Bagbazar
Encyclopedia
There is also a bagbazar in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bagbazar (also spelt Baghbazar) is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata
, in the India
n state
of West Bengal
. The area, under Shyampukur
police station of Kolkata Police
, has been, along with neighbouring Shyambazar
, the citadel of the Bengali
aristocracy.
Bagbazar has played an active role in growth and development of Kolkata.
became settled, Sutanuti
was gradually abandoned by the English as a place of residence. There remained, near its northernmost corner, Perin’s Garden, a pleasure resort, where once it was the height of gentility for the British East India Company
’s covenanted servants to take their ladies for an evening stroll or moonlight fete. However, it was little frequented from around 1746 and by 1752 was sold for Rs. 25,000. Captain Perin was owner of several ships. In 1754, Colonel C.F. Scott began manufacturing gunpowder at the garden.
We can divide this glorious history in two very distinguished parts; the first period is from 1919 to 1930 and 1930 onwards. This was the first Puja of Calcutta organised by people communally and not inside a Zamindar home. In 1919 first time it was celebrated by the people of Bagbazar at the home of the Sarkars, on Baghbazar Street at the junction of Nebubagan Lane and Bagbazar Street where it had been held privately by the Sarkars for years before, till they couldnt afford to organise it any more. Members of the Public contributed money and continued the Puja and it was named as "Lebubagan Baroyari Durga-puja". It was continued in that very place for more three more years before being shifted in 1924 to the junction of Bagbazar Street and Pashupati Bose Lane. Next year it was placed at Kantapukur and in 1927 it tookplace in the Bagbazar Kali-temple.
In 1926 with the remarkable effort of renowned social worker Nagendra Nath Ghoshal some of the erudites and other well-known people joined the organization and it took the shape of an proper organization. He is also the person who gave the name of the organization and set up the structure for a communal durga puja which was emulated by hundreds of other groups around the city thereafter.
In 1929 for the occasion of the puja an exhibition took place.In 1930 alder-man of Calcutta Municipal Corporation Durgacharan Bandyopadhyay was elected as the president of this organization and he continued the exhibition in bigger form in the consequences of independence movements and Swadeshi concepts ; even he renamed the organization asBaghbazar Sarbojanin Durgotsav & Exhibition. For the required space to organize the exhibition he selected this very place where the "Durganagar" of today is situated. This place was known as "Metal-Yard" formerly, and it used to the storage of Calcutta Corporation's road-repair department. Durgacharan Bandyopadhyay requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then to requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then for the due permission. Mr. Bose approved his request and agreed for a historical joint exhibition with the participation of Corporation and this fellow organization together. He also donated five hundred rupees to this organization.
From 1930 itself the inaugural and closing ceremony of the occasion over here is a very integral and important part and an innumerable fellow persona had their presence in these occasion. The inauguration takes place on the shukla-panchami of the month of Ashwina where as the closing ceremony takes place on the day of the sublimation of Goddess Laxmi. Dignitaries like Santosh Kr. Basu, Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose,Acharya Prafulla Ch. Roy, Sir Harishankar Pal and others put that occasion to a different height.
In 1938-1939 this organization was privileged by the active participation of Netaji Subhash Ch Bose as the president.
Besides of Puja-s two more occasion that has given a different identity to this celebration over here are Birashtami Utsab in the morning of Mahastami and the Sindur-Utsab in the morning of Bijaya Dashami. Patriot Pulin Das the renowned member of Anusulan Samity used to be present in the occasion of Birastami till when he was physically unable to join it.
After the connection with Swadeshi Movement the organization had a different importance and people from around and outside the city started to visit the celebration in a great extent and this celebration ultimately came as the celebration of people.
From the late ninties the organization tried to move the higher authority for converting the metal yard (Kalwar Patti, the original Gunpowder factory from the 1700s)to a permanent park under the control of this organization. With the help of some other important dignitarias ultimately in the initial years of this decade the dream came true though the present committee negotiating with the authority for having the independent charge of maintaining this park. We are hopeful to have all the charge of this park soon and to keep on with our tradition longer.
