As I stood on the steps of the ghat, I could hear heavy but peculiar footsteps of a mob approaching from a distant past. They were mercilessly dragging a married girl in her teens. I gathered that she had just lost her husband who was 83 years old. The men held her brutally, brought her up to this ghat, got her drunk till she nearly lost her senses. I trembled as I visualised them carrying the lady along with the dead body of her husband for cremation. Once the pyre was ready, they placed the body of the old man. Eventually, the poor girl was pushed into the pyre. She screamed and shouted and cried and begged for help. The crowd stood there throwing loud cheers as the flames gobbled up the young lady in minutes.

 

This was a common scene of yesteryears which came alive before my eyes the moment I stepped into the ghat. The ghat which stood witness to such barbarism of the modern world (less than 200 years old) is none other than the Balaram Bose Ghat – a sati ghat on Adi Ganga.  

 

 

Route

 

To reach Balaram Bose Ghat, enter School Road from Harish Mukherjee Road. Drive straight till you arrive at the crossing of Harish Chatterjee Street. Turn left passing Gadadhar Ashram on your left. Drive for another 500-700 metres. Soon after you cross the ancient Shiva Temples on your right, you will see the Balaram Bose Ghat right before you, also on your right. 

 

 

The Ghat

 

Built by Balaram Bose in the year 1812 as a bathing ghat and also a sati ghat, Balaram Bose Ghat has two distinct pavilions, one – Sarat Bidyut Memorial and the other is a recently revamped one with no specific name. On the left of the former pavilion are several small row houses. Earlier, there were several rooms in this place for the Gangayatris (or moribunds). The rooms also served as rest houses of the people who came to conduct the ritual of sati. 

 

 

On the right are two Shiva Temples at the entry of this pavilion. There is nothing absolutely striking about the structure of the pavilions. The most spine-chilling feature of the ghat, however, is the stone inscription on one of the steps which clearly says that the ghat was once a sati ghat. That apart, the ghat also conducted wedding ceremonies, shradh and other Hindu rituals.

 

As you descend down the steps, you arrive at a broad landing area, from where you get a beautiful view of the Adi Ganga, also known as Gobindapur Creek or Tolly's Canal (or Nullah) that was the main flow of the Hooghly River from the 15th to 17th century. Though the water that flows now is mostly sewage water, during high tide, the Ganga water enters inland and mixes with the canal water.

 

During low tide however, when the water leaves the canal, it is then that the stench of the sewage fills the air in that area. The narrow land strips on either banks along the river have turned out to be dumping ground for the locals. However, a macro view of the place with trees dotting the river banks, still makes for a pleasant sight.  

 

 

A few steps ahead of the ghat are four 200 year old Shiva Temples which are now in a dilapidated state and are used as shelters or godowns by the locals. A little ahead of these temples is the huge mansion of Rani Rashmoni which has been recently let out to myriad small business owners and also serve as residence to some of the local people. The place that was nothing more than a jungle even a hundred years back, has now turned out to be a congested residential area. 

 

 

History

 

According to Santana Basu Chowdhury, 8th generation and the youngest daughter of the Balaram Bose family, Manik Chand Bose, grand / father of Balaram Bose, was the Dewan of Siraj ud-daulah. Thus he had made a lot of money and acquired a lot of property. Balaram Bose had built a huge castle in Kharisali, Howrah, where the traditional Durga Puja is still being celebrated. He also built a house at Bhawanipore area of Govindpur district of the then Calcutta. 

 

 

It was fascinating to learn that he had built an underground tunnel from his Bhawanipore house to the ghat so that the ladies of the house could safely go to the ghat for bathing without the fear of Bargi attacks. The four Shiva Temples adjacent to the ghat were also built by Balaram Bose. 

 

 

Interestingly, due to the proximity of Rani Rashmoni’s house to the ghat, she would come to this ghat regularly for a prolonged 7-8 years for bathing. Later, she got her own ghat constructed close to her house, which is hardly a few metres from Balaram Bose Ghat. 

 

 

Balaram Bose Ghat had been a popular sati ghat. In those days, the ladies who lost their husbands were brought to this ghat to carry out the rituals of sati before cremating her alive along with the dead body of her husband on the same pyre. 

 

Another interesting story of the ghat is that Bidyutparna, wife of Sarat Bose, a direct descendent of Balaram Bose was a pious lady who practiced the rituals of Sat-Savitri. Accordingly, in her 40 years of married life, she would drink the water in which her husband would dip his toes. Thus she was positive that she would be able to embrace a natural death at the same time as her husband. But as destiny had it, Sarat Bose died first. On hearing the news of his death, unable to come to terms with the fact that her husband had left her early, Bidyutparna immediately had an attack and breathed her last. As an acknowledgement of her will power to die with her husband, the ghat was named after the duo, ‘Sarat-Bidyut Memorial.’    

 

 

Life at the Ghat

 

The row houses on the left of the ghat were constructed by the Bose’s current descendents for the local hawkers to prevent encroachment and illegal activities. A religious group called, ‘Adi Sanatani Dharmotsahini Sabha’ have illegally occupied a major part of the ghat, on the right. They have also renovated the place with pillars and tiled flooring. Today, apart from conducting religious discourses and bhajans, this organisation has begun to conduct wedding ceremonies, shradh and such other Hindu rituals.

 

 

Old men could be seen gathering in the evenings for a chat. Elderly widows cladded in white sarees came to the temples and spent time gossiping. Some even chanted hymns. 

The dirty, polluted water of Adi Ganga is far from inviting. But nevertheless, the ghat wears a peaceful look. Looking at the ghat, who can say, a place that emanates peace and tranquility had once silently observed so much human brutality.

 

 

Standing on the ghat I had this realisation that if it was not for the ghat, we would never care to give a thought to those thousands of hapless women who were compelled to sacrifice their lives owing to some dreadful, loathsome, malicious myths that existed in our society. Come! Let us spare a moment and mourn for all those innocent souls. 

 

Asatoma sadgamaya!

Tamasoma jyotirgamaya!   

Mrityorma amritamgamaya!!!

Om Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!