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23.10.2018

This morning was an early start for everybody. With sunrise the Captain lifted the anchor at 05:30 – this is heard pretty much everywhere on the ship, which is not very sound proofed anyway. Saves you from setting the alarm clock …. Not that I cared, I was up anyway. At 06:15 the staff rang the temple bell in the corridors – the call for coffee and snacks in the salon. Wake up, wake up!

Our country boat left at 06:45 – with everybody on it – nobody overslept or chickened out – to Baranagar, which is located relatively close to Murshidabad and in the district’s Azimganj Jiaganj town area.

Apparently, this town used to be well-known and frequented by traders from all corners of Bengal. Baranagar supposedly means “Big City” – Bara means “big” and nagar  means “city with a population”.  The part which we would be visiting is a rather rural part of the settlement, though.

Arriving at the river bank the first thing we encountered was a small ferry boat which shuttled ox carts and cycle rickshaws loaded with straw or jute across the river. The wooden boat had a bamboo platform on top on which they had loaded the carts. It looked like the animals were used to this procedure, they seemed very relaxed sailing off into the sunrise to the opposite river bank.

A little further on there was a farmer cutting jute fiber in the field.  Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is one of the most affordable natural fibers in existence and it is second only to cotton in the amount produced and the variety of uses. Jute fibers are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose. It falls into the bast fiber category – fiber collected from bast, the phloem of the plant, sometimes called the “skin”. The raw jute fibers are off-white to brown, and 1–4 m long. Jute is also called the golden fiber for its color and high cash value. Jute fiber is 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus environmentally friendly and has low pesticide and fertilizer needs.

The jute fiber comes from the stem and ribbon –  the outer skin of the jute plant. The fibers are first extracted by retting. The retting process consists of bundling jute stems together and immersing them in slow running water like a river. After the retting process, stripping begins – women and children usually do this job. In the stripping process, non-fibrous matter is scraped off, then the workers dig in and grab the fibers from within the jute stem.

Production is concentrated mostly in Bangladesh, as well as India’s states of Assam, Bihar, and West Bengal. India is the world’s largest producer of jute.

Walking through the jute and rice fields we reached the actual steps of the ghat.  In monsoon season the river probably floods all the way up to here at least.

The small village already had an asphalt village road. We walked along it while the village slowly started to wake up. The little chai stall by the ghat was already  busy.

We came here to visit some 250-year-old terracotta temples. An array of Hindu temples is spread over 1.5 km radius here in Barnagar and is attributed to the Raja of Natore and his dynasty. The Queen of Natore, Rani Bhavani, was the prime mover of temple inovation and aesthetics in the late 18th century. Historians say that Rani Bhabani ruled over such a vast area that she used to be addressed as “Ardha Bangeshwar” – Queen of half of Bengal. Historians also believe that after the death of her husband she became a devotee of Shiva and constructed several temples dedicated to the god of destruction. After she died, her daughter used to offer prayer at the temples in Baranagar.

The first temple we visited was at the northern end of the village and consisted of a twin miniature Shiva Temple. There was not even an English sign by the entrance. When we got there a man just arrived to prepare the shivalinga for the morning. He cleaned it and put fresh flowers as offerings on it.

It is a Jor-Bangla Temple built by Rani Bhavani in the 18th century. It is one of the finest temple examples of this style. “Jor” means a pair. Jor-Bangla styled temples are not uncommon although not abundant in Bengal and exhibit unique style of surface terracotta art. This temple here is the Gangeshwar Shiva and it consists of twin Ek-Bangala Temples with the porch heavily ornamented and standing on 3 arches. The main entrance faces West and the wall showed beautiful terracotta carvings depicting many Hindu gods and stories. The carvings were executed very detailed and superbly preserved. The miniature temple’s dimensions are only 6 x 7 m and 5.5 m in height.

While we admired the beautiful art work here, a woman showed up with a surprisingly well-filled visitors’ book and we dutifully signed it as well. The family living in the house next to the temple then allowed us to climb their roof top and have a nice view of the temple from above.

Walking through the village in the early morning to the next temple complex was very interesting. We encountered quite a few small children curiously looking at us. One even came up and handed a hibiscus flower to every women in our group and then ran shyly back to hide behind granddad.

