Located 12 km west of Kolkata, Andul is one of the oldest settlements of Howrah district. On one occasion, Sri Chaitanya Dev visited Andul while heading to the Jagannath Temple in Puri. Thus, the place came to be known as ‘Andul’, which is derived from ‘Ananda Dhuli’, meaning the holy dust from the foot of Lord Chaitanya.
The main attraction of Andul is the colossal Anandadham, popularly known as Andul Rajbari. This massive but dilapidated mansion was built by Rajnarayan Roy in 1835. At present, the festival of Durga Puja is not celebrated inside the mansion, but inside a thakurdalan on the premises beside the Andul Rajbari. This is said to belong to the Dutta Chaudhury family, the first zamindars of Andul. The large complex of the Annapurna Temple is also found close to the rajbari.
Other important places to visit are the magnificent and well-maintained mansion of the Kundu Chaudhuris, built in 1816 by Ramkanta Kundu Chowdhury; the ‘Premikh Bhawan’ of Mahendranatha Bhattacharya, who composed a devotional song for Goddess Kali; and a semaphore tower built by the British as a part of an optical telegraph line in India.
This guided tour is free.
