Gar Mandaran


Garh Mandaran is a village and a gram panchayat in Goghat II CD Block in Arambag subdivision of Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal, India.

Overview

The ruins of a fort at Gar Mandaran provided the setting for Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel Durgeshnandini.
Durgeshnandini is a romantic novel, based partly on history and partly on hearsay. The story centres around the attack and occupation of Gar Mandaran stronghold of Raja Birendra Singh, linked to the Bishnupur Raj, by the Pathans who were then entrenched in Odisha. The Mughal general Man Singh’s son, Jagat Singh, was despatched to keep the Pathans at bay. Jagat Singh fell in love with Tilottama, the beautiful daughter of Raja Birendra Singh. The Pathans captured the fort, killed Raja Birendra Singh and held Jagat Singh and Tilottama, but a fatal attack on the Pathan general Kotlu Khan, turned things around.
Durgeshnandini, published in 1865, took the literary world by storm and was considered an epoch-making novel. It went through 13 editions during Bankim Chandra’s life-time.

History

Around the time when Bakhtiyar Khilji came to Bengal, the region was divided into five parts – Rarh, Bagri, Vanga, Barendra, and Mithila. Vanga was further subdivided into three parts – Lakhanabati, Subarnagram and Saptagram. When the frontiers of Bengal were expanded during Mughal rule, there were three prominent administrative zones in the Saptagram area – Sirkar Satgaon, Sirkar Selimabad and Sirkar Mandaran.

Demographics

As per the 2011 Census of India, Gar Mandaran had a total population of 6,264 of which 3,242 were males and 3,022 were females. Population below 6 years was 734. The total number of literates in Gar Mandaran was 4,100.

Transport

Gar Mandaran is on Kamarpukur-Gar Mandaran-Kajla road.It is 2 km from Kamarpukur.

Education

Gar Mandaran High School is a Bengali-medium co-educational institution. It was established in 1944.