The travels of Bengalis in the past
Sumana Dam
(Continued from the last part)
In 1912 AD, Swarnakumari Devi went to Prayag or Allahabad. In the Bengali years 1319 and 1320, parts of her travelogue were published in several issues of the Bharati magazine. During this journey, her companions were her elder brother Satyendranath Tagore and her son and daughter. In this writing, she referred to Satyendranath Tagore as “Socrates Dada.” She vividly and humorously described the train journey, explaining how Satyendranath prevented other Bengalis and Englishmen from entering their compartment. Her children were overwhelmed with joy when they saw hills for the first time through the train window.
Swarnakumari Devi once narrated her first experience of traveling by train. She had boarded directly from a palanquin onto the train, which Satyendranath found quite odd. He thought bringing a palanquin to the platform in front of everyone was a matter of shame and laughter. Earlier, Swarnakumari believed that shame lay in mingling with the public, not in riding a palanquin to the carriage. Yet, that night, when she had to get down at the station amidst a crowd, she felt extremely uneasy, and all joy of travel vanished. Even now, she admitted, she feels uncomfortable boarding the train in a crowd. But after hearing Satyendranath’s thoughts, she began to feel uncertain. She wrote: “Who knows what changes society will see over time. Who knows what more will happen in the future.”
The next day at 11 AM, the train reached Danapur. The train halted there for half an hour. Rice and vegetables had been arranged at the station for them. Her brother took her son to bathe at the station. Though all the windows and doors were closed, she kept fearing someone might walk in. An Englishman tried to enter the compartment but left after hearing "zenana, zenana." Then came Buxar, the boundary of Bengal under British rule. After that, they passed through Chunar or Chandalpur, Mirzapur, and crossed the Yamuna bridge to reach Allahabad.
Despite the severe cold in Prayag, she once wanted to bathe in the Ganga. But she heard that without offering something to the priests and shaving one's head, the bath would be fruitless. As she refused to shave her head, she gave up the idea. She went to see the Triveni Sangam by boat. The boat passed under the Yamuna bridge and came near the fort. Just beneath the fort is a flagpole. Beneath it, they say, lies the river Saraswati in a well. Towards the confluence, the Ganga and Yamuna seemed like two co-wives rushing wildly to reach their husband first. The confluence reminded her of Krishna’s Mohini form.
Across the Ganga lies a hilly region called Jhusi. Remains of several forts are visible there. At Beni Ghat, priests have planted flags to mark their territories. Everyone bathes here and offers money to various deities’ idols. During monsoon, this ghat gets submerged.
One day, the writer entered a tunnel in the fort and saw the immortal banyan tree (Akshay Bat). The architecture of the fort is superb. Inside the armory, they entered with a pass and saw various guns and swords. Beyond the third gate, in the garden, they saw the Ashoka pillar. Inside the tunnel, a panda (priest) showed a stone idol, claiming it to be Triveni Madhav. The site of the fort was once full of Ganga’s water, they say. Akbar supposedly requested Triveni Madhav to move the Ganga slightly for 500 years, and the deity, pleased, moved the river for thousands of years, allowing Akbar to build the fort. The tunnel is 25-30 hands long. On both walls are many niches with stone idols. Near the Akshay Bat, on the tunnel floor, are several stone Shivalingas, one of which is partially broken. The priest claimed Aurangzeb broke it, and blood flooded the tunnel instantly. Seeing the Akshay Bat, the writer was astonished. Despite being in a dark, airless space, the tree had sprouted new leaves — it was alive. She felt it should be one of the seven wonders of the world. The end of the tunnel isn’t completely sealed; a person can pass through. The priest said the tunnel extends all the way to Kashi. He also mentioned Akbar’s past life as the monk Mukund Sannyasi — a story previously described by Jadunath Sarbadhikari in Tirtha Bhromon. The writer observed that this story shows how pleased the people were with Akbar. The priest said Akbar himself constructed the tunnel to the Akshay Bat. After the British took over the fort, access to the Akshay Bat was allowed for a few hours in the morning and evening.
One of the prominent attractions here is the Khusrau Bagh, built by Jahangir’s son Khusrau. His tomb is located here. The garden is filled with velvet-like grass and diverse flowers. The abundance of roses particularly impressed the writer. Besides Khusrau’s tomb, there are also tombs of his mother, wife, and two young sons. Shah Jahan, Khusrau’s brother, is said to have had him and his two sons killed. The fakir who showed them the tombs shared this story and read out some Persian verses engraved on the tomb walls — such as how greed for wealth leads sons to disobey fathers, and brothers to kill each other, etc.
