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Hooghly (হুগলি Hugli) is a district of West Bengal, India.
Regions
[edit]Hooghly can be divided into two parts based on urbanisation:
- Urban Hooghly — the bustling area along the west bank of the Hooghly River, from Bansberia to Uttarpara.
- Rural Hooghly — the mostly-rural part of the district, with fertile land and scattered urban centres.
Cities
[edit]
Urban Hooghly
[edit]- 1 Baidyabati (বৈদ্যবাটি Baidyabāṭi) —
- 2 Bandel (ব্যান্ডেল Byānḍel) — historic port city, former Portuguese colony, home to Bandel Church
- 3 Bansberia (বাঁশবেড়িয়া Bānśbeṛiẏā) —
- 4 Chandannagar (চন্দননগর Candannagar) — a former French colony, famous for Jagaddhatri Puja and the immersion rally
- 5 Chinsurah (চুঁচুড়া Cũcuṛā) — district headquarters, former Dutch colony
- 6 Konnagar
(কোন্নগর Konnagar) — - 7 Serampore (শ্রীরামপুর Śrīrāmpur) — A former Danish colony
- 8 Uttarpara (উত্তরপাড়া Uttarpāṛā) —
Rural Hooghly
[edit]- 9 Arambagh (আরামবাগ Ārāmbāg) —
- 10 Guptipara (গুপ্তিপাড়া Guptipāṛā) —
- 11 Kamarpukur (কামারপুকুর Kāmārpukur) — birthplace of Sri Ramakrishna
- 12 Pandua (পাণ্ডুয়া Pāṇḍuẏā) —
- 13 Tarakeswar (তারকেশ্বর Tārakeśbar) — the "City of Shiva", a popular pilgrimage spot and a major bus terminus.
Other destinations
[edit]- 1 Furfura Sharif (ফুরফুরা শরীফ Phurphurā Śarīph) — An Islamic pilgrimage site for the shrine of Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique. It is said to be the second most prominent Islamic shrine in India after Ajmer Sharif.
Understand
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Name
[edit]The Hooghly district gets its name from the old riverside town founded by the Portuguese in 1579. However, due to the name's increasing association with the whole district, the old town eventually lost its identity and was subsumed by neighbouring Bandel and Chinsurah.
History
[edit]Hooghly has thousands of years of rich heritage as part of the Bengali kingdom of Bhurshut, also known as Bhurishrestha. Its riverside urban area is called the "Little Europe of India", with each town having its unique fragrance of history and culture, as different European powers colonised them. For example, the Portuguese held Bandel, the Dutch held Chinsurah, the French held Chandannagar and the Danish held Serampore. However, many of these colonies later came under British rule, and most of their distinctive non-British colonial charms in their heydays are now lost.
But Chandannagar remained under French rule, outside British hoards until 1954, when it came under India. The city is known for the conservation of its non-British colonial heritage.
During the 20th century, the Hooghly district was home to many industrial complexes, including one of the largest car-making plants in India, the Hindustan Motors plant in Uttarpara. However, at the dawn of the 21st century, the once-flourishing manufacturing belt still has some units working well, but the industrial area is no longer in the pink of health and is often in the news for the wrong reasons.