A Journey of Bandel Church & Imambara
Around the middle of the 16th century, the Portuguese began using Bandel as a
port. During or around 1571, they were given permission by
Akbar, the
Mughal emperor, to build a town in
Hooghly. As they began settling around the area, their
priestsbegan to
baptise the natives - by 1598,
Catholics in Hooghly numbered around five thousand, including natives and mixed races.
In 1579, the Portuguese built a port on the banks of the
Hooghly, as well as a
fort, and enlisted the services of a band of
Augustinian Friars, then the largest religious body in
Goa. The following year, Captain Pedro Tavares obtained the emperor's full permission to preach the Catholic faith publicly, and erect churches. Thus the Bandel Church came to be constructed in 1599.
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| Mango & Neem tree in Bandel Church |
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| An interesting Auto ride from Bandel Church to Imambara |
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| Built in the year 1861, on the land given by Mir Keramat Ali, this huge building reflects the glorious past of Bengal architecture. The construction of this building was started in the year 1941, by Haji Mohammad Mahasin, a well-known educationist & philanthropist of that time. The total cost incurred for the construction of this building is around Rs. 2, 17,413. |
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| The entrance of the building has a huge tower, approximately 150 ft tall, with a clock placed in between these towers. Mir Keramat Ali bought this clock from England, at a price of Rs. 11,721.he 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 and needs two persons to carry the key, which itself weigh around 20 Kg. Just above the central unit, three bells of different sizes are present weighing around 80 Mon, 40 Mon and 20 Mon respectively. The small and medium sized bells chimes every 15 minutes and the bigger one every 1 hour. |
