Princep Ghat
Prinsep Ghat is a ghat built in 1841 during the British Raj, along the Kolkata bank of the Hooghly River. The Prinsep Ghat was built in the memory of James Prinsep who was an extraordinarily brilliant Anglo-Indian researcher and scholar. He carried tenacious research works on meteorology, chemistry, Indian scriptures, numismatics, archaeology, mineral resources etc. James Princep died on 22nd April, 1840 at the early age of 41. In his honor, the Palladian porch memorial was built in 1843 and was designed by W. Fitzgerald. The memorial is set in a square with Ionian Columns holding up a 40 foot roof painted entirely in white.
In its initial years, all royal British entourages used the Prinsep Ghat jetty for embarkation and disembarkation. Prinsep Ghat is one of the oldest recreational spots of Kolkata.
The Ghat was named after James Prinsep. Located along the banks of the beautiful Hooghly River (River Ganges), the Ghat is surrounded by greenery and overlooked by the Vidyasagar Setu.
Prinsep Ghat also has a railway station named after it. The station is part of the Kolkata Circular Railway which is maintained by Eastern Railway. There is a jetty nearby called the Man-O-War jetty that belongs to the Kolkata Port Trust and commemorates the role played by the port in the Second World War. The jetty is mainly used by the Indian Navy.
Posted on: 7/26/2020