, the black zemindar, and once one of the wealthiest and most influential natives of Kolkata, in the early days of the British East India Company
.
There is steamer jetty next to Baghbazar Ghat, ghat in Bengali is a paved staircase. Steamers carry passengers to the opposite bank of the river, as also the office localities around B.B.D. Bagh and Esplanade
. The old ghat is used by bathers, people collecting Ganges water for religious ceremonies, for performance of religious ceremonies, and for such mundane tasks as unloading country boats carrying various materials.
from the north, but two days later Kalikata fell in the Battle of Lal Dighi.
was in 1877. He visited the ancestral house of Kalinath Bose
, then numbered 40 Bosepara Lane (presently 47B, Ma Saradamani Sarani). It was here that he first met Harinath Chaterjee (later Swami Turiyananda), Gangadhar Ghatak (Gangopadhyay) (later Swami Akhandananda) and Girish Chandra Ghosh
, the noted playwright. The Ramakrishna Sarada Math
is housed at 10, Ramakrishna Lane, Baghbazar.
Sister Nivedita
came and lived in Bosepara Lane. “Bagbazar in the northern part of Calcutta had its own fascination for Sri Ramakrishna’s devotees. On one side stood Balaram Bose
’s house, the ‘Calcutta Citadel’ of Sri Ramakrishna, where his disciples repaired for rest. On its north-east is the huge family mansion of Girish Chandra Ghosh
. A little to its north was the Holy Mother’s house. All these houses were encircled by the Ramkanto Bose Street and Bosepara Lane, whose very dust was trod upon by Sri Ramakrishna.” She opened her school formally on 13 November 1898 at 16, Bosepara Lane, in the presence of Sarada Ma
, Swami Vivekananda
, Swami Brahmananda, Swami Saradanandane. Her three-storey house was the tallest in the neighbourhood. The Maharatta Ditch could be seen meeting the Ganga at a distance of less than a kilometer. Kashi Mitra Crematorium and the Shmashaneswar Shiva Temple, was situated to the south of the house. The office of Udbodhan, the magazine founded by Swami Vivekananda, is also located in Bagbazar.
from Halisahar
to Barisha
. Tram tracks along Rabindra Sarani came to Bagbazar in 1904 and are being renewed in 2007. While Rabindra Sarani cuts across Bagabazar from north to south, Bagbazar Street cuts across from Bagbazar Ghat in the west to Bidhan Sarani in the east. Girish Avenue is an extension of Chittaranjan Avenue. When it was built in the 1930s, a portion of the house of Girish Chandra Ghosh was spared and stands in the middle with the two flanges of the road on both sides of the house. There are numerous lanes and by lanes in Bagbazar.
Bagbazar is on the Kolkata Circular Railway. Shyambazar station of Kolkata Metro
is within walking distance of most parts of Bagbazar.
under Shyampukur police station, which broadly covers Bagabazar, had a population of 20,012, as per 2001 census. Out of this 10,518 were males and 9,494 were females.
(The Rich Man’s Spoilt Child) (1857) by Peary Chand Mitra
has an interesting piece of women's conversation centred on Bagbazar, possibly when they went for a bath in the Hooghly River:
Bagbazar has been home to many a creative person.
Nagendranath Basu (1866 – 1938) took twenty years to edit the 22 volume Biswakosh, Bengali encyclopaedia. He lived and worked at 8 Kantapukur Bylane in Bagbazar. Kolkata Municipal Corporation renamed it Biswakosh Lane. This is possibly the only road in the world named after a book.
Mohanchand Basu, who lived in Bagbazar in the 19th century and was a disciple of Nidhu Babu, introduced kheur in Bengali akhrai songs.
Bhola Maira (18th-19th century), the renowned kaviyal
(verse-contestant) had a sweet-meat shop on Bagbazar Street.
