 "The storied history of Satyajit Ray’s ancestral home that Bangladesh wants to demolish, India wants to save")
Amid strained ties between India and Bangladesh, New Delhi has offered a helping hand to Dhaka — it has offered to help restore popular filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s ancestral home in Bangladesh after reports emerged that the ancestral building will be razed to make way for a new structure.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement wrote, “We note with profound regret that the ancestral property of noted filmmaker and litterateur Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, belonging to his grandfather and eminent litterateur, Upendrakishor Ray Chowdhury, is being demolished. The property, presently owned by the Government of Bangladesh, is in a state of disrepair.”
“Given the building’s landmark status, symbolising Bangla cultural renaissance, it would be preferable to reconsider the demolition and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh. The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose,” the MEA said.
But what’s the history behind this property? How did India’s Satyajit Ray land up having property in Bangladesh?
The Ray Chowdhury palace in Bangladesh
Located on Harikishore Ray Chowdhury Road in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh is the ancestral house of Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Spread over a 36-acre plot, the house was originally built by Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, Ray’s grandfather and an eminent litterateur himself.
Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury is considered as the father of children’s literature in Bangla language. He is credited for his science articles for children and a variety of other works.
A zamindar from Masua in Kishoreganj’s Katiadi Upazila (sub-division), Ray Chowdhury erected the mansion almost a century ago. It included a residential palace, a prayer hall, and a kitchen. Adjacent to the prayer hall, there used to be a work space, commonly known as ‘Kachari Bari’. There was also a ‘garden house’, and elephant pond and a play ground. There was a small pond at the back side of the house and another pond with concrete ghat with many stairs at the front side.
Notably, Satyajit Ray never visited the house in Bangladesh — a fact that irks many residents, who live in the area. In fact, Rofiqul Huq Akhand, a historian, was quoted as saying, “Satyajit Ray never came to this home, and he never had any interest regarding this place. Then why do we call it Satyajit Ray’s home?”
According to him, the place should be called — ‘The ancestral home of Upendrakishore Ray’, because neither Satyajit nor his father Sukumar Ray bothered to come back here.
In subsequent years, the property came under government ownership and in 1989, began to house the Mymensingh Shishu Academy. However, the abandoned and crumbling structure has been out of use since 2007.
Calls to protect Ray’s ancestral house
According to officials in Bangladesh’s archaeology department, the Ray mansion in Mymensingh has been left abandoned for more than 10 years, resulting in it being reduced to ruins.
Owing to the state of disrepair to the house, the officials want to carry out the demolition of this structure and replace it with a new semi-concrete building with several rooms.
However, residents of the area have objected to the demolition of the historical house. Bangladeshi poet Shamim Ashraf was quoted as telling the Daily Star that over the years, locals have repeatedly called for its preservation, but to no avail.
“The house remained in a sorry state for years, with cracks forming on its roof — yet the authorities never cared about the rich history these old buildings hold.”
Sabina Yeasmin, field officer of the Department of Archaeology (Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions), also told The Daily Star that the house had not been officially listed with the department, but according to surveys, it was an archaeological heritage.
In fact, in February 2020, the Federation of Film Societies of India initiated an international campaign for restoration of the ancestral houses of the great masters Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen.
Indian officials intervene
Shortly after news reports emerged of Ray’s ancestral house being demolished in Bangladesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed concern and urged the Bangladeshi government to rethink its decision.
“I learnt from media reports that the memory-entwined ancestral house of renowned writer-editor Upendrakishore Roy Chowdhury in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh city is being demolished. The reports say that the demolition process had already begun. This is heartbreaking news,” Banerjee wrote on X.
“The Ray family is one of the most prominent torchbearers of Bengal’s culture. Upendrakishore was among the pillars of the Bengal Renaissance. I feel this house is inextricably linked to Bengal’s cultural history. I appeal to the Bangladeshi government and to all right-thinking people of that country to preserve this edifice of rich tradition. The Indian government should also intervene,” the chief minister added.
Earlier calls to protect Tagore’s ancestral house
What’s interesting is that this isn’t the first time that Indian officials have sought intervention in Bangladesh.
Earlier in June, West Bengal CM Banerjee had urged Prime Minister Modi to intervene when a mob had vandalised Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral home, the Kachharibari in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district. According to Bangladeshi officials, the incident occurred owing to a dispute between a visitor and museum staff over a motorcycle parking fee.
Tucked away in Shahzadpur, in the Sirajganj district of Bangladesh, the house was purchased in 1840 by Dwarkanath Tagore, Rabindranath’s grandfather, for Rs 13 and 10 annas during an auction.
Fifty years after it was first purchased, Rabindranath arrived at the Bangladesh property to manage his family’s estate. He spent multiple summers over the next decade, interacting with farmers and locals, overseeing land matters. This house also fuelled his literary creativity; in a letter to his niece, he even once wrote, “Here (in Shahzadpur) I feel more inspired to write than anywhere else.”
Years after his demise, in 1969, it was declared a protected archaeological site and later turned into the Rabindra Memorial Museum.
With inputs from agencies
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