Shyamnagar, West Bengal


Shyamnagar is a locality in Bhatpara Municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. The locality is considered one of the major development hubs in the district.

Geography

Location

Shyamnagar is located at in the Ganges Delta at an elevation of. It is spread linearly along the banks of the River Hooghly in a north-south direction. Much of the city was originally a vast wetland, reclaimed over the decades to accommodate the city's burgeoning population. The remaining wetland, known as East Calcutta Wetlands has been designated a "wetland of international importance" under the Ramsar Convention.
96% of the population of Barrackpore subdivision live in urban areas. In 2011, it had a density of population of 10,967 per km2 The subdivision has 16 municipalities and 24 census towns.
For most of the cities/ towns information regarding density of population is available in the Infobox. Population data is not available for neighbourhoods. It is available for the entire municipal area and thereafter ward-wise.
All places marked on the map are linked in the full-screen map.

Physical features

Like the most of the Indo-Gangetic plains, the predominant soil and water type is alluvial. Quaternary sediments consisting of clay, silt, various grades of sand and gravel underlie the city. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds, the lower one at depths between and and the upper one ranging between and in thickness. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town falls under seismic zone-III, in a scale of I to V while the wind and cyclone zoning is "very high damage risk", according to UNDP report.

Police station

police station under Barrackpore Police Commissionerate has jurisdiction over Bhatpara Municipal area.

Post Office

While Shyamnagar has a delivery sub post office Mulajore has a non-delivery sub post office, both with PIN 743127 in the North Presidency Division of North 24 Parganas district in Calcutta region. Other post offices with the same PIN are Kowgachhi, Paltapara, Feeder Road, Gurdah, Mondalpara and Purbabidhyadharpur.

Demographics

The jute mills drew in a large labor force from the neighboring states of Bihar and Orissa, as well as eastern Uttar Pradesh, quite often forming an overwhelming majority of the population in the area, living in shanty towns and bustees dotting the mill area. Also, a sizeable portion of the youths are engaged in the foreign and Indian Multinational companies who are opening their offices in the Salt Lake and Rajarhat area of Kolkata.

History

The name of Shyamngar came from a folk etymology of Samne+ garh, which in course of time changed to Shyamnagar.
During the rule of Raja Krishnachandra Roy of Krishnanagar, the king gave the village called 'Mulajore' along with a title of Roy Gunakar to his court poet Bharatchandra Ray. In memory of Bharat Chandra Roy Gunakar there is an old and historic library named Bharat Chandra Library, established in 1906. It is situated close to the railway station.
Relatives of Rabindranath Tagore had set up Mulajor Kalibari at Shyamnagar in North 24 Parganas and it is unknown to many people. The temple beside Hooghly River is very eye soothing. One of the priests said the temple was constructed on 31 Baishakh in 1219 Bengali year around 200 years ago beside Hooghly River even before Dakhineswar Kali temple was set up by Rani Rashmoni Devi. Six priests are engaged for offering puja to goddess Kali and one of the temple priests said. "No dedicated book had been written on this temple and gradually history is fading away but we know relatives of Rabindranath Tagore constructed this temple".
Srijit Thakur is the surviving member of the Thakur family whose ancestors set up the temple, lives in Rajbari at Pathuriaghata Street near Natunbazar in Kolkata. Once upon a time Rabindranath Tagore's ancestor Khitish Kusari came from Jessore District in Bangladesh to West Bengal and his next generation was Bhattanaryan and later Dinanath Kusari. "Dinanath’s son Panchanan got the title thakur since then his family member used to write the title Thakur instead of Kusari," said a priest. Jairam Thakur was latter generation had four sons- Anandiram, Nilmoni, Darpanarayan and Gobindaram. Prince Dwarkanath Tagore was the next generation of Anandiram, whose son was Debendranath and Rabindranath was his eighth son. Debendranath, however, became Brahmo and did not believe in idol worshipping. It had not been known whether he or his sons ever visited the temple. Gopimohan Thakur, the son of Darpanarayan founded the temple. Gopimohan had two sons Prsanna Kumar and Harakumar and daughter Brahmamoyee.
Prasanna Kumar had one son Pradyot Kumar and Harakumar had Jatindramohan. Surviving member Srijit Thakur is the son of Prabirendra Mohan, who was the son of Pradyot Kumar. According to local tale that the present place of the Kali temple was occupied of 'Nandi' and 'Pirali' so experienced priest from 'Bhatpara toll ’ used to refuse offering puja to the goddess Mulajore Shyamnagar Kali as a result priests were brought from Bankura, Burdwan and other places. Later a Sanskrit College was set up by the king Gopimohan Thakur as a matter of pride and to make erudite Sanskrit students. Students were accommodated in this college hostel they used to take Prasad in the temple as a lunch and dinner. Ramkumar Chattopadhyaya, elder brother of Ramakrishna Dev was the student of this college. But instead of reconstructing that dilapidated building, a heritage building of the locality with its Ionic pillars Rabindra Bhawan was set up by municipality replacing the college, ignoring the sense of heritage.

