Chinsurah: Revamped Dutch heritage in 2020

Unfortunately mr. Ganesh Nandy of the Indian Netherlands Friendship Society fell ill. The INSF could not receive me this time. I was very lucky that I had been approached a few days ago by Byapti Sur who I know from our earlier Dutch India heritage group. She happens to be in Chinsurah for the marriage of her brother.

At the Chinsurah train station Byapti picked me up at 10:00. Her parents live nearby so I could drop of my suitcase there. I know Byapti from a Dutch group we started on Dutch Indian shared heritage.

Portuguese church Bandel

We toured around some of the highlights from the booklet produced from the technical analysis of Dutch buildings done by Ayshwara Tipnis heritage architect. She did similar work for the French heritage in Chandernagore. I saw here and there near some of the buildings info-signposts that also result from the revamp.
The project also produced two websites with valuable content. One is http://www.dutchinchinsurah.in. The other one is http://www.dutchcemeterybengal.com, which gives individual information on each of the persons buried on the Dutch cemetery. Students of the Presidency University in Kolkata helped produce pictures and researched backgrounds.

With Byapti Sur

One of 12 public information boards were put up after the revamp, two of them have already disappeared.
The Dutch cemetery
The Dutch cemetery in February 2020
Former Dutch barracks with cannons, now madrassa
All government buildings in Chinsurah were blue, the colour of the ruling political party of Mamata Banerjhee in West Bengal
Public info board: Dutch heritage walks in old Chinsurah
The Mohsin College is on what used to be the Dutch ground Welgelegen.
House with Dutch history
The public info brochure resulting from the revamp by the Dutch

At 17:00 I boarded a local train that brought me in Howrah station. These local trains had only cost me 20 rupees for the three days that I was going up and down the Little Europe at the Hoogly.