Chandraketugarh, located in the Ganges Delta, are a cluster of villages in the 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, about 35 kilometres north-east of Kolkata. The name Chandraketugarh comes from a local legend of a medieval king of this name. This civilization can perhaps be identified with the Gangaridai of Graeco-Roman accounts. In early historic times, Chandraketugarh was connected to the Ganga by the Bidyadhari River and must have been an important centre of trade and possibly also a political centre.

The Asutosh Museum of Indian Art conducted an excavation between 1957 and 1968, which revealed relics of several historical periods, although the chronological classification of the relics remains incomplete. Many of the Chandraketugarh items and terracottas are now in collections of museums in India and abroad; many of them are a part of private collections.

Chandraketugarh is thought to be a part of the ancient kingdom Gangaridai that was first described by Ptolemy in his famous work Geographica (150 CE). A recent archaeological study being conducted by a team from IIT Kharagpur, believes that King Sandrocottus (mentioned by Greek explorer Megasthenes) was Chandraketu, whose fort Megasthenes visited in the third century BCE, after Alexander’s invasion of India, and gives a detailed account of what he saw in Indica. He mentions King Sandrocottus as one of the most powerful kings of Gangaridai, the Gangetic delta that spread over the five mouths of the river and was a continuum of a landmass comprising Anga, Banga and Kalinga. The history of Chandraketugarh dates back to almost the 3rd century BCE, during the pre-Mauryan era. Artifacts suggest that the site was continuously inhabited and flourished through the Shunga-Kushana period, onwards through the Gupta period and finally into the Pala-Sena period. Archaeological studies suggest that Chandraketugarh was an important town and a port city. It had a high encircling wall complete with a rampart and moat. The residents were involved in various crafts and mercantile activities. Although the religious inclinations of the people are unclear, hints of the beginning of some future cults can be seen in the artefacts. Some of the potteries carry inscriptions in Kharoshthi and Brahmi scripts.

I came across Chandraketugarh courtesy of my friend Indrajit’s blog and it immediately aroused my curiosity. I checked with him if he had already visited this place to which he said, “No, but would like to visit especially as it is in the backyard of Kolkata where I have been to numerous times.” Well, that was enough for me to plan a tour. I checked with few likeminded souls and all agreed. I had a long chat with Topshe aka Tapas who is perhaps more reliable than google!! He checked the ticket price and availability of both flight as well as train while talking to me, the latter was not available on the dates that suited us while the airfare was too high prompting us to become adventurer and commit to a road trip!!! Contrary to my expectations, my co-travellers were thrilled when I told them that after my discussions with Topshe, it has been decided to take the road.

The four of us, Topshe, Gora, Pulki and I decided to travel lean taking absolute basic minimum luggage that can easily be fitted into the boot of Jeep Compass. The route we took is Delhi-Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata. A total of 10days +/-2 days tour. Ranchi was added to pick-up Indro to complete the gang.

DAY ONE

I picked up the three of them, Topshe, Gora and Pulki from the Mahamaya Flyover around 5:45 am, when the horizon showed glimpse of the rising Sun. Gora and Pulki stayed overnight at Topshe’s place and they were dropped by Soubhik, Topshe’s son. We started our long journey as Google indicated 9 hours 50 minutes to the destination. We estimated about 10-12 hours with breaks. Gora had used his contacts to book us two rooms at the Annapurna Hotel, Godowlia with parking facility. We decided to drive in shifts between myself, Topshe and Pulki while Gora said he is out of touch with 4-wheeler driving but would give it try if the roads are clear of traffic.

We stopped at the “truck/ bus lay-by” for breakfast just before hitting the Agra Outer Ring Road and devoured the Aloo Paratha made by Deepika early in the morning along with Puri-Aloo made by Sudipta (Topshe’s better half) and downed it with Coke Zero. From there on, Pulki took the wheels and I retreated to the back seat to take nap and get refreshed for lunch. It was decided to refill the tank as soon as it reaches the 25% mark to avoid last drop panic. I woke up as Pulki pulled-up at the Indian Oil station just before Lucknow. We had decided that I will take care of the petrol bills, while Gora will manage the hotel and food bills… at the end of the day, the accounting will be done for that day.