Two auditoriums, side by side on Bagbazar Street, still testifies to active cultural life of Bagbazar. Girish Mancha, opened in 1986 has over 900 seats. . The auditorium of Paschim Banga Jatra Akademi is next door.
However, the 125 year-old Bagbazar Reading Library is not in good shape because of paucity of funds.
Bagbazar Durga Puja continues to a major crowd puller with its deity of traditional design and innovative decoration.
Bagbazar (also spelt Baghbazar) is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, in the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
. The area, under Shyampukur
Shyampukur
Shyampukur is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. As a neighbourhood, it covers a small area but its importance is primarily because of the police station and the assembly constituency.-Etymology:...
police station of Kolkata Police
Kolkata Police
The Kolkata Police Force is one of the two police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal....
, has been, along with neighbouring Shyambazar
Shyambazar
Shyambazar is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. The area, under Shyampukur police station of Kolkata Police, has been, along with neighbouring Bagbazar, the citadel of the Bengali aristocracy, in a part of what was earlier known as...
, the citadel of the Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
aristocracy.
Bagbazar has played an active role in growth and development of Kolkata.
Origin of name
The name, Bagbazar, is derieved from two words put together from old bengali literature: "bagh" meaning flower garden and " bazaar" meaning market. So it refers to a place where flowers are abundant.History
As KalikataKalikata
Kalikata was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Gobindapur and Sutanuti. Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city...
became settled, Sutanuti
Sutanuti
Sutanuti was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Gobindapur and Kalikata. Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city...
was gradually abandoned by the English as a place of residence. There remained, near its northernmost corner, Perin’s Garden, a pleasure resort, where once it was the height of gentility for the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
’s covenanted servants to take their ladies for an evening stroll or moonlight fete. However, it was little frequented from around 1746 and by 1752 was sold for Rs. 25,000. Captain Perin was owner of several ships. In 1754, Colonel C.F. Scott began manufacturing gunpowder at the garden.
[Baghbazar Sarbojanin Durgotsav & Exhibition]
The history of Baghbazar Sarbojanin Durgotsav & Exhibition is an inseparable part of the history and progress of Bengali culture for near about a century it has seen all the transitions and critical periods of history during this long enriched span of time.We can divide this glorious history in two very distinguished parts; the first period is from 1919 to 1930 and 1930 onwards. This was the first Puja of Calcutta organised by people communally and not inside a Zamindar home. In 1919 first time it was celebrated by the people of Bagbazar at the home of the Sarkars, on Baghbazar Street at the junction of Nebubagan Lane and Bagbazar Street where it had been held privately by the Sarkars for years before, till they couldnt afford to organise it any more. Members of the Public contributed money and continued the Puja and it was named as "Lebubagan Baroyari Durga-puja". It was continued in that very place for more three more years before being shifted in 1924 to the junction of Bagbazar Street and Pashupati Bose Lane. Next year it was placed at Kantapukur and in 1927 it tookplace in the Bagbazar Kali-temple.
In 1926 with the remarkable effort of renowned social worker Nagendra Nath Ghoshal some of the erudites and other well-known people joined the organization and it took the shape of an proper organization. He is also the person who gave the name of the organization and set up the structure for a communal durga puja which was emulated by hundreds of other groups around the city thereafter.
In 1929 for the occasion of the puja an exhibition took place.In 1930 alder-man of Calcutta Municipal Corporation Durgacharan Bandyopadhyay was elected as the president of this organization and he continued the exhibition in bigger form in the consequences of independence movements and Swadeshi concepts ; even he renamed the organization asBaghbazar Sarbojanin Durgotsav & Exhibition. For the required space to organize the exhibition he selected this very place where the "Durganagar" of today is situated. This place was known as "Metal-Yard" formerly, and it used to the storage of Calcutta Corporation's road-repair department. Durgacharan Bandyopadhyay requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then to requested the Mayor of Calcutta Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose then for the due permission. Mr. Bose approved his request and agreed for a historical joint exhibition with the participation of Corporation and this fellow organization together. He also donated five hundred rupees to this organization.
