Prinsep Ghat

Ghat of Kolkata, West Bengal, India

22°33′24.41″N 88°19′53.76″E / 22.5567806°N 88.3316000°E / 22.5567806; 88.3316000

Prinsep Ghat is a ghat built in 1841 during the British Raj, along the Kolkata bank of the Hooghly River in India. The Palladian porch in the memory of the eminent Anglo-Indian scholar and antiquary James Prinsep was designed by W. Fitzgerald and constructed in 1843.

Located between the Water Gate and the St George's Gate of the Fort William, the monument to Prinsep is rich in Greek and Gothic inlays. It was restored by the state's public works department in November 2001 and has since been well-maintained.^[1] In its initial years, all royal British entourages used the Prinsep Ghat jetty for embarkation and disembarkation.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Prinsep Ghat is one of the oldest recreational spots of Kolkata.^[4] People visit it in the evenings on weekends to go boating on the river, stroll along the bank and purchase food from stalls there. A 2-kilometre (1.2 mi) stretch of the beautified riverfront from Prinsep Ghat to Babughat (Baje Kadamtala Ghat) was inaugurated on 24 May 2012.^[5] It has illuminated and landscaped gardens and pathways, fountains and renovated ghats. One of the songs in the Bollywood film Parineeta was shot here on the ghats.^[4]

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. The station code is PPGT.^[6]

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.

Gallery

British Man of War alongside Prinsep Ghat ca 1853
Prinsep memorial overlooked by Vidyasagar Setu
Prinsep Ghat railway station
Princep Ghat in the evening
Evening view of Prinsep Ghat
Evening view of Prinsep Ghat
A view of Prinsep Ghat, Kolkata, in the 1900s.
Prinsep Ghat at morning
Sunset from the Princep Ghat
Prinsep Ghat at night
View of the Hooghly River and Vidyasagar Setu from Prinsep Ghat

References

^ "Hooghly River around Kolkata". Gits4u.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
^ "Ghats in Kolkata - Kolkata Ghats - Information about Kolkata Ghats - Kolkata". Kolkata.clickindia.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
^ "Princep Ghat Kolkata". Indfy.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Princep Ghat – Kolkata". Where Was It Shot. 10 November 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
^ "Swanky riverfront opens to public". Times of India. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
^ "Princep Ghat/PPGT Railway Station Satellite Map - India Rail Info - A Busy Junction for Travellers & Rail Enthusiasts". India Rail Info. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2012.