Maheshganj Estate, Balakhana

Balakhana is a Heritage Home Stay. Balakhana, an impressive 12,000 sq.ft colonial building built in the late 1700s is an erstwhile indigo planters' house.

Located near Krishnanagar in Nadia district, south of Mayapur, this 16 acre property with orchards, was purchased by Biprodas Palchoudhuri and is presently owned by his grandsons. The Palchoudhuris of Maheshganj

Three centuries of Bengal’s history blend in to the ethos of Balakhana. French in its architecture, and built in the late 18th century as a Neel Kothi or ‘Indigo House’, Balakhana was the

residency of an indigo plantation that surrounded it. Indigo was the prime colonial cash crop of the time, but its forced cultivation, which was the British practice, caused a peasants’ uprising in 1859. With force being banned by the British Government in 1863, indigo lost ground, even as jute and tea became the new colonial cash crops. By the 1870s Balakhana was put up for sale by its then owner, S.W. Savis, an Italian man, and bought in 1875 by its present owners, the Palchoudhuris. Wealthy traders of the 18th century, the Palchoudhuris became prominent landowners in the 19th, and went on to build a new fortune as pioneer Planters of tea gardens, still owned by the family and flourishing till this day. Balakhana came into the family in 1880s when Nafarchandra Palchoudhuri, a prominent landowner, first President of the Bengal Landholders’ Association of the day, bought the property for his brother Bipradas, who was then a student of engineering in England and had seen an advertisement for it. Upon returning home, Bipradas built a life that spanned Balakhana in Maheshganj, Calcutta, and Darjeeling in North Bengal and Assam, where he became an intrepid pioneer Planter of tea gardens : Tindharia, Mohurgong, Rani, Belgacchi, and Gayabari. He would supervise his gardens by riding alone through dense and dangerous jungles on a 2 wheeler horse driven carriage, changing horses at every stop to cover the terrain faster. A public minded man and a patriot, Bipradas was a member of the Indian National Congress, a member of the Nadia District Board, and a many sided contributor to the community of Maheshganj. Besides helping to build the Sadar Hospital and the District Cooperative Bank, he was a prime mover behind the Krishnagar – Jalang light railway service. A far sighted man, observing the Jalangi change its course and threatening Balakhana, he built a 800 metre embankment which in time made the river swerve away. On Bipradas’s death in1914 in England, where his ashes are buried, the Maheshganj estate with Balakhana went to his youngest son Ranojit, in a dispensation that divided his tea estates and his zamindaris equally among his 3 sons, the others being Manmatha and Amiya. Divided only on paper, the Palchoudhuris continued to run as one family. For many years, Amiya, the middle son, managed the tea gardens; the mantle passed to his eldest son, Amitava, who similarly oversaw the gardens, but also led the family into manufacturing. In Maheshganj, Ranojit followed in his father’s footsteps. He donated the land for building a technical training institute, the Bipradas Palchoudhury Institute of Technology, and also for the Primary Health Centre and the Primary school of Maheshganj. He served as a Member of the Bengal Legislative Council for 3 terms from 1928. As a Member of the Union and the Railway Boards, he led the way to the starting of a narrow gauge track that connected Shantipur, Krishnagar and Swarupganj, also connecting three ends of his estate! Biprodas’s adventures in the jungles of the North while setting up his tea gardens, found an echo found in Ranojit’s exploits as a prize winning pilot at the Bengal Flying Club. It showed too in his passion for hunting, never cats, but whenever called upon, marauder crocodiles in the Sunderbans. Just outside Balakhana, Ranojit laid out a short landing strip for the Tiger Moth he used to fly – once flying in Subhas Chandra Bose for a Congress rally in the District. Ranojit treasured his sojourns in Balakhana and it is to him that Balakhana owes its orchards; and to his wife Renuka, its flower gardens. Though Balakhana was bequeathed to Ranojit and remains in the hands of his sons, it continues to be a homing ground for the children of his brothers, and their children; the progeny of Bipradas Palchoudhuri, traversing a new era in time.

27/03/2024

Today, 27th March 2024, is what I can term as a Historic Day. The broad gauge line was inaugurated. It is to run from Sealdah to Amghata ( 1.5 km east from Balakhana) via Krishnanagar/Santipur.