From 1930 itself the inaugural and closing ceremony of the occasion over here is a very integral and important part and an innumerable fellow persona had their presence in these occasion. The inauguration takes place on the shukla-panchami of the month of Ashwina where as the closing ceremony takes place on the day of the sublimation of Goddess Laxmi. Dignitaries like Santosh Kr. Basu, Netaji Subhash Ch. Bose,Acharya Prafulla Ch. Roy, Sir Harishankar Pal and others put that occasion to a different height.
In 1938-1939 this organization was privileged by the active participation of Netaji Subhash Ch Bose as the president.
Besides of Puja-s two more occasion that has given a different identity to this celebration over here are Birashtami Utsab in the morning of Mahastami and the Sindur-Utsab in the morning of Bijaya Dashami. Patriot Pulin Das the renowned member of Anusulan Samity used to be present in the occasion of Birastami till when he was physically unable to join it.
After the connection with Swadeshi Movement the organization had a different importance and people from around and outside the city started to visit the celebration in a great extent and this celebration ultimately came as the celebration of people.
From the late ninties the organization tried to move the higher authority for converting the metal yard (Kalwar Patti, the original Gunpowder factory from the 1700s)to a permanent park under the control of this organization. With the help of some other important dignitarias ultimately in the initial years of this decade the dream came true though the present committee negotiating with the authority for having the independent charge of maintaining this park. We are hopeful to have all the charge of this park soon and to keep on with our tradition longer.
Haralal Mitra Street
This street is one of the most old and famous streets of Bagbazar, where the main Bagbazar Post Office is also located. The annual Saraswati puja of "Haralal Athletic Club " is one of the most famous pujas in Bagbazar. Some of the most popular and vintage buildings here are The No 4 Ghosh residence., a 100 yrs old building still standing strong with its heavy iron pillars and big front entrance. Then there is the very old "Savitri Girls School".Durgacharan Mukherjee Street
The famous adda of `The Birds`or popularly known as `pakkhir adda` started within the vicinity of Mukherjee family's ancestral premises. The Birds were famous for there long standing association or affinity with Ganja, Charas and Guli. They camoflouged their presence as various types of birds as according to the level of intoxication.Bosepara
Bosepara, which now forms part of Bagbazar, was set up by the Boses and Pals migrating from Hooghly district. Nidhuram Bose is believed to have arrived before the British came to Sutanuti.Nandalal and Pasupoti Bose's house
The house is located on the North side of Bagbazar Street. Late 19th century Bengal found this house as one of the hub for nationalist politics. Many important meetings were held in this house during the course of anti partition politics in 1904-5. The famous procession to raise protest against partition of Bengal led by Rabindranath and other eminent persons started from Federation hall and ended at this house.Bagbazar Ghat
Bagbazar Ghat, on the Hooghly River is an old one. It was once called Rogo Meeter’s Ghat after Raghu Mitra, son of Gobindram MitraGobindram Mitter
Gobindram Mitter was one of the earliest Indian officials under the British rule and earned a reputation for his wealth and extravagance.- Early life :...
, the black zemindar, and once one of the wealthiest and most influential natives of Kolkata, in the early days of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
.
There is steamer jetty next to Baghbazar Ghat, ghat in Bengali is a paved staircase. Steamers carry passengers to the opposite bank of the river, as also the office localities around B.B.D. Bagh and Esplanade
Esplanade, Calcutta
Esplanade is an area in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. This is not a conventional esplanade in the sense that the place is not exactly situated alongside a waterbody. However, the river Ganges, also known as the Ganga or the Hooghly, is located nearby...
. The old ghat is used by bathers, people collecting Ganges water for religious ceremonies, for performance of religious ceremonies, and for such mundane tasks as unloading country boats carrying various materials.
