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| .. Hooghly Imambara - HooghlyYouTube |
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| .. Hooghly Imambara - HooghlyCourtyard TripAdvisor |
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| .. Hooghly Imambara - HooghlyAlamy |
Built on the the doorway in the middle of twin towers, the vaunted clock attracts the attention of the visitors and the towns people. The height of both towers is 150 feet and the top can be accessed by a circular stairway comprising 152 steps. The clock has two dials with three bells, each weighing 80 mds, 40 mds and 30 mds. Smaller bells ring at an interval of 15 minutes and bigger bell rings to signify one hour. An interesting feature of this huge clock is it needs two people to wind the clock for roughly half an hour every week The clock that was made in London by M/s Black & Hurray Co., has a huge key weighing 20 kg to wind it and it means the winding could be done by two able-bodied persons. Thanks to one Syed Keramat Ali, a noted architect, who bought it for 11,721,00 in 1852. He had been a Mutwalli, taking care of the trust created by Mohsin and decided to construct the Imambara. Though the decision was taken in 1841 after the Governor General's visit, the work began in earnest in August, 1845 and took 20 long years to complete this well embellished structure. The cost of construction was roughly Rs. Rs. 8.5 lakhs according to Hasmat Ali who wrote a biography on Mohsin. Keramat Ali handed over his authority in 1875 to Mauli Syed Ashraf Uddin, the eldest son of Nawab Amir Ali, who being pious and dedicated, formed a committee in 1876 to run the Imambara and the trust. As long as the Imambara lasts so long Mohamed Mohsin, a noble soul will be remembered by the patrons of this religious place.
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| .. Hooghly Imambara - Hooghlyoutlookindia.com |
The present Imambara was built on an old site that had a small one story structure built by a rich Persian merchant one Muhammad Aga Motahar in 1717 A.D. He was in salt business and was pious. For personal reasons, he dedicated the structure to almighty Allah and subsequently his sons-in-law added additional structures which later came to be called Imambara by the Muslim community living in this part of the town. The present Imambara does not have any trace of the older buildings and, it is believed, was built apparently on the debris of older Imambara.
In 'A Statistical Account of Bengal', published in 1896, W.W. Hunter writes about this beautiful Imambara, a religious institution,, “The principal building in Hugly is the Imambara, a Shiah institution for perpetuating the memory of the twelve Imams, constructed out of funds which had accumulated from an endowment originally left by a wealthy Muhammadan gentle man, Muhammad Mohsin.”
A well-known tourist Babu Bholanath Chandra mentioned about this Imambara in his book, ''Travel of a Hindoo'', “One of the noblest buildings in Bengal is the Emambara of Hooghly. The courtyard is spaciousand grand. The through in the middle is a little-sized tank. The two-storied buildings, all around, are neat and elegant. The great hall has a royal magnificence.But it is profusely adorned in the Mahomedan taste with chandeliers, and lanterns, and wall-shades of all the coloursof rainbow. The surface of the walls is pained in blue and red inscriptions from the Koran. Nothing can be more gorgeous than the doors of the gateway. They are richly glided all over, and upon them areinscribed, in golden letters, the date and history of the Musjeed.''
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| Hooghly Imambara Justdial |
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| Hooghly ImambaraFlickr |
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| Hooghly ImambaraThe Concrete Paparazzi |
http://www.chitrolekha.com/V1/n3/04_Mohsin_Hooghly_Imambara.pdf