Biprodas Palchoudhuri, my Grandfather initiated the idea of the Jalangi light railway project but, as he died at an early age my father, Ranojit, took up this with the railways when he became a member of its board. Thus the narrow gauge train started functioning from about 1926/7 from Santipur to Nabadwip Ghat via Krishnanagar.

Ila Palchoudhuri, my aunt was elected as an MP of the first Parliament and later moved a motion to convert this narrow gauge to a broad gauge line. It didn't happen... But decades later it has now a bright future for the locals of our much known vaishnavi areas...

Photos from Maheshganj Estate, Balakhana's post

17/03/2024

Flowering plants given by well-wishers and friends are our joys of Spring...

12/03/2024

A recent guest of ours, Dr Arindam Karmakar playing the flut... His wife Manali sings & their 9yr old son plays the piano...

04/03/2024

We were woken up with a spot of good news this morning...
One of our cows gave birth to a female calf, her 2nd.. Looking forward to a fresh supply of milk in three weeks time... Our niece has christened her, Samira !

29/01/2024

28/01/2024

Kamalika and Somdeb Basu, guests from Gurgaon staying with us for four nights were fascinated by the quality of our Khejurer Gur...
They were discussing the most talked about mishti of Bengal, Nolen gurer sandesh...
My ears perked up and I joined the conversation. I got to know that Kamalika makes this delicacy in Delhi & sells it to close associates.
After a brief 'tete-e-tet' I managed to request her to make some for us and our guests... To this, she willing agreed...

Our milk expert, Dharma was pushed into action to make a sufficient quantity of 'chhana' which he made with a smile...

Somdeb & Kamalika toiled into the silent night after dinner and what resulted, was 'The Best Kancha Golla' I've ever tasted in my 7 decades of existence!

Here are pictures of the makings of this mouthwatering dollops of smooth, perfectly textured 'Kancha Golla' !

21/12/2023

Very very rarely does one come accross a Date Palm being cut down & even rarer is when one gets to eat the Brain of this palm...
This afternoon we were driving past the river Jalangi when I noticed one such palm being felled... Hence I got my team into action & Firoz our Shiuli was summoned to do the surgery...
The spoils of which we shared with guests who thoroughly enjoyed the rarity...
I've tasted it about 5/6 times in my life...

11/12/2023

My grandfather, Bipro Das Palchoudhuri, was amongst the first Indians to have travelled to England during the industrial revolution to become an engineer from the college at Ipswich. He took up apprenticeship with Valcovan & Co., to learn first hand methods of making this unique metal.

His venture could have been a milestone in the history of the Indian Steel manufacturing here in Bengal. Unfortunately, his colleagues and well wishers thought he was way too early in his time (which he was in every aspect) and backed out of investing in this then almost unknown metal.

This is a passage printed in The Statesman that speaks for itself... Below is a bust of this, larger-than-life-person, with his grandson.

16/09/2023

My brother, Sourajit, training the New Kid in Town, Mojo to accept his Chota Hazri with grace... with me he's always like a jumping jack...

15/08/2023

Having touched the 76th year of independence in our country let's strive towards independence from corruption!

Kalpana continues to do her bit with flowers from the garden at Balakhana...

21/04/2023

Yesterday was the hottest day I've experienced in Maheshganj just above 44°C... Couldn't sit on the verandah as one felt as though one was facing a blast furnace! Today, suddenly the tables turned, cloudy with the gentlest trace of a few drops... That's it, even the southern breeze has vanished... Waiting for the rains to start and guests to arrive from 1st July onwards...
Among all this discomfort the Lilies I had brought last year from my uncle's house in Gayabari, have all bloomed... What a delightful sight...
Kalpana and I are off to be in Gayabari with our Choto Boudi, Ruby, for a while...

05/04/2023

Many flowers bloom & then dry up to turn into seed... But there are a few that turn colour & then turn into seeds...
Here's one such... Neelmoni or Queen's Wreath..
Blooms as purple and seeds as green...
Wonders of nature !

01/04/2023

When there are no guests to care for and our holidays start one wonders about the estate looking 'here & there' for that different scene... Here's One... The fishing rod & reel are being cleaned & made ready... Ants' eggs from the numerous nests are the highlight of an angler's bait...

26/03/2023

Every few years I try to spot & pickup an Indy pup... Didn't find one of choice for 6 years... A month back a friend found one really lovely pup and Ritwik brought him to Balakhana yesterday... He's been christened 'Mojo' ! He joins Johnny 9yrs and Tuppy 6yrs old ...