We saw the traditional way of growing pumpkin on the rooftop of the huts. That probably is killing many birds with one stone – the pumpkin does not occupy precious field space, rain water can drain off easily, the pumpkin can be stored right where it grows and maybe the leaves even keep the hut in the shade.

There was also the local vegetable and flower shop. It sold some vegetables, maybe what farmers had brought by or maybe what was growing behind the hut. But there was also a small nursery attached and plants were being sold.

In one of the court yards we could watch a woman make beedis.  A beedi is a thin cigarette or mini-cigar filled with tobacco flakes and commonly wrapped in a leaf of the East Indian ebony  (Diospyros melanoxylon) or of the Beedi leaf tree (Piliostigma racemosum) tied with a string at one end. Beedis are the Indian version of Cheeroots known in other parts of Southeast Asia. They are essentially the same, except in India they are much smaller. Here they are closer to the size of a joint as opposed to a cigar, like for example in Myanmar. In the street stands they apparently sell for Rs 25 rupees for a pack of 30 small beedis wrapped in newspaper and have to be smoked fast, otherwise they go out. That women had to make a lot of beedis to earn her living ….

We also visited a small private school which was kind of sponsored by ABN. A young man – an English teacher – offered English lessons to local children and teenagers. He had apparently approx 280 students in 12 classes. He took Rs 100 per month tuition, but offered it to 60 students for free, because the families could not afford it. For the first time our Swiss express train slowed down – she had been running ahead again all morning – now she sat in the classroom talking to the students. Probably made their day.

On the way to the next temple complex we passed a couple abandoned, ruined temples, but also the rather fine Bhavanisvar Temple.  It was also built by Rani Bhavani in the 18th century and is remarkable for its height and unusual style. It is an octagonal structure with a domed interior and a corridor with a sloping roof. This temple in most places still retains the original ornamentation in plaster.

All those temples were scattered in this rather small village amongst fields and huts. And just as we walked a bit further we met the local milk man. There was a family hut along the river bank and they had a cow. Presumably every morning the milk man comes by on his motorbike with the milk cans. When he arrived he went straight to the cow and milked it. He then measured what he had gotten off the cow when he poured it into the big milk cans attached to his motorbike. He gave one large cup of milk – presumably – as a gift to the mother of the family who smiled and thanked him. We think, that there might be a daily quota of milk and if the cow is happy and gives more, then it is for the family. But we would not know … Anyway, it was special to watch, because it had been a long time since any of us had seen a cow being milked by hand …

We reached the opposite end of the village and there was the stunning Char Bangla Temple. It was the most unique temple built by Rani Bhavani, queen of Nator, 3 years after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the 4 structures of the Char Bangla temple are the main attraction of this village.

“Char” means 4. Built in 1760, this is a small square area  fenced by 4 temples. Each one is built on a meter high foundation and is hut-shaped. Each temple has 3 doors with 3 shivalingams inside.

Scenes from the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as daily village life or tales from Hindu mythology are depicted on the walls of the temples in terracotta carvings. The art works here is very detailed as well and remarkably well preserved.

When the temple was built the river used to flow at least 1 km away. But the Bhagirathi-Hooghly changed its course several times and eroded its banks, destroying life, property and farmland. Today, the temple is barely 10 m away from the banks and its boundary wall has already been damaged by the river.

Our country boat picked us up by the ghat right opposite the temple and brought us back on board, where breakfast was waiting for us already.

The rest of the day was lazy – the ship would sail all the way to Farakka without a stop today for some 99 km or so. It was what we call a river-day.

Mr. Grumpy came up with this discussion at breakfast on why this cruise is called a Ganges-Cruise, but we are only going along the Hooghly and we are not really on the Ganges? So this would be a misleading cruise name, no?  … I am sure he was already composing a letter to the company to redeem some money …

Now … let me explain you, Mr. Grumpy – The Ganges is a 2,525 km river which rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India. After entering West Bengal, it divides into two rivers – the Hooghly River and the Padma River.

