Hooghly Imambara

I want to start my journey from my home town Chinsurah , it is in Hooghly ,West Bengal . The Portuguese founded the town of Hooghly-Chuchura in 1579, but the district has thousands of years of heritage in the form of the great kingdom of Bhurshut. The city flourished as a trading port and some religious structures were built.

Hooghly Imambara, an architectural splendour of the 19th century, is a holy shrine not only to the people of Bengal but also to the entire Muslim community of India. It dignifies the western bank of river Bhagirathi-Hooghly with fading grandeur whispering the story of its glorious past.

Hooghly Imambara (imam—angel, bara—the building to live in) is a mosque cum imambarah administered by the Shia astna-ashari sect of Muslims, in Hooghly, West Bengal.The construction of the building was started by Muhammad Mohsin in 1841 and completed in 1861. The building is a two storied structure, with a tall clock tower over the entrance gate. The mosque has intricate designs and texts from Quran engraved on the wall. The interior of the mosque is decorated

with marbles, candles and hanging lanterns.

The opposite side of the Imambara which faces the river Ganga, too appears grand in its view. This portion contains the English version of Mohsin’s Deed engraved on theupper wall of the back side imambara. There is a concrete Sundial at the open yard on the eastern most side of this institution. This is a 3ft. high concrete table with a fixed hand that still indicates an exact time from thevery dawn to the time of sunset.

The most interesting thing in the Imambara was a Turkish bath or Hammam exquisitely decorated with colourful glasses with no window inside. The aura of sunray, filtered through these glasses must have been creating a dreamy ambience which compelled the people to stick inside with an amazing charm. Another spectacular wonder of this Imambara is its Clock which is placed at the middle of the twin towers erected upon the doorway of the main entrance. Each tower is supposed to be 150 ft. high and takes 152 steps to reach its top. The clock is really an object of wonder with its two dials, one facing the outer side and the other the inner. It has three bells with 30 mds, 40 mds and 80 mds of weight.

The smaller bells cling at every 15 minutes’ interval whereas the bigger one clings at one-hour interval.

This huge clock was brought by Syed Keramat Ali which was manufactured by M/s Black & Hurray Co., Big Ben, London with a cost of Rs. 11, 721 in the year of 1852. The Clock possesses a 20kg winding key which takes two young men to wind the clock for half an hour every week.

There are so many beautiful things to explore here , so you can easily make it your holiday destination .........