The Jagannath road

What is common to Kisari Mohan Ganguli and Manmatha Nath Dutt? Towards end of the 19th century, both translated the Mahabharata, in unabridged form, from Sanskrit to English. Ganguli’s translation appeared between 1884 and 1896, Dutt’s in two spurts, between 1885-97 and 1901-05. Ganguli translated nothing else. Dutt also translated Valmiki Ramayana, five Puranas, Harivamsha, several Dharmashastra texts and Rig Veda (left incomplete). But there is an obscure connection between the two, one not too many know of. In those days, zamindars/rajas often commissioned authors to write brief histories of their families. Kisari Mohan Gangulithus wrote a brief history of Andul Rajbari. Some Bengalis may know Andul Rajbari was where Satyajit Ray’s 1958 film “Jalsaghar” (The Music Room) was shot. Likewise, Manmatha Nath Dutt was commissioned to write a sketch of Posta Raj. Most Bengalis will now recognise Posta because of a nonsense rhyme written by Sukumar Ray, Satyajit Ray’s father. “Shuntey pelum Posta giye, tomar naki meyer biye.” “I went to Posta and heard that your daughter is getting married.” 

The Roys from Posta, a subarnabanik community, attained prominence because of Lakshmikanta Dhar.  In the 17th century, when the English moved from Hooghly to what would become Calcutta, this family moved with them. Lakshmikanta Dhar was Clive’s banker and also helped the English in wars with the Marathas. As a mark of gratitude, Lakshmikanta Dhar was given a “robe of honour” and title of “Maharaja”. He accepted the former, but refused the latter. Since he didn’t have sons, he requested that his daughter’s son, Sukhmoy Roy, be given the title. In the process, Sukhmoy Roy came to own property in Calcutta and some of this was storage space along the river. The word “posta” means quay, embankment or jetty and this was a jetty on the River Hooghly used by these zamindars (from Jorasanko). Perhaps there was dissatisfaction with the very brief history of Posta Raj done by Manmatha Nath Dutt in 1900. A more comprehensive one, on Maharaja Sukhmoy Roy Bahadur and his family, was written by Benimadhub Chatterji in 1910.  Sukh   moy Roy was responsible for constructing the Cuttack Road (also known as Jagannath Road). Driving from Kolkata to Puri is easy now, along National Highways. Few remember the old name of Cuttack Road, constructed by Sukhmoy Roy over a “distance of two hundred and eighty miles from Uluberia to Puri Singdarwaja” for benefit of pilgrims to Jagannath temple, at a time when railways had not been introduced. The railway line from Calcutta to Puri was constructed later, in 1898.

Benimadhub Chatterji’s book tells us there were dharamshalas all along the route and each dharamshala could take five hundred pilgrims. At distances varying between two and four miles, there were also wells. Hidden in archives, I found an item from a newspaper known as “Courier”, published on August 27, 1841.  This item was about “Raja Shookmoy Roy”. “He made a gift of one and a half lakh of Rupees for the construction of the Juggernath Road from Pooree to Bissenpur via Cuttack and Midnapur.  It was 261 miles long, with 816 bridges and drains. It was commenced in 1823 and completed in 1830, at an expense of 5,415 rupees per mile.” The Puri Gazetteer (written in 1929) was ambivalent about credit for this road. “The state of internal communications at the time of the British conquest has been described by Toynbee in his Sketches of the History of Orissa. When we took the province in 1803, there was not a road, in the modern sense of the word, in existence…The construction of the Jagannath Road was not sanctioned until the year 1811, and in October 1812 Captain Sackville was appointed to superintend the work... The most important road in the district is the Cuttack-Puri road, also known as the Jagannath or Pilgrim road; of which 39 miles lie in this district. As mentioned above, the portion of this road in the Puri district was stated to be passable in 1817; but the whole road was not complete until 1825, and it was not metaled till nearly 50 years later.”

“The bridges were built almost entirely out of stone taken from the ruined forts and temples in which the province then abounded; the cost of their construction being met by a Bengali gentleman, who took this excellent opportunity of helping pilgrims on the road to Jagannath.  His name is commemorated by an inscription (dated 1826) on a bridge three miles from Puri, in Persian, Hindi, Bengali and Sanskrit… It is one of the most perfect roads to be seen in the province, and in portions is lined with an over-arching avenue of trees, which afford grateful shade to the foot-sore pilgrim.” This Bengali gentleman was Sukhmoy Roy. It seems he gave the money and Governor General took the credit.

The author is chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Views are personal.