce useful and aesthetic products. Folk motifs and ingredients are being effectively used for a greater market.other decorative itmes.