- Chittaranjan Park
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Chittaranjan Park (Bengali: চিত্তরঞ্জন পার্ক), aka C.R. Park is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, and home to a large Bengali community in Delhi. It was established in the early 1960s under the name EPDP Colony or East Pakistan Displaced Persons colony, and was renamed after Deshbandhu (patriot) Chittaranjan Das, in 1980s.[1] Today despite its growing cosmopolitan demographics, it remains home to a flourishing Bengali community, and hub to Kolkata-style street food stalls, offering Bengali cuisine, fish markets, temples and cultural centers.[1]
Contents
History
In 1954, an association was formed for refugees from East Bengal who had lost their original homes in East Pakistan in the years around the Partition of India and the associated Partition of Bengal (1947). A large group of government officers hailing from the former East Bengal came together, and lobbied for a colony. Leading roles were taken by Chandra Kumar Mukherjee[1], Subodh Gopal Basumallik, Bimal Bhusan Chakraborty, and the then Chief Election Commissioner Shyamaprasanna Senverma.[2] In the 1960s, land was assigned in a barren rocky area in the-then distant Southern areas. Members were required to provide some documentation of their refugee status, and were required to be "already residing in Delhi and gainfully employed in the capital"; based on this, 2147 people were given plots of land, initially on lease for 99 years, but subsequently converted into a freehold ownership.
The original layout had the two-thousand odd plots, divided into eleven blocks A-K, along with a number of markets and cultural spaces. However, in the 1990s, 714 displaced families were accommodated among those who had not been able to meet the earlier deadline. This resulted in new blocks, called M, N, O, K-1, K-2, Pocket 40 (referred to as Navapalli), Pocket 52 (referred to as Dakhinpalli ) and Pocket-K. The main thoroughfare of the colony is Bipin Chandra Pal Marg. Institutions of note are a branch of the Raisina Bengali School, Kali Mandir (also called the Shiv Mandir), Bangiya Samaj and Chittaranjan Bhawan.[1]
Chittaranjan Park is bordered by Kalkaji, Greater Kailash I and II, Alaknanda and Govindpuri. It is adjacent to the business centre at Nehru Place.
Demographics
The colony was founded with plots going exclusively to migrants from East Bengal, but over time, the demographics has become a little more pan-Indian, though it continues to attract other Bengalis in general. With an estimated 2000 bengali families (about 2/3ds), it has emerged as the most important outpost of Bengali culture in the capital. The explosive growth of South Delhi property prices and the aging of the original land allottees is resulting in an ongoing demographic diversification.[3]
Center of Bengali Culture in Delhi
The first big wave of Bengali settlers came when Calcutta and Delhi were first connected by train in 1864, thereafter with the shifting of capital to New Delhi in 1911, the shifting to government employees' followed logically. Initially employees from central government departments like Post and Telegraph, Government of India Press, Accountant General of Central Revenues (AGCR) and Railways were settled in Timarpur; thereafter in 1924, another phase of government housing came up near Gole Market, for employees of the Secretariat. Overtime many employees after retirement settled in Karol Bagh and WEA, and later in South Delhi.[4]
Chittaranjan Park however remains a major centre of Bengali cultural life in New Delhi, the best part is its evening life in the markets and on the steets people doing AddA - a favourite Bengali bhadralok pastime. The Durga Puja celebrations are renowned for their elaborate pandals and cultural functions. The major Durga Puja celebrations are B-Block, Kali Mandir, Co-operative Ground, Mela Ground, and Navapalli (Pocket 40). Auditoriums at Chittaranjan Bhawan and Bipin Pal Bhawan regularly host performances of Bengali theatre and music, which are also occasionally held in the Shiv/Kali Mandir. The week of Durga Puja sees performances by well-known artistes and troupes from West Bengal and Bangladesh as well as performances from group of local people residing at C.R. Park only.
Chittaranjan Park is also home to one of the city's main markets for freshwater fish, an integral part of Bengali cuisine, a large Kali temple, several cultural centres, four big markets specialising in Bengali sweets and numerous stalls selling Calcutta-style street food - chops, cutlets, etc.
Most of the residents are eminent ex-government servants, scholars, professors, teachers and other professionals.
Notable residents
- Arindam Chaudhuri, management guru and owner of IIPM
- Upamanyu Chatterjee, novelist
- Swapan Dasgupta, journalist
- Nitish Sengupta, sometime Member of Parliament
- Saswati Sen, renowned Kathak dancer
- Phoolan Devi, dacoit-turned-politician
- Shantanu Moitra, Bollywood music director
Access
The Indira Gandhi International Airport is 17 km (domestic) and 23 km (international) from Chittaranjan Park. The New Delhi railway station is 16 km, and the Nizamuddin Railway station is 9 km away. The Violet Line of the Delhi Metro have a stop at Nehru Place station within 1 km from B-block in Chittaranjan Park.
See also
- Areas And Zones of New Delhi
References
- ^ a b c d "Chittaranjan Park". Travel Delhi. Mobile Reference. 2007. ISBN 1605010510. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=MsYj4ysWQ6sC&pg=PT229&dq=Chittaranjan+Park&hl=en&ei=3kVuTu_3KszorQe2-c2ZBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Chittaranjan%20Park&f=false.
- ^ http://epdpassociationcrpark.blogspot.com/2009/02/established-in-1954-and-registered.html
- ^ Hiroshi Ishii; Katsuo Nawa (2007). Social Dynamics in Northern South Asia: Political and social transformations in north India and Nepal. Manohar. p. 311. ISBN 8173047294.
- ^ "From Bengal, but staunchly Delhiites". Hindustan Times. July 06, 2011. http://www.hindustantimes.com/specials/coverage/Delhi100/From-Bengal-but-staunchly-Delhiites/newdelhi/SP-Article10-717796.aspx.
- "The bong connect". Hindustan Times. May 26, 2010. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/548793.aspx.
External links
Categories:- New Delhi
- Delhi
- Neighbourhoods of Delhi
- South Delhi district
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