21/03/2023

Yet again another dream fulfilled..!
Last night Victoria Whitbread came from England to stay with us...
Victoria is a descendent of Emilia Savi, 1792 - 1858, (who was the eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Savi, the couple that built ME ) surprised Kalpana and me when she disclosed her lineage over dinner... How wonderful it is to host her.

06/03/2023

Fifty years ago I tasted a speciality dish in Kerala, puttu at Champa Zainuddin's made by their lovely cook, Sara who showed me the tricks of the trade... Thereafter I never visited the state again but searched every South Indian restaurant for it... Without avail.. Puttu, a dish made with pounded rice layered with grated coconut steam-cooked in bamboo!
A guest from Manhattan originally from Kerala, Suman T, has come to stay at Balakhana and while chatting I asked if he knew how to make puttu... And guess what, I made the bamboo utensils with his help and we all had our first dish of authentic puttu here at Balakhana today...along with Sambar, chatney & mutton curry! What a satisfying meal...

19/02/2023

While hunting for something in our godown I noticed the two anchors I had stashed away for a rainy day... Having spotted these that belonged to my G'fathers Bajras a thought started taking shape in my mind... Thoughts were put on the design board of imagination and Two Rustic Chandeliers now hang in the drawing room...

28/01/2023

My niece Adity, though much older as these things happened in the earlier days, left her footprints at Balakhana when she came with her friends, after over Six decades !
We spoke of old times and of her memories in Maheshganj, needless to say it was a great pleasure...!

15/01/2023

At least once every winter the weather Gods take a Cold Sauna and feel we humans too must take part...
In and around Maheshganj for the last three days...
While walking this morning the sound of droplets from the trees felt like a light drizzle!

07/11/2022

Apart from the Story & History telling in the evening, our guests are taken for a general Nature walk in the morning.
Some time during the day they are also shown a cabinet where one has collected family heirlooms alongwith childhood toys, etc..
My Grandmother's rare reading glasses are kept too... Yashodhara, came forward to try on a dress piece... This one is to be kept hanging by a delicate chain when the lady in concern has finished reading ...

25/10/2022

Today is my Grandfather's 108th death anniversary... 1856 - 1914
It was because of his decision to step out of their family business in Natudah, now in Bangladesh and start life afresh after buying Maheshganj Estate, that we are enjoying a Heritage property around Balakhana.
Biprodas Palchoudhuri, a man way ahead of his time and a visionary is remembered by many, in the Dist of Nadia.

14/10/2022

Mid October & there's a gentle nip in the morning air... But look what Mother Earth has come up with...

15/08/2022

Today, on our 75th year of Independance, it's been raining quite heavily so The lady of the House made a floral tricolour in the drawing room...
My father had put up the Pakistani flag at Teorkhali the neighbouring village, & having thereafter lobbied to remain in India, was requested to hoist the Indian National Flag at the Krishnagar Town Hall on 18th August 1947. Jai Hind !

28/07/2022

At last it feels like the monsoons have set in...

27/07/2022

Zefarandus in Pinks & Yellow have been showing us their blossoms in abundance...

21/07/2022

The monsoons usually arrive by mid June on a yearly basis but, this year we've only had scattered showers if at all till, a few days back...
Today, positively felt as though it has landed... The geese too had a satisfying round of splashing !

17/04/2022

Even during the scorching heat over the Tropic of Cancer, there are numerous reasons to bring smiles as spring blossoms...

Indigo: The story of India’s ‘blue gold’

15/04/2022

Here's something that tells us a bit more about the most wide spread natural dye the world has ever seen or used...
Balakhana is one of numerous Indigo Plantation houses still in existence !
And Indigoferatingtoria, the plant that created the 'Devil's dye' lives on within our compound...

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/12/13/indigo-and-the-story-of-indias-blue-gold

Indigo: The story of India’s ‘blue gold’ For generations, family-run farms in South India have grown and produced the natural dye that was once colonial capital.

31/03/2022

Our season went by similar to the 'ups & downs' of C19. And its time to say 'Adios & not Goodbye' !
As during every summer break Balakhana starts its phase of renovations for its yearly facelift in a few days...
Looking forward to our holiday in the hills, tea estate, etc.
We will again take guests from 1st July '22.

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