The Hooghly River or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly is traditionally called “Ganga” and is an approx 260-km-long distributary of the River Ganges in West Bengal. The Ganges splits into the Padma and the Hooghly near Murshidabad. The Padma flows eastward into Bangladesh, whereas the Hooghly flows south through West Bengal past Kolkata. The river flows eventually into the Bay of Bengal. The upper riparian zone of the river is called Bhagirathi while the lower riparian zone is called Hooghly.

The Ganga is one of the most sacred rivers to Hindus. It is also a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course and depend on it for their daily needs. It is worshipped in Hinduism and personified as the Goddess Ganga.

Its first distributary is the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, which goes on to become the Hooghly River. Just before the border with Bangladesh the Farakka Barrage controls the flow of the Ganges, diverting some of the water into a feeder canal linked to the Hooghly for the purpose of keeping it relatively silt-free. The Hooghly River is actually formed by the confluence of the Bhagirathi River and Jalangi River at Nabadwip. The Hooghly River empties eventually into the Bay of Bengal near Sagar Island.

After entering Bangladesh, the main branch of the Ganges is known as the Padma. The Padma is joined by the Jamuna River, the largest distributary of the Brahmaputra. Further downstream, the Padma joins the Meghna River, the second largest distributary of the Brahmaputra, and takes on the Meghna’s name as it enters the Meghna Estuary, which empties into the Bay of Bengal.

The Ganges Delta, formed mainly by the large, sediment-laden flows of the Rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra, is the world’s largest delta, at about 59,000 km ². It stretches 322 km  along the Bay of Bengal. Only the Amazon and Congo rivers have a greater average discharge than the combined flow of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Surma-Meghna river system. In full flood only the Amazon is larger.

Hope that was sufficient, Mr. Grumpy!

The rest of the morning everybody took a rest or enjoyed the scenery. At 11:30 we did offer a demonstration of saree tying in the salon. Leimi, the only woman in the crew on board, did the demonstration supported by Prabir, the barman.

A saree is a traditional Indian costume worn by women and girls, that consists of a drape varying from 4.5 m to 8 m in length and approx 1 m in breadth. There are more than 80 recorded ways to wear a saree, but it is typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff. If you have never been to India, you have probably seen one if you have ever watched a Bollywood movie.

India is a very colorful country. Those sarees come in a myriad of colors and patterns. I once visited a saree emporium in Madurai. It was like a huge department store, but only had saree in every color, pattern and quality. I spent like 2 hrs there and did not find 2 sarees of the same color-pattern! There were the cheap variety for everyday use and then there was the section with the hand-woven, rare silk and brocaded saree for special occasions. It was an explosion of colors and textures there.

The sari traditionally is worn with fitted bodice commonly called a choli – like a blouse –  and petticoat called parkar or ul-pavadai – an underskirt which aides to fixing the folds to the waist.

We had much fun dressing up Mrs. N and Mrs R! Last time I was here I even had brought my own saree – Yes! I own 2 sarees! The first and very special one I saw in the window of a shop in Colombo/Sri Lanka and I bargained hard for it to get it. And I did with much stamina and power. The second one I bought in the before mentioned saree emporium in Madurai in Southern India.

After lunch there was more relaxing on the plan today. Leimi and Candid from the Spa were busy today, since surprisingly many of the few guests we had were taking the opportunity for a relaxing massage.

We were now sailing up the Feeder Canal between the Farakka Barrage and the Hooghly River. The canal is approx 38 km long. The Ganges water from the Farakka Barrage is being conveyed to the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River by way of this canal. The canal begins upstream of the Farakka Barrage, leads in an almost perfectly straight manner south and links with the river near Bangapari in Murshidabad district.

The scenery is now more dominated by the dam that forms the canal. Nevertheless there was much to see.

We had a masala chai and samosa cooking demonstration at the bar on the sundeck for the sundowner. A samosa is a fried or baked dumpling with a savoury filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas or lentils. It may take different forms, including triangular, cone, or half-moon shapes, depending on the region. The Indian style, often accompanied by a chutney, is probably the most widely known of a broad family of recipes. Samosas are a popular snack in the local cuisines of India.

