Kudghat is a neighbourhood of

South Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary fin ...

in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. It is a part of greater

Tollygunge Tollygunge (; nicknamed 'Mini Mumbai' or 'Mini Bombay') is a locality of South Kolkata, in West Bengal, India. It is known for being the center of Indian Bengali-language cinema, with filming locations used for other regional Indian films. G ...

region. The region is divided into two parts, purba putiary and paschim putiary.

Location

Kudghat is located on either banks of the Adi Ganga, the main flow of the

Hooghly River The Hooghly River (, also spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') is the westernmost distributary of the Ganges, situated in West Bengal, India. It is known in its upper reaches as the Bhagirathi. The Bhagirathi splits off from the main branch of the G ...

from the 15th to 17th century connecting

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

to the Bidyadhari River to the east. Further deepened by William Tolly for transportation and trade purposes, it has virtually dried up and now serve as a prime drainage outlet during the rainy seasons.

Transportation facilities

The large Kudghat bus depot serves as a terminus of a number of state buses and a private bus. The Netaji Metro Station is the first of several to be constructed over the Adi Ganga which stretches on to

New Garia New Garia or ''Nabagaria'' is neighborhood of South Kolkata in South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is bounded by Chak Garia and Panchasayar to the north, Baishnabghata-Patuli and Briji to the west, Garia railway ...

as part of the first extension to the network of

Kolkata Metro The Kolkata Metro is a Urban rail transit in India, rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata and the Kolkata metropolitan area, Kolkata Metropolitan Region in West Bengal, India. Opened in 1984, it was the first operational rapid trans ...

. The naming of the station had given rise to a controversy as no historical evidence has been found showing any link between Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the Kudghat area.

Places of interest

Northern Side

The oldest extant structures in the entire area - four large domed Shiva temples - of which only one is currently in use, is situated in the middle of the northern side. The temples belong to one of the oldest residents in the area, who had moved in hundreds of years ago as landlords. The family still maintains their primary residence beside the temples. The campus of the Mansur Habibullah Memorial School (MHMS), an English medium,

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an academic qualification awarded by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private, non-governmental board of education in India. The CISCE conducts these examinati ...

board school is situated along the banks of the Adi Ganga. It caters to many students from the area and beyond. The campus was originally a large estate that had served as the ancestral property of the schools namesake,

Syed Abul Mansur Habibullah Syed Abul Mansur Habibullah (17 November 1917 – 14 September 1996), also known as S. A. M. Habibullah, was an Indian politician. He was the Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 24 June 1977 to 13 June 1982. He was Member of th ...

who had been a stalwart in the erstwhile left front government in the state. Habibullah's primary residence, a double storied villa facing the Adi Ganga has been preserved by the school on the far end of the campus. The road leading to Tollygunge Tram Depot also houses the century-old Movietone studios that has been a pillar of

Cinema of West Bengal Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Bengali language widely spoken in the state of West Bengal. It is base ...

. The original buildings were destroyed by a devastating in the 1980s and the entire premises were left deserted for the next 20 years. The dilapidated structures were partly replaced beginning 2012 and the premises of the old studio is now the shooting location for a number of television serials primarily distributed on Star Jalsa. Movietone studio, along with the Technician's Studio,

New Theatres New Theatres is an Indian film studio. It was formed in Calcutta by producer B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar, the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1970 And Padma Bhushan in 1972). It was formed on February 10, 1931. The company motto was ...

and Dassani Studio have been integral to the golden age of Bengali cinema in the 'roaring 50s'.

Southern Side

The Kudghat municipal bazaar, comprising a large vegetable market along with a number of shops selling groceries and sweets. The

Kolkata Municipal Corporation Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is the local government of the Indian city of Kolkata, the List of Indian state and union territory capitals, state capital of West Bengal. This civic administrative body administers an area of . Its motto, ' ...

announced in 2010 that the sprawling bazaar would be upgraded into a multi storied structure with wider retail spaces for shops, adequate parking facilities as well as a renovated road running through the middle of the area which will end the consistent congestion in the area. Work is yet to begin.

References