One day, while sailing on the Yamuna, they went to a hilly island in the river called Sujan Island. On the hilltop stood a Shiva temple. Stairs led up from the river to the temple. There was no human presence in the temple. The writer was surprised to see Persian inscriptions on the temple walls. In front of Sujan Island, in the water, stood another hill with two temples — one of Krishna-Radha and the other of Shiva. People live on this hill. A priest told her that Nawab Shah Shuja had these temples built upon the request of a beloved Hindu employee and named the temples and island after himself. Then she understood why there were Persian inscriptions.
The writer went to see the Bharadvaja Ashram Temple. Lord Rama had stayed there for three days during his forest exile. But the solitude was gone, and noise and filth from people, along with shouting female priests, frightened them. In the city, they saw a king's temple with golden spires. They also visited the Basuki temple and the Shivkoti temple on the banks of the Ganga.
In the month of Bhadra 1320, Swarnakumari Devi's piece titled Samudre (On sea) was published in Bharati, describing her steamer journey. On May 6 (1913?), they boarded a large Europe-bound steamer named Dunera. Twelve years earlier, she had once taken a three-day sea journey from Bombay to Karwar. This time, the destination was the Nilgiris. Boarding the ship filled her with a strong desire to visit England. The food arrangements on board were royal. In the morning, light refreshments were served — bread, butter, tea, coffee, etc. At 9:30 AM, a heavier breakfast followed — fried fish, porridge, 2-3 types of meat, bread, butter, jam, fruits, etc. Lunch at 1 PM consisted of the morning items plus soup. Dinner included all of breakfast and lunch items except porridge, ending with two types of pudding. There was an unlimited supply of tea, coffee, and alcohol. The writer was surprised at how the English gentlemen and ladies consumed so much food without any physical work. Electric lighting was present throughout the ship. She wondered when such lighting would be available in every home and street of Calcutta. On the morning of May 7, the ship left Khidirpur and anchored at Diamond Harbour that night. The next day, it left Diamond Harbour and entered the Bay of Bengal.
On the morning of May 11, the ship docked at Madras port. From the ship, Madras looked beautiful — high court, college, and large buildings were visible on elevated land. But there was no jetty, so passengers had to take boats to reach shore. Inside the city, she didn’t see many good houses, and the roads were dusty. Compared to Calcutta and Bombay, Madras seemed unimpressive to her.
In Ashwin 1319, Bharati published her article about Puri. The writer described the Puri sea, the sandy expanse, and sea bathing. The local fishermen who guide bathers in the sea are called Nuriya. If one bathes with a Nuriya, there’s no fear. They are paid two annas each. The writer was impressed by their courage. She wrote Nuriya means non-Odia — they are Telugus from Madras. She also described the pompousness of the Jagannath temple pandas (priests).
She greatly enjoyed visiting the Jagannath temple in Puri. There are 120 small and big temples within the walls. Four gates lie in the four directions. The eastern gate is the Singhadwar, guarded by two lion statues. The southern gate is Ashwadwar, the northern Hastidwar, and the western gate, without a guardian statue, is called Khanjadwar. It is said that the Arun pillar at the entrance of the Jagannath temple was brought from the Sun Temple at Konark. The Navagraha idols above the Bhogmandap entrance were also taken from Konark. Seeing the image of Jagannath, she felt that the unornamented beauty of the idol symbolized the formless divine. That is why devotees see the universe in this form. Chaitanya went mad after seeing this form. A temple priest said Jagannath is an incarnation of Buddha and formless. Inside the dark temple, Jagannath, Balaram, and Subhadra resided, lit only by lamps. Seeing the Anna Chhatra of Shri Kshetra brought her joy. In a land flooded by Hindu casteism, the magnanimity of Buddha’s liberal religion is visible in this system of food donation — without caste or ritual barriers. Even Chaitanya couldn’t remove caste distinctions. He couldn’t even take a Muslim devotee inside the temple. It is said that out of this regret, he established a Jagannath idol on top of the temple — one visible to all, regardless of caste.
There are more places to visit in Puri. Gunjabari is the summer temple of Jagannath, where the deities reside during the Rath Yatra. The Atharanala (Eighteen Piers) is a bridge built without arches. Each of the 18 piers holds a stone row on top, slanted, upon which the bridge rests. The water of Chandan Sarovar (Lake) is extremely pure. In its center is an artificial island, and it is surrounded by bathing ghats.
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