All along the Hooghly

CRUISING LIFE

Hooghly All along the

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHS RODERICK EIME

Early morning Villagers swim, bathe and

commute for West

wash in the holy waters

Bengali villagers on

of the Hooghly.

their way to work.

INDIA’S OTHER HOLY RIVER RUNS RICH WITH HISTORY AND CULTURE. RODERICK EIME IMMERSES HIMSELF IN BATTLEFIELDS, TEMPLES, MARKETS AND MUD ALONG THE HOOGHLY.

T

hings looked bleak for Robert Clive (aka Clive of India) as he surveyed the monsoon sodden fields of Plassey where his meagre forces faced off against the overwhelming army of the Nawab. Clive had rolled the dice and it looked like he might lose everything.

62 Get Up & Go

The Battle of Plassey took place on the banks of the Hooghly River on 23 June 1757 and despite the odds – and thanks to some devious conniving with a disaffected former ally of the Nawab – Clive prevailed and secured India for the British Empire. The rest, is history.

West Bengal, with Kolkata as its

capital, is a state in the east of India sharing borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Rich in history, culture and architecture, our transport is the spanking new RV Rajmahal, the perfect vessel with which to undertake an exploration of the curiously named Hooghly River used by Clive to transport his men and equipment from Murshidabad.

This 260km distributary of the mighty Ganges flows directly south from the main stream to Kolkata and into the Bay of Bengal.

We cruise leisurely between such delightfully named ports as Hazarduari,

Itinerant sadhu, holy man, one of the iconic personalities of India.

Detail from Hindu temple shows fine craftsmanship.

Riverside streets, like this one in Murshidabad, are a feature of the Hooghly.

Jangipur, Khushbagh and Clive’s Murshidabad, alighting when the moment takes us to wander among the locals and visit the splendid temples and remnants of the vast British colonial institution he established and that would hold sway over these parts for a further 200 years.

In between stops, we retire to the fulllength, shaded sun deck for tea. Served to us quite properly in steaming pots and ornate crockery, the deck stewards seem to take unusual pleasure in delivering our afternoon refreshments, no matter how convoluted our prescriptions. Twists of lemon or lime, honey or raw sugar and

even a sprinkle of cinnamon or grated nutmeg are cheerfully administered.

Nemo, our encyclopaedic guide, often stops by to enquire on our wellbeing and we seldom let him go without some inquisition about our most recent excursion. Try as we do, we cannot exhaust his encyclopaedic knowledge of Hindu beliefs, colonial history or Bengali culture and it is this cultural enrichment accompanying our voyage that allows us to be fully immersed in every experience.

Observation without interpretation is just wasted opportunity.

With so much intellectual fodder to consume, it would be wise for intending visitors to swot up on at least some history of the region beforehand.

Our locally-built 50m riverboat is designed expressly for conditions on these rivers and has just 22 cabins, each with private facilities and outsideopening French windows. The twin and double cabins offer 19m2, while the four dedicated single cabins are still a respectable 16m2. The ample lounge at the rear on the upper (mid) deck is fitted out in locally built furniture with appropriate décor.

Dining is on the bottom (main) deck in an air-conditioned space with tables that can be rearranged easily to suit the travelling parties. Along the centre is a bench with hot trays of expertly prepared Bengali, Assamese, Indian and western dishes. Salads and greens feature prominently and traditional sweets like gulab jamun and fresh fruits are a given.

Chef often conducts cooking classes during a quiet afternoon and on this occasion we learned the art of the humble chicken curry.

After miles of rural landscapes dotted with rudimentary villages, interspersed with occasional temples and ancient forts, the 114-room Hazarduari Palace is like stumbling across Westminster Abbey.

Completed in 1837, the name means ‘place of one thousand doors’, and it was here that many high-ranking British officials lived and where lavish functions were held. It is a bit painful to see century-old paintings and artwork open to the air and humidity even though, since 1985, the site has been under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India.

But even the Victorian grandeur of Hazarduari is overshadowed by the immensity of the modern Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, Temple of the Vedic Planetarium – or more simply, the ToVP. This shrine is the vision of Hare Krishna founder Srila Prabhupada to ‘attract people from all over the world to the holy dhama and ultimately to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’. The faithful are encouraged to donate to its building by purchasing golden bricks (for $1600) or golden tiles (for $1000). How big? St Peter’s Basilica big!

Clive, however, left India in 1767, lived his final years in London shrouded in controversy and died in 1774 a broken man addicted to opium. The overgrown and obsolete colonial architecture that was his legacy is either preserved as museums or crumbling in neglect.

Grandeur, piety and the raw beauty of India continue to reign over the lands he left behind. • The writer was a guest of Active Travel, Assam Bengal Navigation, Taj Hotels and India Tourism.

TRAVEL FACTS r Getting there

Air India flies daily direct to Delhi from Sydney and Melbourne. See [@] www. airindia.in. Connecting flights daily to Kolkata.

e Stay at

The Taj Bengal offers 229 rooms and suites in the affluent Kolkata district of Alipore. [@] www.tajhotels.com

- Being there

Active Travel has a wide range of Indian river cruises including the RV Rajmahal on the Hooghly and Ganges Rivers.

The 8-day Historic Hooghly travels between Kolkata and Farakka with fares from $939pp sharing. Tel: 1300 783 188 [@] www.activetravel.com.au

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