Of Patna's missing Dak Bungalow, hidden 'kothis' and mansions

Once an iconic landmark, the Dak Bungalow hosted the likes of Jim Corbett and E M Forster only to make way for a high-rise 25 years ago, but the legend of the British-era building has survived the ravages of time.
It is hard to imagine the capital's busiest traffic intersection, eponymously still called as 'Dakbungalow Chouraha' was earlier a laid-back spot of the city, with the sprawling tiled-roof bungalow, beckoning weary travellers and government officials.
Patna-born Rajiv Soni, an avid photographer in his 60s, now Kolkata-based, says the "Dak Bungalow may have gone long ago, but its ghost is still there."

Soni, who curated an exhibition here a few years ago called 'Patna kaleidoscope', which displayed some of the historic and rarest building of the city, many of which had disappeared by then and few others vanished later, giving in to "high real estate demands."
"I was going through some of my old negatives of the 70s and the 80s, and found this black and white photograph of the Dakbungalow Chouraha. I shared the image on Facebook and it has triggered a wave of nostalgia among people, with many saying that the building should have been preserved as a unique specimen of our history, but who cares," Soni rued.

Anunaya Chaubey, former Principal of the College of Arts and Crafts here and a noted artist, says, "Jim Corbett was posted at Mokama, a town in the outskirts of Patna during the Raj days, and he had stayed in this Bungalow."

British author Forster, while researching his landmark work 'A Passage to India', visited Bankipore (Patna's civil station) in 1913, where the New Capital was coming up after the separation of Bihar & Orissa Province in 1912.
"He is said to have stayed there and at the historic Bankipore Club (established in 1865) during his Bihar sojourn," he said.
Forster's experiences are even reflected in 'A Passage...' work where the town of Chadrapore and Fielding College were shadows of Bankipore and Patna College only, he added.

Dak Bungalow Chouraha, stands at the intersection of the historic Bailey Road, Fraser Road and the Dak Bungalow Road, all three names still in vogue, even though post-Independence the street names were changed.
On the Fraser Road, dubbed the 'Fleet Street of Patna' were located, besides the 'Dak Bungalow', some of the finest houses, mansions, 'kothis' and palatial houses, most of which lost battle long ago to real estate boom over time.
"We had the beautiful houses built by the legendary barristers, Imam brothers -- Hasan Manzil (Hasan Imam), Ali Manzil (Sir Ali Imam), 'Nasheman' next to Dak Bungalow, 'Dumraon Kothi' of Dumaron Raj, the iconic Grand Hotel where film stars used to stay on their Patna visit... All erased.

Ghosh, who mostly confines herself in her home now, says
this World Heritage Week (November 19-25) is like a joke for a historic and heritage city like Patna.
"We had so much of heritage to treasure and showcase to the world but we lost all our gems and jewels, brick by brick, and the saddest part is no one feels we are being culturally paupered, they are swayed and hypnotized by this real estate growth and think they are actually moving forward, but truth is we are going backward," she said.
Entire Fraser Road, if the building dotting it could have been preserved, would have attracted so much tourism, but government and people think, high-rises woo tourists, so heritage builds are becoming vulnerable day by day here.

For 90-year-old Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha, the former Vice Chief of Army Staff, Patna still holds that special place in his heart but it pains him to see the heritage making way to high-rises.
"I can tell you the city was so beautiful, especially the New Capital that the British had built after Bihar was carved out as a separate province in 1911. The beauty was unmatched in its architectural grandeur and the civility that people exhibited in public. The whole city was neat and clean and in order," General Sinha told PTI.
Describing Patna as a 'city of gardens', Ghosh recalls the fabulous front yard of 'Na Shaiman', the iconic kothi (mansion) of Sheikh Sharfudin Hussain, zemindar of Barh Estate, now eclipsed by an ordinary-looking multi-storied apartment.

"The place where the apartment now stands used to have this beautiful lawn and a pretty garden and passers-by used to stop to admire or take its picture. The irony is, now we can't even find a single old picture of the 'kothi' that lies obscured behind the concrete exterior," she said.
Opposite the Dak Bungalow was the iconic 'Rizwan Castle', perhaps the only specimen of a Tudor castle in Bihar, which now has been reduced a ramshackle state.
"My grandfather (Hasan Imam), built it in 1920s after returning from England. The place has become dispute and it is sad the building, once a pride of Patna has now fallen right off the map, just like the city itself," Bulu Imam told