Serampore (শ্রীরামপুর Śrīrāmpur) is a town in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, on the western bank of the Hooghly River. One of the rare Danish colonies of India, Serampore is unique for its Danish-British-Bengali heritage.
Understand
[edit]
Serampore was a former colony under the Danish Empire under the name Frederiksnagore. The town is deeply associated with the Serampore Trio (William Carey, Joshua Marshman and William Ward), the three English missionaries who had made significant contributions to Bengali literature.
History
[edit]Colonisation
[edit]In 1755, the Danish East India Company dispatched a representative from its Tranquebar office to secure a decree from Nawab Alivardi Khan, permitting them to conduct business in Bengal. They obtained this right and acquired three villages – Sripur, Akna, and Serampore – from the Nawab by agreeing to pay an annual rent to the local zamindar in Sheoraphuli. The Danes secured three bighas of land at Sripur on the riverfront and an additional fifty-seven bighas at Akna or their new factory and port.
By 1770, Danish merchants were prospering in regional trade and commerce, which was fueled by Colonel Ole Bie, who became Serampore's first Crown Regent in 1776. Unfortunately, Bie was later accused of corruption and died bankrupt in 1805 at 72.
Serampore Trio
[edit]In the late 18th century and the early 19th century, the directors of the British East India Company (EIC) banned missionaries as they feared of them agitating the locals and disrupting its commerce. So, the British missionaries took refuge in the non-British colonies of Bengal. Four English missionaries came to Danish-ruled Serampore: William Carey, Joshua Marshman, William Ward and Hannah Marshman. The first three of them are considered the Serampore Trio, the architects of the Serampore renaissance of the early 19th century. Although their primary purpose was to preach Christianity, they dedicated themselves to serving the ailing and distressed, spreading education, initiating social reforms, and contributing to social reconstruction.
Carey founded the Serampore Mission Press in 1800, with wooden Bengali types made by Panchanan Karmakar, the father of Bengali printing. Between 1801 and 1832, the press printed 2,12,000 copies of books in 40 different languages. It published the Bengali versions of the Bible, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as well as first Bengali newspapers like Digdarśan (দিগ্দর্শন) and Samācār Darpaṇ (সমাচার দর্পণ).
Later history
[edit]On 11 October 1845, Serampore was sold to Britain. After that, the British focused on improving the town's civic amenities with the establishment of the Serampore Municipality in 1865.
Get in
[edit]By train
[edit]- 1 Shrirampur Howrah .
By car
[edit]The famous Grand Trunk Road runs through Serampore as SH 6. SH 13 acts as a bypass of SH 6 and is a better way to reach Serampore if you don't want to follow the now-congested GT Road.
By ferry
[edit]Get around
[edit]
See and do
[edit]- 1 Danish Cemetery.
- 2 Danish Governor House. The former seat of government of Serampore, originally a home of Ole Bie, who built the Danish colony.
- 3 St. Olav's Church (Danish Church). The protestant church was once the centre for all European social and religious events. The church never had a Danish pastor, and was instead being managed by the Serampore Trio. The building is flat roofed, inside and out. Although the design is not particularly Scandinavian, but it reflects the designs of churches in Kolkata back then. The entrance has an open portico of twin columns under a broken-base pediment containing the royal monogram of Danish king Christian VII. Above the portico is a bell tower that also contains a clock. Its white spire is visible from as far away as Barrackpore on the opposite bank.
- 4 Serampore College. The first college in Asia to award a degree. It was built in 1818 by the Serampore Trio. The college compound contains a museum dedicated to William Carey.
- 5 Serampore Mission Burial Ground. The cemetery where the Serampore Trio and their relatives are buried. The graves of William Carey, his wife Dorothy, and son Felix are lying side by side. Need a prior permission to visit.
- 6 Serampore Palace.
Temples
[edit]- 7 Henry Martyn's Pagoda. An old temple where Henry Martyn lived for some months. He was a Cantabrigian priest, who arrived in Calcutta (Kolkata) as an East India Company chaplain. He lived in India for several years before going to Iran, and he died there at 31. He was considered an introvert and an intense character.
- 8 Jagannath Temple, Mahesh. The famous Jagannath temple in Serampore, known for organising the oldest Ratha Yatra in Bengal, after the Puri Ratha Yatra. It is said to have been celebrated since 1396. It is a week-long festival and a grand fair is held at that time. People throng to have a share in pulling the long ropes (রস্যি rasyi) attached to the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra on the journey from the temple to Mahesh Gundicha Bari and back within the eighth day.
Buy
[edit]Eat and drink
[edit]Sleep
[edit]- 1 Denmark Tavern. A heritage café-cum-lodge established in 1786 by British innkeeper James Parr.
Go next
[edit]| Routes through Serampore |
| Chinsurah ← Chandannagar ← | N  S
|
→ Uttarpara → Howrah |
| Chinsurah ← Chandannagar ← | N  S
|
→ Uttarpara → Howrah |
| Chinsurah ← Chandannagar ← | N  S
|
→ Uttarpara → Howrah |