The day I heard the name Antpur(Hooghly, West Bengal, India) from my mother, I decided sooner or later I will show her native place as she heard none of the family members of her and from her previous generation ever visited the place. This piece of information made me interested about the place and later I found that Antpur (also known as Aatpur - Place of Eight small villages) has a great historic background with rich architectural demostration in form of the temples built at that time. Almost 350 years back(1786) the Diwan of Bardhaman Raj (Royal state of Burdwan), Krishna Ram Mitra build aatchala style terracotta architecture temples of Radha Givinda(100 feet high), Lord Shiva and others temples to motivate Hindus from the tyranny of the European invaders at that time. Almost at the sametime(1757) Raja Naba Krisna Deb of Sovabazar Rajbari started worshiping goddess Durga.
So I started deciding the best route to reach the place from Kolkata
which is about 76 km. I always look options for safe and good road
conditions to reach my destinations. Roads with dividers are safer in my
opinion where traffic from opposite directions has less chance to create a collision course. So initially I found a relatively comfortable route by
exploring google map and wikimapia which is via Dankuni through Burdwan
district.
Consulting one of my friend , I found another route via Vivekananda Setu(2nd Hooghly Bridge - Santragachi - Domjur - Bargachia - Jagatballavpur -
Jangipara which goes to Antpur through Howrah district.
Guessing, I selected the easier route via Belgharia Expressway - NH2 (Delhi Road) - Dankuni - State Highway 2, which will have most of the road in good condition. So we as usual started just before noon which I guessed less traffic congested. Till Airport crossing I faced traffic-jam, specially near Kestopur crossing, which is regular thing these days ntil the proposed over-bridge gets constructed from Dumdum Park to Jora mandir (Baguihati). After crossing airport the Belgharia Expressway is always pleasant to drive. Soon Ireached Dakshineswar. And then via Nivedita Bridge, NH2, reached Dankuni. Took left turn from NH2 - Dankuni crossing. Soon after I reached the Dankuni Level Crossing which took almost half and hour to cross due to fact this level crossing is a busy train route and traffic is also heavy out here in this junction.
After this I took some local guidence about the next stretch of the road to Antpur. From here the road is pretty straight forward till Gajar More via Kalipur, Hooghly - Garal Gacha - Chanditala, Hooghly - Kalachara Village(3 point crossing) - Kumirmara Station - Krishna Rampur - Massat, Hooghly - Sheakhala - Llipur Village - Anantapur - Shipaigachi Bazar - Khanjuriyar Bazar - Jhautola More. From Gajar More I took right turn. the road was narrow but in very good condition and the traffic was minimum.
Passing Addya Sakti Coldstorage - Kuthrir More (Crossing) - Gouranga More - reached Ramhatitola More (Crossing). Had some sweets at a sweet shop in Ramhatitola More before we headed to our destination. From there, passing Rainygate, Kumarbazar, Antpur (Crossing) - Tarar More (Crossing) - Antpur High School - Antpur Ghosh Bati ( Swami Premananda's birth place)we reach our destination. Car is not allowed in the compund so I parked the car outside and had pictures of the Rash Mancha first (Photos available here). The the huge old Bakul Tree which is almost 500 years old. Then the main adha Ginda Temple. Beside the main temple a narrow passage through the Bakul Tree takes yoewards the Chandi Mandap.
The surrounding areas are are very quite. Beside the other side of the main temple 5 other Shive temples are there including one Dol Mancha. Most of the temples are repaired but the lowerportions are cemented which is little painfull. But the upper portions are still intact with detailed depiction of social and cultural side of life of that era.
On the way back home, had stop over in a restaurent middle of no where which was probably just after crossing Massat and had good meal. Next, I manage to enter Dankuni by evening to avoid the State Hightway 2 which I doubt having proper street lights to drive at night conditions.
Very good Pabs, very nice of you to search for such a beautiful place, which is quite hidden from general public, WB Govt must take proper steps to highlight such places and make them attractive tourist spots, so that not only the place becomes attractive, the locals also get some way to earn money by being guide, sweetmeat shops, tea stalls, memento shops etc.
Antpur(Hooghly, West Bengal, India) is one of the most interesting place to visit. I always like to visit West Bengal in vacations. This vacations I had visit some best and most beautiful places of West Bengal. My travel experience is really very good. West Bengal Places to see
