The house where Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay lived during his stint as deputy magistrate and deputy collector of Howrah has been declared a heritage building.

The 17-cottah park adjoining the house at 218 Panchanantala Road – called Bankim Park – has been included in the Howrah Municipal Corporation’s “demand register” for development grants.

Bankim Chandra, who wrote the national song Vande Mataram, had worked and lived in Howrah between 1881 and 1886.

“We have granted heritage status to 218 Panchanantala Road. The park adjoining the house will also be developed and a grant of Rs 5 crore has been sanctioned for the project. An archive on Bankim Chandra along with a library and other facilities will be set up,” said mayor Rathin Chakraborti.

A bronze statue of the litterateur and administrator will adorn the park while the heritage structure will house a conference hall, a guesthouse and the proposed archive.

At the beginning of his first stint as an administrator in Howrah in 1881, Bankim Chandra would travel from his Calcutta home to his workplace every morning. He later decided to shift to the rented house at 218 Panchanantala Road.

Bankim Chandra lived in the same house during his second stint in Howrah from 1883. He wrote Muchiram Gurer Jibancharit while living in Howrah.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Dalia Mukherjee / Saturday – August 01st, 2015