TRAVEL, PHOTOGRAPHY, LIFE EXPERIENCE
An Offbeat Heritage Spot Where Ancient Sundial Still Gives Correct Time
Hooghly Imambara — The Architectural Heritage
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse went up the clock,
The clock struck one
The mouse went down.
Hickory dickory dock
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…
The clock strikes 3…and the huge tower clock of the Imambara chimes, making a sonorous statement that it does exist and it has been faithfully carrying its duty forward from dawn to dusk unceasingly since its installation.
I am wondering what if the timekeeper could have talked and narrated the majestically phenomenal past it had been a witness of!
I, with two of my friends, am at the courtyard of the splendid 160-year-old Hooghly Imambara, awestruck by its stunning scale, awesome architecture, glorious grandeur, and bewitching beauty.
The word ‘Imam’ means one who leads prayers and ‘Bara’ means abode. So it is a congregation hall for commemoration ceremonies of Muslims of Shia denomination.
Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization-Louis Kahn
Located in India at Chinsurah town, Hooghly district, West Bengal (around 56 km from Kolkata),
It has rained just a while ago. And the rain-swept premises is getting soaked in the late afternoon summer sun. The air is hot and humid, we are sweating like pigs but that does not deter us to capture moments.
A Brief History
The construction of the huge religious complex was started under the patronage of Haji Muhammad Mohsin in 1841, a Bengali merchant-philanthropist, who was a pious and childless man.
He donated his entire property for the welfare of local Muslims. He made arrangements for the construction of Imambara as well as its supervision by Mutawalli (official trustee to look after). However, Md. Mohsin passed away before the Imambara could be completed.
Finally, it was Syed Keramat Ali, a noble architect, who was appointed as a Mutawalli and it took 20 years to get the two-storied structure completed in 1861.
The Architecture
The building has a tall clock tower over the entrance gate.
You enter the Hooghly Imambara and a sprawling courtyard with a rectangular tank with fountain in the middle arrest your attention.
You get humbled by the grandeur of the colossal premises with around 150 feet tall twin towers on either side.
The courtyard is enclosed by two-storied buildings with long corridors and having numerous rooms, which are now used for official purposes and classroom for the madrasah (an educational institution of Islamic education) students.
There is also a big prayer hall, Zaridalan with beautiful black and white checkered marble flooring.
The Clock Tower
The tower clock is placed in the middle of the twin towers erected upon the doorway of the Imambara. Each tower has 152 stairs leading to the top. The Southern Tower is for the men while the Northern Tower is for the women to access.
The huge clock with two dials, placed on both side of the towers is run by a single central machine and is working perfectly till date. The clock is winded once a week.
It is said that two persons are required to carry the key of the clock as itself weighs 20 kg! Just above the central unit, three bells of varied sizes are present weighing about 3200 kg, 1600 kg and 1200 kg, respectively.
The hammer strikes the clock bell and it chimes. The small and medium-sized bells chime every 15 minutes and the bigger one, hourly.
The top floor of the towers offers a panoramic view of the surrounding locality and river Hooghly.
The Sundial
There is a sundial at the open yard at the backside of the Imambara. You would find a concrete table with a fixed hand that still indicates the correct time from dawn till dusk.
The long corridors and the engravings of the deed of Haji Muhammad Mohsin engraved in Persian and English on the upper external wall of the Imambara facing the river are sights to behold.
Highly recommended and a must-visit historical Hooghly Imambara is a great place to spend some fulfilling quality time and contemplate where you can witness the architectural wonder wrapped in nature.
Some Factchecks (compiled from a learned gentleman and some literature)
# It is considered that the 20-year long construction work of the present day Imambara cost INR 8,50,000/-
# It is also considered that M/s Black & Hurray Co., Big Ben, London manufactured the huge tower clock of Imambara in 1852 at the cost of INR 11,721/-.
# The interiors of Zaridalan is beautifully decorated with lanterns and chandeliers made of Belgian glasses hanging from the roof.
# You can click photographs anywhere in the Imambara premises for free barring the Zaridalan.
# The entry fee is only INR 10/- per person.
# The complex remains open from 8 am to 6 pm in the months of April-August and from 8 am to 5 pm from September to March.
# Catch a magical sunset by the River Hooghly and you would never regret.
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