Nanoor - The Birthplace of Chandidas

Chandidas was one of the most well known poets of medieval Bengal and his SriKrishna Kirtan -- a lyrical account of the story of Radha and Krishna -- is an iconic milestone in the growth of development of the Bengali language.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of visiting Nanoor, in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, where Chandidas was born.

Here are some pictures.

 

The road leading to the ancestral house of the poet. The modern gate carries one of the poet's ringing assertion of humanism -- above all, it is in humanity that one can find the essence of all truth.

 

 

The Archaeological Survey of India assert the authenticity of the relics that are now associated with the poet.

 

A terrocotta Shiva Temple

 

The small, non-descript temple of Bishalkshi or Basuli Devi whom the poet adored in the form of Saraswati, the Patron Goddess of Literature and the Fine Arts

 Two pictures (above and below ) of the mound that covers the actual ancestral home of the Poet Chandidas and his private, domestic shrine

  

A view from the mound -- similar to what Chandidas might have seen -- of the temple complex

  

Ramee, the washer woman, was Chandidas's lover and muse and the two were married in the face of intense social objection because of the disparity between their castes. The pond below, is where Ramee used wash clothes. 

 

Local legend says that the actual plank ( or "pata") where Ramee used to wash clothes is the one that is preserved in this tiny Kali temple next to the pond.

We rounded off the day with  tea at the lovely FICUS hotel -- located on my new Android phone as Prithwis Mukerjee's location@5:19pm,10/3

http://t.co/0Qpz6vgP Nanoor-Chandidas where I took this last picture of a heron enjoying its own snacks just as much as we enjoyed our tea.