Topshe took the wheel once we had filled up the tank and now would drive till the destination unless he’s fatigued…Gora moved to the passenger seat and Pulki joined me at the back. We were quite tempted to enter Lucknow and have Rahim’s Nihari-Kulcha & Biriyani for lunch but resisted as that would have delayed us massively. Instead, we took the Lucknow Outer Ring Road (By-pass) and stopped at Gangotri Dhaba on the Saidpur-Khajirhat Road, the Purvanchal Expressway starting point. The food was vegetarian affair… Yellow Dal tarka, Aloo-Matar Sabji with Tandoori Roti splashed with butter to make it soft. They had Malai Lassi but we avoided the indulgence as lassi is a great sleep inducer and we needed to stay awake for the final leg of this journey.

Topshe really enjoyed driving the Jeep and speeded up on the thinly populated Purvanchal Expressway and we were soon we exited the expressway to take the NH330 towards Sultanpur. The Sultanpur Bypass took us to NH731 towards Varanasi bypassing Badlapur and Jaunpur and we reached the vicinity of Varanasi. Topshe stopped on the side near a dhaba and we had tea-samosa while stretching our legs. Topshe told me to take the wheels thereon, his logic was simple…soon we will be negotiating city traffic and narrow crowded roads and he wasn’t comfortable driving a not-so-familiar vehicle through those areas. It suited me because I was getting a bit restless sitting at the back. We left for Varanasi after finishing our tea and Gora having his urge for a smoke satiated. We did not encounter much traffic on the way except when we left the Lucknow-Varanasi highway and entered the Teliabagh Road and Lahurabir Road leading us to our destination. We reached Hotel Annapurna around 5:45 pm courtesy the no-holds-bar driving of Topshe, majority of the distance… Pulki and I have been driving very conservatively keeping within the speed limit.

We checked into the Hotel Annapurna whose owner is a Probasi Bengali living in Varanasi for over 3 generations; Shri Pralaynath Banerjee lived in another house in the vicinity with his family… this was his ancestral house which he had converted into a boutique hotel. The hotel had a large courtyard which is being used as a car parking, a large hall as you enter, a small part duly partitioned functions as reception area while the larger section has become dining area with relaxing furniture. In the ground floor they had 4 rooms with attached bathroom and on the first floor there were 6 rooms with attached bath and a dormitory with 8 single beds. We were allotted 2 rooms on the first floor from which one could get a glimpse of the Ganges during daytime… the rooms were quite large with high ceilings and comfortable beds, clean bathrooms with geysers and modern amenities. Topshe and Gora took one room while Pulki and I took the other.

We quickly freshened up and left to explore the nearby places on foot, taking the car out was ruled out because of the crowded roads/ lanes and parking woes. The receptionist, Ms. Shailaja suggested we go to Pagal Sardar Milk Shop, popular snacks shop nearby towards the Dasaswamedh Ghat. We took the advice and headed there soaking in the evening flavours of Kashi, perhaps the oldest continuously lived-in city of the world.

There was a sizeable crowd waiting to be served when we reached but the service was quite prompt and nobody has to wait for more than 5-7 minutes. We ordered 2 portions each of Dahi-Bhalla and Aloo-Tikki-Chaat along with 4 glasses of Malai-Lassi. While devouring the items we realised why the place is full of customers… the portions are quite generous and the taste is out-of-this-world… non of the dishes were spicy but full of authentic flavours and the lassi was delightful. Our tummies were full and bursting…we needed to digest fast because Pralaynath Babu had promised us authentic Bengali non-veg Thali for dinner!! We headed towards the ghat to take look at the Maa Ganga. I must say that Varanasi has had a 360 degree makeover in the last 10 years, it has become quite clean with dedicated walkways leading to the ghats and even the ghat area is quite clean where one can sit for hours together and enjoy the soft music of the waves of the Ganga colliding at the banks while enjoying cool breeze wafting over the river. We walked along the river taking-in the mystic charm of the different ghats where people were busy with ritualistic fervours.

We returned to the hotel around 10 pm ready to dig into the offerings of Pralaynath Babu and his Chef. We were the only ones at the dining hall as other residents had already taken their dinner and gone. The authentic Bengali Thali had at least 10-15 items and many of them are first time for me; notable among them are bhetki-paturi, dab-chingri, shorshe-ilish, dakbunglow-chicken and kosha-mangsho. I passed my portion of shorshe-ilish to Pulki as I can’t have ilish due to its strong smell and numerable bones. The banquette was truly memorable and, in the process, we over ate but the Chef Ajay had a surprise concoction for us made of Gondhoraj Lebu and some secrete spices…he promised that everything will be digested within an hour and we would be hungry again!!!

