Cooch
Behar, May 14: Old bricks speak of history - of love and
hate and battles won. But if left to crumble, the tales die,
leaving behind only the dryness of facts.
Around a dozen old buildings of historical
importance - bearing the stamp of the kings of Cooch Behar
- is suffering a similar fate. Some of them, like the Nilkuthi
Building (in the picture taken earlier by Himangshu Ranjan
Deb), adjacent to the airstrip, do not exist any more. Even
the bricks, doors and windows were stolen four years ago.
The airstrip used to be the golf course in the days of the
Raj. Members of the royal family used to come riding from
the palace to play golf. The game over, they rested at the
building.
But all that is history, the royal anecdotes still doing the
rounds among the residents here. The absence of the buildings,
which were witnesses to the events, has deprived posterity
the thrill of savouring the past.
Realising the loss, the Cooch Behar Citizens'
Committee submitted a list of the crumbling buildings to the
district magistrate recently, demanding immediate restoration
and renovation. `Most of the unique creations of the kings
of Cooch Behar are on the verge of collapse due to lack of
maintenance and supervision. Repeated appeals to the administration
has yielded no results,` said Tarun Kumar Lahiri, the secretary
of the committee.
At least 10 such buildings are now lying covered with shrubs
and weeds.
Victor Palace - constructed by Maharaja
Nripendra Narayan on the bank of Sagar Dighi - is a glaring
example of a work of art destroyed by years of negligence.
It was named after Queen Victoria. The quarters of the headmistress
of Sunity Academy is also in a deplorable state. Following
Nripendra Narayan's marriage to Sunity Devi, the daughter
of Keshub Chandra Sen, there came a renaissance in women's
education. At Suniti Devi's initiative, the academy - a school
for girls - was founded in 1881. A bungalow with a tin shade
was constructed for the headmistress. Even 30 years ago, the
headmistress of the school used to stay there. A few more
years and it will go the Nilkuthi way.
Similar is the condition of Bani Bhaban,
the quarters for the principal of Acharya Brajendranath Seal
College. Sabhadhipati of the district Ananta Roy regrets the
plight of the historic monuments. He has promised to talk
to tourism minister Dinesh Dakua about the restoration of
the buildings.
Courtesy
The Telegraph |
Home
| About Us | Contact
Us | Site Map | Feedback
