Purba Medinipur Tourist Spot For Museum, Forts & Palaces

Purba Medinipur Tourist spot for Museum, Forts & Palaces

Contents

a) Tamluk Museum :

Earlier this museum was known as Tamralipta Museum & Research Centre, Tamluk. It was founded in the year 1973.

b) Moynagarh Fort :

Moynagarh was originally a Buddhist Monastery and Lausen (Lausena) was originally a Buddhist king. The Dharmathakur of Lausena was actually Buddha and from here, the cult of worshipping Dharma Thakur evolved. Later the fort of Moynagarh was acquired by the Bahubalindras of Balisita. They transferred their capital from Balisitagarh to Moynachoura or Moynagarh in 1561 – 1562 AD. The King of Moynagarh was very rich and favourite in the court of Nawab in Murshidabad. The King of Moynagarh maintained an army of 3000 men.The unique structure of the fort makes it unparalleled. The Garh or the fortress was surrounded by two moats namely Kalidaha and Makardaha. These moats were infested by crocodiles. One East facing brick built temple of Pancha Ratna style and another one brick built East facing Atchala temple are there. Both these temples are dedicated to Lord Krishna. The outer walls of the Atchala temple are highly decorated with terracotta arts depicting horse and elephant riders, large ships, dancing men and women etc. There are 6arched doors with multi cusped on the Eastern and Southern walls of the temple. One circumambulatory path is around the sanctum.

c) Mahishadal Raj Palace :

There was a king of Mahishadal (now under Purba Midnipur Dist.) named Kalyan Raychaudhuri. His capital was situated in Garh Gumai. At that time one businessman and Kanauji brahmin of the then Juktapradesh came to Jibankhali (now Geonkhali) for commercial purpose. His name was Janardan Upadhyay and he was the founder of the Raj family of present Mahishadal. Kalyan Roy Chowdhury had failed to pay his revenue to the nawab of Bengal. He rescued himself from the punishment from the hand of nawab in the financial support from Janardan Upadhyay who took the administration of the zamindari of the former. Janardan ruled over this area by constructing a palace in the Rangibasan area of Mahishadal (old palace). His subsequent successor Anandalal Upadhyay died without any son and his widow Janaki devi took over the administration of Mahishadal. She was a pious lady and constructed many temples all over her administrative area. But after her death the administration of Mahishadal had shifted to her daughter Manthara and son-in-law Chhakkan Prasad Garga but within few days he died and his son Ram Nath Garga took over the Reign of Mahishadal. They were the founder of the present Mahishadal Raj. After that the Gargas constructed a new beautiful palace a few yards away of Rangibasan Fort. This newly built palace is the only existing raj palace of Purba Mednipur district at present. Many administrators has ruledfrom this palace. Last administrator (Zaminder) Dev Prasad Garga was very popular for his simplicity and administration for the development of culture and education. He died on 4th April 1986. Presently this newly constructed palace is being used as a museum run by the successor of the Garga family with support of the government of West Bengal.

Screenshot 2025 02 07 183746 History Of Mahishadal Rajbari

Mahishadal Rajbari is situated at a distance of only 16 km from Tamluk, the
Head Quarter of district Purba Medinipur, and is famous for the 16th Century remnants
of a historical palace. The Mahishadal Rajbari comprises of large mansions, temples and
big buildings (especially Dewan House) which were built from 16th Century to 18th
Century.

In the 16th Century CE, Shri Janardhan Upadhyay Garg, a businessman of
Uttar Pradesh, bought a big estate near Mahishadal and built a mansion for the purpose
of Zamindari. In the 18th Century, the ruling of his descendants, especially during the
days of Rani Janaki Devi, reached its peak and a new palace was built adjacent to the
original palace, which are together known as the Mahishadal Rajbari. It is believed that
Rani Janaki Devi was against the British dominion prevailing at her time.

Presently, the old mansion, which was built in 16th Century is in ruins but
the new palace serves as a museum which is a treasure house of 16th to 18th Century
artifacts and relics including beautiful paintings, rare manuscripts, medallions,
photographs, decorative furniture, stuffed bodies of animals and hunting apparatus etc.
Apart from this Mansion, Rani Janaki Devi also constructed two temples namely
Gopaljew Temple and Ramjew Temple in the vicinity of the Rajbari. Gopaljew Temple,
dedicated to Lord Krishna, was built in 1778. In the adjacent Ramjew Temple, Rama,
Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman idols are installed. Behind these two temples there is also
a huge place called ‘Dubey Palace’ which is also known as Dewan House.

d) Contai high School :

The Contai High School is situated in Contai Town of East Midnapore. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the oldest schools of the district. When Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was the Deputy Magistrate of the region, the school experienced considerable development. He made arrangements for land for the school. The school building, hostel and gymnasium were set up on the school. Birendranath Shasmal – the noted revolutionary leader, was a student of the Contai High School. It is an East facing single storied school building, built in 1906. There is a porch in front of the building. There are ten rooms and one headmaster’s room inside the building with all windows and doors made of glass and wood. The roof of the building is made of rafter and the corridor of the house is tinned roof.

e) Hamilton High School :

The Hamilton High School is situated at Tamluk in East Midnapore. It was the second oldest institution in the formerly undivided Medinipur district. It was founded in 1852 by Mr. Robert Charles Hamilton. He was a salt agent of a salt agency under East Indian Company. Saheed Kshudiram Bose, Jadugopal Mukhopadhyay, Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee – former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Sushil Kumar Dhara, Prof. Amalash Tripathi – 1st in the Matriculation Examination in 1936, Vattacharja Chandan – poet and writer, Bhaskar Maity – former goalkeeper of the Indian National Football team and Paresh Maiti – painter were the students of this school. Kshudiram Bose – the first martyr, who sacrificed his life in the freedom struggle against the British rule. He was a student of the school from 1900 to 1903.It is a West facing brick built tipple storied school building. There are about 50 rooms in the building.

f) The Gourmohan Institution

The Gourmohan Institution is situated at Kalyanchak in Nandakumar of East Midnapore. The school was started as Kalyanchak Middle English School in 1895. Later in 1926, the school was shifted to its present
location. During the Quit India Movement in 1942, the students of this school got actively involved in it. Asutosh Kulia, Pulimadhav Pramanik and Upendranath Jana – three students of the school, were martyred. Due to their active involvement in the movement, the British police made raids in the school and tortured the residential students. The headmaster went absconded and his house was raided. The doors and windows of the building were completely destroyed. The recognition of the school was about to be withdrawn which could only be stalled after the suspension of the then Headmaster by the managing committee of the school.The East facing three storied brick built school building was built in 1896. It is a roofed. There are also three mud built and tin-roofed hostel buildings with wooden doors and windows. In front of the hostels, there are porches