Battle with Siraj
Bagabzar has also seen battle - on 16 June 1756, a small force under Ensign Piccard repulsed an advance guard of Siraj ud-DaulahSiraj ud-Daulah
Mîrzâ Muhammad Sirâj-ud-Daulah , more commonly known as Siraj ud-Daulah , was the last independent Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. The end of his reign marks the start of British East India Company rule over Bengal and later almost all of South Asia...
from the north, but two days later Kalikata fell in the Battle of Lal Dighi.
Association with Sri Ramakrishna
Possibly the first visit to a house in north Kolkata by Sri RamakrishnaRamakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
was in 1877. He visited the ancestral house of Kalinath Bose
Kalinath Bose
Kalinath Bose was the first Indian to be promoted as Superintendent of Police under the British administration in March 1881. One of the early Indians to be operating in the intelligence branch of the police he was rewarded in 1875 for recovering the crown jewels of the Maharaja of Travancore ...
, then numbered 40 Bosepara Lane (presently 47B, Ma Saradamani Sarani). It was here that he first met Harinath Chaterjee (later Swami Turiyananda), Gangadhar Ghatak (Gangopadhyay) (later Swami Akhandananda) and Girish Chandra Ghosh
Girish Chandra Ghosh
Girish Chandra Ghosh was a Bengali musician, poet, playwright, novelist, theatre director and actor. He was largely responsible for the golden age of Bengali theatre. He can be referred to as the Father of Bengali Theatre...
, the noted playwright. The Ramakrishna Sarada Math
Ramakrishna Sarada Math
Ramakrishna Sarada Math is a religious monastic order, considered part of the Hindu reform movements. It was established in the year 1929 at Bagbazar, Kolkata -History:...
is housed at 10, Ramakrishna Lane, Baghbazar.
Sister Nivedita
Sister Nivedita
- A benediction to Sister Nivedita by Swami Vivekananda Sister Nivedita ; ; , born as Margaret Elizabeth Noble, was a Scots-Irish social worker, author, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She met Vivekananda in 1895 in London and travelled to Calcutta, India in 1898...
came and lived in Bosepara Lane. “Bagbazar in the northern part of Calcutta had its own fascination for Sri Ramakrishna’s devotees. On one side stood Balaram Bose
Balaram Bose
Balaram Bose was one of the prominent householder disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He was the son of Radhamohan Bose. He is often referred in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna often visited his house and participated in Kirtana and other devotional functions...
’s house, the ‘Calcutta Citadel’ of Sri Ramakrishna, where his disciples repaired for rest. On its north-east is the huge family mansion of Girish Chandra Ghosh
Girish Chandra Ghosh
Girish Chandra Ghosh was a Bengali musician, poet, playwright, novelist, theatre director and actor. He was largely responsible for the golden age of Bengali theatre. He can be referred to as the Father of Bengali Theatre...
. A little to its north was the Holy Mother’s house. All these houses were encircled by the Ramkanto Bose Street and Bosepara Lane, whose very dust was trod upon by Sri Ramakrishna.” She opened her school formally on 13 November 1898 at 16, Bosepara Lane, in the presence of Sarada Ma
Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi , born Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya , was the wife and spiritual counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth century mystic of Bengal. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother by the followers of the Ramakrishna monastic order...
, Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
, Swami Brahmananda, Swami Saradanandane. Her three-storey house was the tallest in the neighbourhood. The Maharatta Ditch could be seen meeting the Ganga at a distance of less than a kilometer. Kashi Mitra Crematorium and the Shmashaneswar Shiva Temple, was situated to the south of the house. The office of Udbodhan, the magazine founded by Swami Vivekananda, is also located in Bagbazar.