DAY TWO

We were ready for the darshan of Mahadev by 6 am, Pralaynath Babu had assigned a person to take us through a “VIP Enclosure” for serene moment with the Mahakal-Neelkanth-Vishwanth, you call him in any name but at the end it is ONE, the Maha Vishnu, Madhav who exist in many manifestations. We had a peaceful darshan and offered unadulterated milk and sweets besides flower on the lingam receiving His blessings through the Purohit. On the way back we visited the Gyanvapi Mandir as well as Annapurna Mandir. It is believed that Shiv and Parvati came to Kashi to live a domesticated life as Mahadev/ Vishwanath and Annapurna providing domestic bliss to the humans on earth.

Religious activities were done by 8 am and we headed to the famed Kashi Chaat Bhandar. We ordered for their hot selling Tamatar Chaat, Aloo-Tikki Chaat and Hara-Matar Chaat with Masal Chai. It was one of the most satisfying breakfasts I had in many days.

Coming back to the hotel, we packed up and settled our dues with Pralaynath Babu with a promise to visit again. Since we already had our breakfast, he packed us some sandwiches and boiled eggs and fruits for the road. We headed for Ranchi to meet and pick-up Indro on way to Chandraketugarh.

The route was pretty much straight using the NH19 (AH1), approx. 400km taking 8 hours non-stop. Topshe drove the first three hours then we stopped for the restroom at a petrol station, filled up the tank as well and the Pulki took the wheel for next two hours and stopped by a Line Hotel (Dhaba) where we had tea and finished the sandwiches and eggs. Then I drove the rest of the distance, on a newly laid beautiful road prompting me to exceed the speed limit. We reached the outskirts of Ranchi around 4:30 pm and guessed that in another hour we will reach Indro’s home. Gora called him up and informed accordingly. He had booked us at the Royal Retreat Hotel, very close to his home at Global Lavanya Residential Complex. We stopped at the Brother’s Bakery to pick-up some pastries and cookies for the kids, Judha and Tania, who’s engagement ceremony I had attended but could not join the wedding festivities due to covid infection just before I was to take the flight for Ranchi.

We reached Indro’s home on the dot of 5:30 pm, he had instructed the security at the gate, so, we had unencumbered entry inside the complex and parked at the visitor’s parking. Indro along with Jagrata and Tania gave us a tumultuous welcome as if we are coming after winning a war!!

After we had washed up our grimes, we were offered tea and specially made Dhushka with Aloo-Chana Sabji… I had requested Indro to arrange this as one meal… I had fallen in love with Dhuska since the time I first tasted it during my first visit. After chitchatting for some time, we took out our nightwear and toiletries bag to check-in at the hotel… 2-minute walk down the lane. We purposely left the car at his complex and he asked the chowkidar to arrange for it to be washed and cleaned.

Dr. Judhajit, a very able doctor, came home around 9 pm and enquired about our health and wellbeing. Both, Gora and I had consulted him over phone and his diagnosis had always been accurate. I simply adore him for his amiable nature. Indro opened a bottle of Single Malt from his collection and poured for everyone, I declined as I was still on my self-imposed alcohol ban. Instead, I joined the toast with Lemon Ice-Tea. The dinner was simple Bengali fare yet fulfilling… Shukto, Chholar Dal, Aloo Bhaja, Beguni, Pabda Jhaal and Chicken Curry with Rice followed by Raw Papaya Chaatni and Papad. There were Mishti Doi and Nolen Gurer Sandesh which I couldn’t resist despite being a diabetic… the expensive medicines will have to work harder, I told myself. We spent some more at Indro’s home before retiring for the day. We agreed to start our journey towards Kolkata around 8/8:30 am… we needed a good sleep to get ourselves rejuvenated.

DAY THREE

We left for our last leg of the journey after having sumptuous breakfast of stuffed paratha with creamy dahi and soft rosogolla sharp at 8:30 am. Additionally, I had a fluffy masala omelette prepared by Tania… Indro knew about my weakness of eggs so he asked her to make it for all but except Indro and I, others declined. Indro, sat with me at the front, others nicely fitted in the rear seat.