Our chef prepared the samosa dough from plain flour, vegetable oil, eggs, salt and water. He also put some fennel seed in for taste. He took small portions and rolled the dough plat, then put the filling on top. He had prepared a filling of vegetables and potato for us. He then formed little triangular parcels and deep fried them in a pan of vegetable oil. They were very delicious accompanying the sundowner beer.

At the same time one of the restaurant staff prepared the Masala Chai. Masala Chai literally  means “mixed-spice tea” and is made by brewing black tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs. Traditionally it is prepared as a decoction of green cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground ginger, and black peppercorn together with black tea leaves. Generally, Masala Chai is made by mixing one part milk with 2 – 4 parts water and heating the liquid to near boiling or even full boiling.

The simplest traditional method of preparing Masala Chai is through decoction, by actively simmering or boiling a mixture of milk and water with loose-leaf tea, sweeteners, and whole spices. The solid tea and spice residues are strained off before serving. While Masala Chai is the beverage for Indians I am not a fan of it. Mainly because I hate milk in my tea or warm milk per sé. Very rarely it is prepared without milk in India. I get ready-made tea bags with spiced tea to take home, though. No milk in that one.

To entertain the guest I had also prepared a small India Quiz to fill out while relaxing on the sun deck. There is not much to win, it is more occupational therapy to stimulate conversation.  Let’s face it, the questions are all easy enough – the guide has told most of the information or it was written on the daily program or you find it in the little guidebook or in the books in the salon. And you win maybe a cocktail. The Swiss express train, however, had obviously shaken Montezuma and was back on track more loud than ever. Usually the guests just take the quiz for what it is and have fun with it. She was just on google burning precious data for the lot of it. When Mrs. N mentioned that Amit had told us most of the information asked and if she had listed she would know, she actually denied it and said that she always listened … Even Mrs. R shook her head on this. Well, I just bid my tongue and in the end gave everybody small prize, including her. She did not even say thank you ….

Sailing along the Farakka canal we watched the sunset and the activities ashore. There was plenty going on as usual. It seemed in the late afternoon everybody was coming down to the shore.

Sunset was beautiful once more and the cold beer was well deserved. I love those Kingfisher sunsets …

The ship reached the dock at Farakka during dinner time and more AC technicians arrived from Kolkatta and started repairing the system that evening. It involved opening all the AC units on the sundeck, which meant removing half the deck covering. That of course made much noise and not only Mr. Grumpy complained. But it was necessary because the system in the restaurant and in the salon was only working on 1 out of 4 units which was not enough. Also, we would be leaving the day after tomorrow and a new group – with more guests than us – would arrive, so the AC system needed fixing desperately in all the cabins. But even the technicians needed sleep and were finished by midnight.

24.10.2018

In Farakka the ship was docked right in front of the Farakka lock which connects the Farakka canal with the actually River Ganges above the Farakka Barrage.

Today we had a full day excursion to Gaur on the program. Since it was a rather long drive we started at 08:00 and had 2 mini busses. Even though we would have all fit into one 14-seater bus, it was more comfortable for the guests split in 2 busses. While the busses are comfortable enough, they are not European standard. So, I rode in one bus with 4 guests and Romeet, while Amit was with Babu in the other bus with 4 guests as well. Mrs. D stayed behind on board since she was not feeling well, the heat and the spicy food took apparently their toll on her.

Funny thing was – against my plan and judgment – the Swiss guests split up and road in different busses, because they needed some peace from the express train talking constantly. And since I have mastered the art of letting unnecessary information go in one ear and out the other, I had volunteered to ride in the bus with the Swiss express train. Do not get me wrong, I have been doing this job for a long time and have learnt a lot about people. One thing is, that if they are unhappy or angry it has most probably to do with a decision they have taken themselves – for example booking this cruise without thinking about what to expect in the Indian touristic no-men’s land …. However, it was unexpectedly quiet in the bus today, which was noticed not only by me.

Leaving the dock we soon reached the Farakka Barrage which we had to cross.  It is a barrage across the River Ganges located roughly 16 km from the border with Bangladesh. A barrage is a type of low-head, diversion dam which consists of a number of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing through. This allows the structure to regulate and stabilize river water elevation upstream for use in irrigation and other systems. The term barrage is borrowed from the French word “barrer” meaning “to bar”.

