Shyamnagar, West Bengal

The jute mills drew in a large labor force from the neighboring states of Bihar and Orissa, as well as eastern Uttar Pradesh, quite often forming an overwhelming majority of the population in the area, living in shanty towns and bustees dotting the mill area.[10] Also, a sizeable portion of the youths are engaged in the foreign and Indian Multinational companies who are opening their offices in the Salt Lake and Rajarhat area of Kolkata.

The name of Shyamngar came from a folk etymology of Samne+ garh (সামনে+ গঢ়), which in course of time changed to Shyamnagar.

Great Banyan Tree with Mulajore Kalibari

During the rule of Raja Krishnachandra Roy of Krishnanagar, the king gave the village called 'Mulajore' along with a title of Roy Gunakar to his court poet Bharatchandra Ray. In memory of Bharat Chandra Roy Gunakar there is an old and historic library named Bharat Chandra Library, established in 1906.[11] It is situated close to the railway station.

Relatives of Rabindranath Tagore had set up Mulajor Kalibari at Shyamnagar in North 24 Parganas and it is unknown to many people. The temple beside Hooghly River is very eye soothing. One of the priests said the temple was constructed on 31 Baishakh in 1219 Bengali year around 200 years ago beside Hooghly River even before Dakhineswar Kali temple was set up by Rani Rashmoni Devi. Six priests are engaged for offering puja to goddess Kali and one of the temple priests said. "No dedicated book had been written on this temple and gradually history is fading away but we know relatives of Rabindranath Tagore constructed this temple".

Srijit Thakur is the surviving member of the Thakur family whose ancestors set up the temple, lives in Rajbari at Pathuriaghata Street near Natunbazar in Kolkata. According to the biographer of Rabindranath Tagore, Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyaya, the original surname of the Tagores was Kushari. They were Rarhi Brahmins and originally belonged to a village named Kush in the district named Burdwan in West Bengal. Rabindranath Tagore's ancestor Dinanath Kushari, the son of Bhatta Narayana was a native of this village.[12][13][14][15] Generations later different branches of the Kusharis migrated to different parts of Bengal; one of the branches migrated to Jessore District and settled there. One of the descendants Panchanan Kushari later came back from Jessore District in East Bengal to West Bengal and settled in Gobindopur.[16] "Panchanan got the title thakur since then his family member used to write the title Thakur instead of Kusari," said a priest. Jairam Thakur (Kusari) was latter generation had four sons- Anandiram, Nilmoni, Darpanarayan and Gobindaram. Prince Dwarkanath Tagore was the next generation of Anandiram, whose son was Debendranath and Rabindranath was his eighth son. Debendranath, however, became Brahmo and did not believe in idol worshipping. It had not been known whether he or his sons ever visited the temple. Gopimohan Thakur, the son of Darpanarayan founded the temple. Gopimohan had two sons Prsanna Kumar and Harakumar and daughter Brahmamoyee.

Prasanna Kumar had one son Pradyot Kumar and Harakumar had Jatindromohan. Surviving member Srijit Thakur is the son of Prabirendro Mohan, who was the son of Pradyot Kumar. According to local tale that the present place of the Kali temple was occupied of 'Nandi' (caste) and 'Pirali' so experienced priest from 'Bhatpara toll (Sanskrit educational institution)’ used to refuse offering puja to the goddess Mulajore Shyamnagar Kali as a result priests were brought from Bankura, Burdwan and other places. Later a Sanskrit College was set up by the king Gopimohan Thakur as a matter of pride and to make erudite Sanskrit students. Students were accommodated in this college hostel they used to take Prasad in the temple as a lunch and dinner. Ramkumar Chattopadhyaya, elder brother of Ramakrishna Dev was the student of this college. But instead of reconstructing that dilapidated building, a heritage building of the locality with its Ionic pillars Rabindra Bhawan was set up by municipality replacing the college, ignoring the sense of heritage.

Rabindra Bhavan

Shyamnagar is situated on the east bank of the Ganges. A Kali Temple is situated in between Shyamnagar railway station and Hooghly river is known as Mulajore Kalibari. An auditorium named Rabindra Bhavan was built by Bhatpara Municipality by the side of this Kali Temple. It was said that there was a Sanskrit College in the Nineteenth century and Pandit Vidyasagar used to visit over there. A fair called Poush Mela is organised every year in Poush Mash according to Bengali calendar and between December and January in English calendar. The place becomes holy with the blessings of the goddesses Kali and Ganga. The Shyamnagar Book Fair is organised by Shubhas Shanga Club Battala every year at the time of Poush Mela at Kalibari area. Other than the Mulajore Kalibari there are three other notable Kali Bari (Kali Temples) situated in Shyamnagar. They are Chowrangi Kalibari, Sidhheswari Kalibari and Rakshakali temple. There is also one Buddhist monastery situated by the railway line.

Shyamnagar is the birthplace of Ajoy Chakraborty a well known classical musician.[17] It is also the residence of Aneek Dhar, a singer who has won and hosted many reality shows focused around singing.[18] Many well known athletes such as Subrata Bhattacharya, Kesto Pal, Mahabir Prasad, Asoklal Banerjee, and Sumit Mukherjee reside here.

An annual book fair is held in the Kali Bari grounds during the first week of January. Notable Bengali authors, Troilokyanath Mukhopadhay and Rangalal Mukhopadhay were born here. Bharat Chandra Roy Library is a well known library in this area. It was founded in 1906 by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.[19]

Shyamnagar's schools are either run by the state government or by private organisations. Schools mainly use Bengali or English as the medium of instruction, though Hindi is also used. The schools are affiliated with any of the following — West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), and the National Institute of Open School (NIOS). Under the 10+2+3 plan, after completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in a 2-year junior college (also known as a pre-university) or in schools with a higher secondary facility affiliated with West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, ICSE or CBSE. Students usually choose from one of three streams — liberal arts, commerce, or science, though vocational streams are also available. Upon completing the required coursework, students may enrol in general or professional degree programmes.

List of some Reputed Schools in Shyamnagar :

1. St. Augustine's Day School Shyamnagar
2. Morning Bells Academy
3. Authpur National Model H.S School
4. Shyamnagar Kanti Chandra High School
5. Mulajore Sitanath Pathsala High School
6. Shyamnagar Balika Vidyalaya (HS)
7. Authpur High (H/S) School at Authpur 1 kilometre away from Shyamnagar. This school was inaugurated by Ishwar Chandara Vidyasagar. Oldest school in Authpur-Shyamnagar locality.
8. Authpur Balika Vidyalaya (HS), Authpur
9. Shyamnagar Rishi Aurobindo Vidyaniketan (Boys)
10. Shyamnagar Rishi Aurobindo Balika Vidyalaya (Girls)
11. Jawaharlal Nehru Smrity Vidya Mandir
12. Mandalpara Vidya Niketan
13. Mandalpara Girls' High School
14. Shree Gouri Shanker Jute Mills High School
15. Swami Vivekananda High school;(vocational education/ civil engineering & Agriculture )x+2 Level
16. Brahmamayee Vidyamandir
17. Shantigarh Nivanani Smriti Vidyapith
18. Harakh Chand Kankaria Jain Vidyalaya
19. Shyama Chandra H.S School
20. Gurdah High School

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