There are three routes to Kolkata from Ranchi, the shortest one is via Jamshedpur – Dalma wildlife sanctuary, a very scenic route mostly through green patches. We were tempted to stop by at Dalma wildlife sanctuary but decided against it and simply soaking in the nature with zero pollution. We stopped at the Garden Inn Restaurant, Kharagpur, situated on the highway for lunch thereby avoiding getting into the city. We opted for vegetarian dishes and kept it light. Since we were ahead of time, having made it 4.5 hours instead of 5.5 hours, we relaxed in the adjoining garden where we had lemon tea and cookies before departing to complete our journey.

Topshe took the wheels and I moved to his seat. The drive was mostly uneventful except that this route being the oldest amongst the three, the roads are not wide, mostly 4 lane and at some places becomes 2-lane without the divider. In such stretch, the speed, sometimes becomes rolling and then near any town or village, a sizeable road space is occupied by the hawkers and rickshaws creating unnecessary road jams. Anyways, Topshe, expertly navigated such irritants and soon we were cruising towards Howrah crossing the Kolaghat, famous for its thermal power station. Once, we reached Howrah, our driving got restricted to the speed of the traffic ahead. Moreover, here the highway has bursting population on either side, both residential and commercial with rampant encroachment of the road space. It was still early evening, so the crowd was not very high but we lost the earlier advantage of beating the google timeline, it now was showing 6 pm to our final destination… Nizam Palace on Acharya JC Bose Road, only consolation being a Saturday evening, the traffic inside central Kolkata might be lighter than usual with most offices either on holiday or getting over when we reach.

Nizam Palace is a CPWD Guesthouse for the government officials, both serving as well as retired, the tariff is very reasonable…rather cheap compared to the private accommodations with decent clean room, nothing fancy though. Topshe, Gora and Pulki, all retired Central Govt officials, used their channels to book 3 double-bed rooms on the first floor of B-Block. The best part of the place is that it is very centrally located with numerous options for eating out as well as sightseeing. The online reviews of the place suggested to visit the dining hall instead of room service as it is very lax and at times the food/ tea is cold by the time it reaches your room. So, after freshening up, we went to the dining hall to have tea and snacks… surprisingly, they had options of Darjeeling tea which Indro & I opted for and ordered a large pot while others asked for Masala Chai along with assorted pakoras including Devilled Egg, we were hungry but wanted keep space for the dinner at Peter Cat, Park Street where we have booked a table for five at 9:30 pm.   

All of us wanted a quick n short nap, especially after the snacks which were excellent, crisp on the outside and melt in your mouth and the Darjeeling tea was very well brewed. Setting the alarm for 8 pm, I hit the pillow and dozed off immediately. Mine and Pulki’s alarm buzzed simultaneously stirring us up forcefully. We got ready, so were the others and we booked Uber cab to take to the Park Street which is notorious for parking woes. The cab dropped us right in front of the restaurant. Indro and Gora wanted to have a smoke, so we strolled along the road which was getting crowded by minute with hungry diners, it was a prudent call to book our table in advance.

If you are in Peter Cat, you must try their famous Chello Kebab served on a bed of buttered rice with tandoori kebabs and topped with fried egg. We had the prawn cocktail as starter followed by chello kebab, also ordered virgin mojito to go with the food. Though, the restaurant is quite old, they have maintained the quality and taste but their service needs much improvement. The restaurant was full to capacity with customers waiting outside; in such a scenario, the restaurants, typically in the north and south of the country, speeds up their service so that the customers can finish their food quickly and allow others to enjoy the fare as well. But, here in Kolkata, there was no hurry and food arrived at its own pace. By the time we finished, it was almost 11 pm and getting a cab was a task in itself. I tried to book through Uber but it was showing minimum 15-20 minutes waiting due to heavy rush. I checked the distance to our hotel; it was just over 2 km and walk through the Camac Street would take similar time (22 minutes) as waiting for the cab. I convinced others to walk as would help us digest the Chello Kebab as well besides experiencing the night life of Kolkata.

With the guidance of google maps, we reached Nizam Palace in half an hour, completely exhausted and decided to call it a day. Tomorrow we shall venture out to see Chandraketugarh.