Construction of the Farakka Barage was started in 1961 and it was completed in 1975. The barrage is about 2,240 m long. Out of 109 gates, 108 are over the river and the 109th one over low-lying land as a precaution. The Barrage serves also water to the Farakka Super Thermal Power Station.

The purpose of the barrage was originally to divert 1,100 m³/s of water from the Ganges to the Hooghly River for flushing out the sediment deposition from the Kolkata harbour without the need of regular mechanical dredging. However, after commissioning the project, it was found that the diverted water flow from the barrage was not adequate to flush the sediment from the river satisfactorily. The water diverted from the Farakka barrage is less than 10% of Ganga river water available at Farakka.

There are no photos allowed on or near the dam – something very Indian – do not take photos of bridges, military and things like that! Well, we stuck to it and just looked at the construction and the mighty Ganges in awe.

The road was only one lane in each direction and had probably never been repaired since its opening in 1975 – at least it felt like that. There were more potholes than road here. And one part of one lane was under construction as well, so there was a big traffic jam. Fortunately, we got through easily in this direction. Speed limit was 20 km/h – not that it was possible to go faster due to potholes and traffic anyway.

It was approx 42 km to Gaur and we estimated at least 2 hours for it. Once we passed the barrage, though, there was not as much traffic anymore and it went rather well. The main road is partly finished, partly still under construction. We passed several towns and villages.

The Badshahi Road –  Royal Road – is historically one of the most important roads in Bengal. It might be as old as 300 BC – well, not this road obviously, but the original road. This Badshahi Road was the most prominent connecting road from Maldah/Gour through Murshidabad to Puri in Orissa during the  Mughal period.

One of the strangest things in India – and all over Asia – are the off-licence gas stations for motorbikes and tuktuks which sell gasoline in plastic bottles. Even in India this is actually against the law. But everywhere along the roads it can be seen. There are proper gas stations everywhere, but those people selling gas in plastic bottles are set up most everywhere where there are motorbikes and tuktuks …. meaning … everywhere. Even along the main highway we have encountered it.

One of those towns along the road was obviously specialized in plastic recycling. There were mountains of loose and packed plastic along the road. Often sorted by color or already shredded, washed and now laid out to dry in the sun. Some places had collected and stacked old plastic chairs waiting for recycling others huge bags of plastic bottles.

We also passed towns with markets and many people, busses being loaded and many many trucks along the road. We had a peepee break before turning off the main road onto the Gaur Road towards the Bangladeshi border.

Gaur – formerly known as Lakhnauti – is now a ruined city on the Indo-Bangladesh border, most of the former city is located in the present-day Malda district of West Bengal, while a smaller part is located in Nawabganj District of Bangladesh. Gaur was on the east bank of the Ganges river downstream from Rajmahal and south of Malda. However, the current course of the Ganges is far away from the ruins.

Gaur – Lakhnauti was already mentioned by the 4th century scholar Panini. The area was also known as Gauḍa – meaning sweet or molasses or root. Its most well documented history begins with its conquest in 1198 by the Muslims, who retained it as their capital in Bengal for more than 3 centuries. The best known history is that of the twin cities of Pandua and Gaur, which were successively the capitals of the independent Sultanate of Bengal – Pandua was the capital from 1342 to 1432 and Gaur from 1432 to 1538. In 1565 the Pashtun ruler abandoned it and it was then occupied by Akbar’s general Munim Khan in 1575. This occupation was followed by an outbreak of the plague and course change of the Ganges, which completed the downfall of the city. Since then it has been little better than a heap of ruins, almost overgrown with jungle.

The architecture of these capitals is known to have ben influenced by different rulers of various origins – Indo-Turkish, Arab, Habshi elites and Muslims of Bengal. The structures that remain until now are surprisingly well maintained and with their massive walls, curved parapets, octagonal corners and terracotta ornamentation, show a variety of styles – referred to as “a regional interpretation of Islamic architecture”.