Geography
The old Chitpur Road (renamed Rabindra Sarani) was for many years the life line of Bagbazar. It followed the same track as the old pilgrim path built by Sabarna Roy ChoudhurySabarna Roy Choudhury
Sabarna Ray Chaudhury family were the Zamindar of the Kolkata area, prior to the arrival of the British. On November 10, 1698, they transferred, by lease, their rights over the three villages – Sutanuti, Kalikata and Gobindapur - to the East India Company...
from Halisahar
Halisahar
Halisahar is a city and a municipality under Bijpur/ Naihati police stations of Barrackpore subdivision. in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.It was formerly known Kumarhata. It has an...
to Barisha
Barisha
Barisha is a residential locality of Kolkata , West Bengal, India. Historically, it one of the oldest boroughs in Kolkata. It was the abode of the great Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. Barisha is known today for being the home of the Indian Cricket idol Sourav Ganguly...
. Tram tracks along Rabindra Sarani came to Bagbazar in 1904 and are being renewed in 2007. While Rabindra Sarani cuts across Bagabazar from north to south, Bagbazar Street cuts across from Bagbazar Ghat in the west to Bidhan Sarani in the east. Girish Avenue is an extension of Chittaranjan Avenue. When it was built in the 1930s, a portion of the house of Girish Chandra Ghosh was spared and stands in the middle with the two flanges of the road on both sides of the house. There are numerous lanes and by lanes in Bagbazar.
Bagbazar is on the Kolkata Circular Railway. Shyambazar station of Kolkata Metro
Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata and the districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. The network consists of one operational line and five lines currently under construction...
is within walking distance of most parts of Bagbazar.
Demographics
Ward No. 7 of Kolkata Municipal CorporationKolkata Municipal Corporation
Kolkata Municipal Corporation is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Kolkata. The organization is known, in short, as KMC . This civic administrative body administers an area of 185 sq. km. Its motto, Purosree Bibardhan, is inscribed on its emblem in Bengali...
under Shyampukur police station, which broadly covers Bagabazar, had a population of 20,012, as per 2001 census. Out of this 10,518 were males and 9,494 were females.
Culture
Alaler Gharer DulalAlaler Gharer Dulal
Alaler Gharer Dulal is a Bengali novel by Peary Chand Mitra . The writer used the pseudonym Tekchand Thakur for this novel....
(The Rich Man’s Spoilt Child) (1857) by Peary Chand Mitra
Peary Chand Mitra
Peary Chand Mitra , was an Indian writer, journalist and a member of Derozio’s Young Bengal group, who played a leading role in the Bengal renaissance with the introduction of simple Bengali prose...
has an interesting piece of women's conversation centred on Bagbazar, possibly when they went for a bath in the Hooghly River:
-
- "Some are speaking of their oppressive sisters-in-law, some are cursing their tyrannical mothers-in-law, some are tired of life because of the kicks they receive from their daughters-in-law, particularly when their sons are too timid to intervene; some complain of the intolerable behaviour of the wives of their husband’s brothers and some say how keen they are to get their ten-year-old sons married."
Bagbazar has been home to many a creative person.
Nagendranath Basu (1866 – 1938) took twenty years to edit the 22 volume Biswakosh, Bengali encyclopaedia. He lived and worked at 8 Kantapukur Bylane in Bagbazar. Kolkata Municipal Corporation renamed it Biswakosh Lane. This is possibly the only road in the world named after a book.
Mohanchand Basu, who lived in Bagbazar in the 19th century and was a disciple of Nidhu Babu, introduced kheur in Bengali akhrai songs.
Bhola Maira (18th-19th century), the renowned kaviyal
Kavigan
Kavigan is a form of Bengali folk performance wherein folk poets sing and perform.-Form:Kavigan is normally sung by two groups. Each group is led by a kaviyal or sarkar. The accompanying singers called dohars often repeat what the leader said...
(verse-contestant) had a sweet-meat shop on Bagbazar Street.
Two auditoriums, side by side on Bagbazar Street, still testifies to active cultural life of Bagbazar. Girish Mancha, opened in 1986 has over 900 seats. . The auditorium of Paschim Banga Jatra Akademi is next door.
However, the 125 year-old Bagbazar Reading Library is not in good shape because of paucity of funds.
Bagbazar Durga Puja continues to a major crowd puller with its deity of traditional design and innovative decoration.