Overview

Shyamnagar is situated on the east bank of the Ganges. A Kali Temple is situated in between Shyamnagar railway station and Hooghly river is known as Mulajore Kalibari. An auditorium named Rabindra Bhavan was built by Bhatpara Municipality by the side of this Kali Temple. It was said that there was a Sanskrit College in the Nineteenth century and Pandit Vidyasagar used to visit over there. A fair called Poush Mela is organised every year in Poush Mash according to Bengali calendar and between December and January in English calendar. The place becomes holy with the blessings of the goddesses Kali and Ganga. The Shyamnagar Book Fair is organised by Shubhas Shanga Club Battala every year at the time of Poush Mela at Kalibari area. Other than the Mulajore Kalibari there are three other notable Kali Bari situated in Shyamnagar. They are Chowrangi Kalibari, Sidhheswari Kalibari and Rakshakali temple. There is also one Buddhist monastery situated by the railway line.

Culture

Shyamnagar is the birthplace of Ajoy Chakraborty a well known classical musician. It is also the residence of Aneek Dhar, a singer who has won and hosted many reality shows focused around singing. Many well known athletes such as Subrata Bhattacharya, Kesto Pal, Mahabir Prasad, Asoklal Banerjee, and Sumit Mukherjee reside here.
An annual book fair is held in the Kali Bari grounds during the first week of January. Notable Bengali authors, Troilokyanath Mukhopadhay and Rangalal Mukhopadhay were born here. Bharat Chandra Roy Library is a well known library in this area. It was founded in 1906 by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

Companies and factories

Exide Industries Limited

Nicco Corporation Limited – Cable Division, an ISO 9001:2008 & 14001:2004 certified unit, is located on East Ghosh Para Road,
Athpur, Shyamnagar, on the banks of river Ganga.
The plant at Shyamnagar produces the following types of cables:-
Apart from the above factories, there are other renowned factories:
  1. Annapurna Cotton Mills
  2. Gouri Shankar Jute Mills
  3. Hindustan Lever – presently changed the name.

    Transport

Trains

Local and passenger trains are available every now and then to go to Kolkata, Budge Budge, Katwa, Bardhaman etc. Not only the Sealdah-Ranaghat and Bardhaman local but also all of the Sealdah main line trains crosses from the heart of the town as well. The Maitri Express, connecting not just two cities Kolkata to Dhaka but two countries, passes from this town.

Aeroplanes

Dum Dum Airport, better known as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is less than 30 km from here and well connected by roadways.

Buses

It is served by two major roadways of the district – Ghoshpara Road and Kalyani Expressway. Both of them are well connected with the capital city of west Bengal, Kolkata. Few bus services available from various locations are: 1. Route no. 85 – a private bus service connecting Kanchrapara on one side to Barrackpore on the other, 2. WBSTC – a government bus service connecting shyamnagar to Garia, 3. CSTC – another bus service connecting Shyamnagar to Digha.

Ferry

Regular ferry services are available on river hooghly from Shyamnagar to Telenipara at a regular interval of 15 minutes.

Education

Shyamnagar's schools are either run by the state government or by private organisations. Schools mainly use Bengali or English as the medium of instruction, though Hindi is also used. The schools are affiliated with any of the following — West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education, and the National Institute of Open School. Under the 10+2+3 plan, after completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in a 2-year junior college or in schools with a higher secondary facility affiliated with West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, ICSE or CBSE. Students usually choose from one of three streams — liberal arts, commerce, or science, though vocational streams are also available. Upon completing the required coursework, students may enrol in general or professional degree programmes.
List of some Reputed Schools in Shyamnagar :
  1. Morning Bells Academy
  2. Authpur National Model H.S School
  3. Shyamnagar Kanti Chandra High School
  4. Mulajore Sitanath Pathsala High School
  5. Shyamnagar Balika Vidyalaya
  6. Authpur High School at Authpur 1 kilometre away from Shyamnagar. This school was inaugurated by Ishwar Chandara Vidyasagar. Oldest school in Authpur-Shyamnagar locality.
  7. Authpur Balika Vidyalaya, Authpur
  8. Shyamnagar Rishi Aurobindo Vidyaniketan
  9. Shyamnagar Rishi Aurobindo Balika Vidyalaya
  10. Jawaharlal Nehru Smrity Vidya Mandir
  11. Mandalpara Vidya Niketan
  12. Mandalpara Girls' High School
  13. Shree Gouri Shanker Jute Mills High School
  14. Swami Vivekananda High school;x+2 Level
  15. Brahmamayee Vidyamandir
  16. Shantigarh Nivanani Smriti Vidyapith
  17. Harakh Chand Kankaria Jain Vidyalaya
  18. Shyama Chandra H.S School
  19. Gurdah High School