The city in its prime measured more than 7 km from north to south, almost 2 km from east to west and covered with suburbs an area of 20 to 30 km². In the 16th century the Portuguese historian Faria y Sousa described it as having 1.2 mio inhabitants. The ramparts of this walled city still exist.

Our first stop was at the Barasona Mosque. Built in 1526 by Sultan Nusrat Shah the Baradarwazi or Barasona Masjid – literally large golden mosque – is the largest building still standing in Gaur. The interior was covered with 44 small gilded domes supported on stone pillars – however only the 11 which formed a verandah to the front of the building survive. It is commonly referred to as Baraduari Mosque – the mosque of 12 doors.

On the north are the remains of a ladies’ gallery and on the south-east a platform which was probably used by the muazzin for calling the faithful to prayer. Of its 3 arched gateways however only the eastern on survived until today.

Some workers were busy removing the weed from the ruins. It all looked very well-kept, but grass was definitely growing on the roof. More interesting for us was the construction of their ladder, however.

Surrounding the ruins was a village and we saw a temple for the goddess Chinnamastha – “She whose head is severed”  – who is In the Tantric pantheon, the sixth Great Cosmic Wisdom, the goddess without a head.

The self-decapitated nude goddess is usually standing or seated on a divine copulating couple and holds her own severed head in one hand. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck and are drunk by her severed head and two attendants. Chinnamastha is a goddess of contradictions, she symbolises both aspects of Devi – a life-giver and a life-taker. She is considered both a symbol of sexual self-control and an embodiment of sexual energy, depending upon interpretation. She represents death, temporality and destruction as well as life, immortality and recreation.

The village was a very rural one with clay huts – beautifully decorated with drawings –  and corals for live stock, but also had proper and colorful brick houses. And they did have a small shop as well.

We took a walk down the main path and once again we were the event of the day. The villagers seemed to be worshipping Manasā, the Hindu folk goddess of snakes, mainly for the prevention and cure of snakebite and also for fertility and prosperity. Manasa is known as Vishahara – the destroyer of poison. Manasa is depicted as being kind to her devotees, but harsh to people who refused to worship her. It is understandable that villagers would worship the goddess of snakes since while tending the fields they probably encounter snakes very often. There were many shrines for Manasā here.

Only a short ride further we visited Dakhil or Salami Darwaza – literally an entrance gate. It is the largest structure of its kind in the architectural history of Gaur. It was the main entrance to the city of Lakhnauti. The gateway was the most solid and most elegant entrance portal ever erected in Bengal. It was most likely erected by Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah in 1425.

The architecture of the gateway is very impressive. On both sides of the corridor are guardroom entered through subsidiary entrances numbering 4 on each side. A colony of bats was living in the dark arches of the structure. We could hear them but only when photographed with flash we could actually see them. None of us had a proper flashlight to light up the high ceilings.

The decoration of the gateway was not profuse. The ornaments, all in terracotta like other monuments of the time, consisted of string mouldings, at base levels, inset fret-rings around the corner towers – all segmented with vertical offsets, window-shaped arched-panels with hanging motifs inside and rosettes on the spandrels of arches. The Dakhil Dawraza must have been the grandest and the most majestic of all the monuments of Gaur-Lakhnauti.

Another great monument in Gaur is the Firoz Minar, a tower of approx 26 m height, situated outside the castle, on the southeast side of Dakhil Darwaza. The lower 3 tiers are polygon-shaped, but the upper 2 tiers above the small roof are circular. There are various theories of what it represents – such as it having originally been a minaret for a mosque or a beacon or it being a monument for victory etc. It is said that it was built by S. Firuz Shah in 1486. I am a sucker for towers and really like this one. It has a spiral staircase with 73 steps leading to the top, but unfortunately it is not open for visitors.

Between the monuments we had only short bus rides through rural areas. There was nothing left of the former city. Now it was rather idyllic with fields, fish ponds and villages.

Later we reached the Kadam Rasul Mosque which was built by Sultan Nasseruddin Nusrat Shah in 1530. The name Kadam Rasu means “Footprints of the Prophet Hazrat Muhammad” and the mosque contains a footprint of Hazrat Muhammad on a stone. On the four corners of the mosque are 4 towers made of grey marble, with the spires on top covered in intricate artwork.