DAY FOUR

We were ready to go to Chandraketugarh by 8:30 am after having a South Indian breakfast of dosa-idli-vada at the dining hall itself. Its about 50 km from our place, driving time two hours passing by the New Town, Salt Lake City towards Barasat on the Kolkata-Bashirhat Road. Indro’s ancestral home is in Bashirhat where some of his relatives still lives but he said he has no intentions of visiting them in this trip… in fact none of us have told any of our relatives or friends about this trip, we wanted to keep it within this small group only. It took us two hours to reach Berchanpa after checking with the locals we reached the archaeological site.

What is most intriguing about Chandraketugarh is that very little has been excavated and what lies beneath the ground is best left to guesswork.

The region of Bengal where it meets the bay is an active delta which due to silt and sedimentation, geographically changes its character. The delta is one hand slowly increasing in length while global warming now has done the reverse with increasing sea level. The location of Chandraketugarh has a deep historical presence and was once set to be the capital of Bengal Gangetic plains that had active trade links with Europe especially with the Greeks. The Greeks referred to this region as “Gangaridai” and have been mentioned in several Graeco-Roman texts.

Bidyadhari River, now extinct, was then much bigger and greater in size and was easily accessible to trading ships coming in from the Bay of Bengal.

The mounds were first located around 1905 – 1906 by a local doctor named Taraknath Ghosh and this information was passed on to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). A.H. Longhurst from ASI – Eastern Circle visited this site for inspection which led to the discovery of ancient pots and bricks.

It is also to be noted that eminent archaeologist Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay had also visited this site around 1909. However, nothing much happened till as recently as 1955 that a small level of excavation work was carried on by the Ashutosh Museum of Indian Art.

The excavation resulted in the discovery of pottery, beads from the various era which can be classified as:

The further detailed excavation was planned but never executed till date, the excavated mounds were covered up and waiting to be dug again.

As the name suggests “Chandraketugarh” can be roughly translated as the region ruled by a person named Chandraketu. Very less is known about him and some references put him as one of the greatest rulers of the Gangetic delta region. It is strongly believed that Sandrocottus mentioned by the famous Greek explorer Megasthenes is in reference to King Chandraketu, the most powerful king of Gangaridai, the people of the Gangetic plains of Bengal as referred to by the Greeks. It is believed that Alexander met Chandraketu putting his tenure to be in the 5-4 century BCE.

Khana-Mihirer Dhipi – This is well marked and the excavations are still visible. The excavated sections have been cleaned up and various structures can be easily made out. The excavation carried out in 1957on a mound revealed temple-like structures which are of multiple dynasties, likely because of rebuilding over existing temple sites over and over again. The majority of the excavated pottery belonged to the Sunga-Kushana style.

During the excavation of this section various pottery, terracotta plaques, etc. were also excavated. The nature of pottery clearly shows the attributes from various periods of rules in this part of the world.

Various objects that were excavated from this site included terracotta figures, cooking pots, coins, beads, long neck jars, etc. Some interesting find around this excavation site were terracotta plaques of human, animal, and bird markings.

After entering our names in the register, we took the well-marked walking path to explore site. You are not allowed to climb on top of the excavated structures and need to walk only on the designated pathway. Visually what you get to see are huge foundation sections of various sections within the excavated area which only comprises terracotta bricks. No visual figures are present, the ones excavated from this site have been shifted to the nearby Chandraketugarh Museum.

Chandraketugarh Museum, is a new museum under the state government which was built to store the excavated artifacts from site. Previously these were stored at the house of two local enthusiasts while some were kept at the local school museum. Photography is not allowed inside the museum. It is highly recommended to visit the museum because it’s only here one gets to see the vast artifacts that were excavated from this region of Bengal. However, more detailed and beautiful figurines excavated in the early 20^th century have gone out of the country, mostly illegally through smuggling.

We spent over three hours exploring all sites including the museum grasping a part of Indian history that has never found it’s way into the school text books.

EPILOGUE

We spent another three days in Kolkata on a Foodie Delight Tour, besides meeting our local friends and having camaraderie but that’s another story to told at some other time.

Indro decided to stay back for Jagrata along with Judha and Tania to join him for medical check-up and also spend some time with their relatives. The four of us left for home after a very satisfying and fulfilling road trip.