Kadam Rasul of Gaur is also important for its place in the development of the Bengali regional style of architecture, which reached its maturity under the Sultanate. Designed like a hut, it is a square room with verandahs on three sides. The central domed room contains a small, carved pedestal of black stone that holds the relic. In Gaur this apparently is the oldest and most famous shrine. According to tradition, the footprint came from a meditation room of the 13th century.

Today unfortunately the keeper of the shrine seemed still on holiday and the inner sanctum was closed. I was in there the last time I visited, though, and remember it been very dark inside. However, the footprint was well worshipped.

On the premises of the Kadam Rasul Massjid is also Fath Khan’sTomb. He was the General of Aurangzeb, 6th Mughal emperor, who was sent by the emperor here to kill Saint Shah Niamatullah, suspected of advising Sultan Shuja to rebel on arrival at Gaur. It is believe that Fath Khan’s death in 1707 was due to blood vomiting and died on the spot.

Close to this monument is also Lukochuri Gate – Lukochuri Darwaza, which is ascribed to Shah Shuja, governor of Bengal in the middle of the 17th century. The structure is in pure Mughal style. Although it has some similarity in plan with other gateways of the citadel, it is completely different in construction. The gateway, made of brick, is rectangular in design, 3 stories in height and has a flat roof used as a Naqqar Khana – drummer chamber – that heralds the governor’s entrance into and exit from the citadel. The name Lukochuri is probably a later addition, and derives from its use by children who played hide and seek in it.

Only a few steps to the left of the gate lies the Chika Masjid or Chamkan mosque. This single domed structure was built around 1450 by Sultan Hussain Shah. Although it is known as a mosque, in all probabilities, it is a mausoleum and was traditionally used by Sultan Hussain Shah as a prison in the late 15th century. The structure contains some carved stones from a Hindu temple and enamelled stone in its cornices. It is called Chika Mosque because apparently it was infested by bats before its clearance.

In the garden premises of the Chika Masjid is also the Gumti Gate built by Sultan Hussain Shah in 1512. This single-domed structure embellished with enameled bricks, was used as an eastern gateway into the Citadel of Gour. It was a private entrance to Gaur hidden under time.

While we visited this monument there was also a large Bengali family here – women and children having a day out after the holidays. They were absolutely fascinated by the foreigners. I am always asked for photos – not because I am so pretty – no, more because I am so tall and big, which is rather unusual since Indian women are shorter. Mrs. L is always in the center of attention as well because of her white hair. Blonde and white hair is something very special for Indians and children and women often want to touch it. Mrs. L always had a blast with the locals and loved to have her picture taken with them. We all made their day by agreeing to a group photo in front of the Gumti Gate.

The Lottan Masjid, which we visited next, is one of the most important mosques of Gaur and was built by Sultan Yusuf Shah in the 15th century. It consisted of a single domed square chamber and a verandah with two domes. The mosque was famous for its unique glazed brick work on the walls. As per legend, the structure was supposed to be named after a dancer of the royal court named Lottan.

While much of the original beautiful colour has faded away, there are still some of the turquoise, green, violet and blue glazed bricks left which were used in the mosque’s exterior and tell how splendid it must have once been.

Whilst we were this close to the Indo-Bangladeshi border, we also went the last 2 km from the Lottan Masjid to the actual border post in Mahadipur. Along the Gaur Road leading to Bangladesh were hundreds, maybe thousands of trucks loaded with all kinds of goods ranging from potatoes and onions to construction material lined up waiting for the crossing. We could not figure out how long they would be waiting there, but it looked as some waited days already. Once they reached the Mahadipur Land Port they had to do the necessary paperwork and weighing procedures and then still had to wait more until actually being able to cross the border. Probably more bureaucracy was awaiting them on the other side.

Right at the Mahadipur border crossing there is a giant red stone structure  which is known as the Kotwali Darwaza. Probably named after the chief of police – Kotwal in Persian – the gate was once stationed to guard the southern wall of Gaur. It was built during the 15th century following the move of the capital from nearby Pandua to Gaur in 1446. The gate is now in ruins and only the external towers with a huge convex outline with rows of arrow-slits can be partially seen. The rampart walls on the sides of the towers are still in existence. Since  the Kotwali Darwaza serves as border post between India and Bangladesh, our guide Amit went to check with the officers, if we were allowed a visit. He had to leave his ID card and we were granted permission to climb to the top of the ramparts to have a look into Bangladesh and even take some photos.

We also spotted some pretty birds in the Bhodi trees at the border. The Blue-throated Barbet (Megalaima asiatica) is found in the Himalayas, Northeast India and Bangladesh. Its blue face and throat along with a red forehead and black band across the crown are clearly defined. It prefers open forests, orchards and groves. Almost exclusively arboreal, they favour the canopy of fruiting trees.

The border post being the last stop of our visit of Gaur we drove on the Gaur Road back to the main highway passing many more waiting trucks.

At Mayaban Resort we stopped for lunch. This was the only suitable restaurant on our route and I had been here a few times before. The food is good, authentic Indian and for the sake of the sensible Swiss stomachs in our group it was ordered extra extra mild. The group was seated in the small AC room and the food came buffet style. Bottled water we had enough in the bus, here were soft drinks and local beer available for very reasonable prices. I was used from previous trips that the guests usually take beer – best thirst quencher in this heat and alcohol disinfect. This time only 5 colas were ordered.  Because the group – compared to previous groups I was allowed to accompany – was not very adventurous, especially when it came to food or local conditions, the vibes were very … adverse. There is an Indian saying – One drop of urine will spoil the whole bucket of milk. I grabbed my food and sat outside in the garden part of the restaurant together with the guides and treated myself to a local beer. That went down sizzling!

Once everybody was finished eating – and they did not eat much – we were almost ready to head back to the ship. First the bills for the colas had to be paid. Now, one cola was Rs 25 and the concept of split bill is not heard of in India. Of course, the guests wanted to pay separately and the waiter did not understand what they wanted. Mr. R gave a RS 100 bill, so the waiter came to us somewhat frustrated because 5 colas would be Rs 125. Mr. R was rather upset, because he did not understand either what the problem was. We are talking € 1,50 for 5 colas! Now, Mr. R needed his Rs 75 back, because he wanted to pay only for one cola. I could not be bother with this discussion about peanuts and simply handed the Rs 100 back to Mr. R and then paid the Rs 125 for all the colas. Finished.

The ride back to the ship took much longer than we expected. While traffic on the main road was fluid, we got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the Farakka Barrage. Still one lane was blocked for construction and we stood for almost an hour on the dam in the traffic jam only moving very slowly forward eventually arriving back on board around 15:00.

We would have gone for a walk in town later on, but nobody was interested. Everybody wanted to relax and pack. It was extremely hot again today. Most guests enjoyed our last Ganga sunset on deck – our last Kingfisher sunset!

Later we had our Farewell Cocktail and all the crew lined up for us in their best uniforms and traditional outfits. The Swiss express train – after respectlessly ignoring us by keeping on talking when we opened the cocktail – needed to make a commotion and complained that her favorite crew member was missing and we would be lying by saying the complete crew was lined up. Turned out her favorite crew member –  the Assistant Manager – had put his best traditional outfit on and was standing right in front of her. She did not see him…. Needless to say, I was not the only one secretly rolling my eyes ….

Mrs. L was sad to leave, because she would have to leave our Babu behind who had been her personal bodyguard always making sure she was not left behind. She was a touch slower than everybody else and the heat had bothered her a lot. But Babu was always there making sure, she was not lost.

Our last dinner on board was a big buffet style affair and was again delicious. Since our Guide Amit would be leaving us that night I decided to sit with him for dinner instead of with the guests. Since we were only  9 guests plus me, the tables in the restaurant had been rearranged and made into a 10-seat table. There was no space for an 11th seat, so I sat with Amit on a separate table. I would be eating with the guests for the next week anyway.

After dinner Amit left to go back to Kolkata on the night train and I had to pack. Tomorrow morning we would be leaving our luxury enclave on the ABN Rajmahal as well!