| Mallick Bari | |
|---|---|
মল্লিক বাড়ি | |
 Durga Puja Dalan at Mallick Bari | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Midnapore |
| Coordinates | 22°13′30″N87°11′42″E / 22.225°N 87.195°E /22.225; 87.195 |
TheMallick Bari is an erstwhileZamindaripalace orrajbari located in the district ofPaschim Medinipur,West Bengal,India. At present, the rajbari is one of Midnapore's most prominent heritage sites. Constructions commenced under Midnapore's then Zamindar Janmenjay Mallick,[1] several hundred years ago. In 1922, estate administration was taken over by theCourt of Wards.[2]Swapan Dasgupta has suggested that the estate's extent included areas of modern dayKharagpur, Debra,Moyna,Daspur,Midnapur, Narsingarh, Bhagwanpur, Patashpur,Dantan andBinpur.[3]
Mallick Bari palace was the official residence of the Zamindars ofMidnapore, among whomChowdhury Zamindar Jamini Nath Mallick[4] was the most prominent. It is after the titular surname of the dynastic aristocrats and the palace that the location has been named Mallick Chowk.[1] Among the notable aspects is the family's historic Durga Puja, started almost three centuries back, to avert theMaratha invasion of Bengal[5] under the command ofRaghuji Bhonsale, later King of Nagpur in today'sMaharashtra. Among the traditions are the practices of firing a cannon at the commencement of theSandhi Puja[5] to notify the other publicly organised pujas and pandals in the vicinity andKobi-Ganer Lorai, a form of Bengali folk performance that entailed a verbal duel among opponent poets,[1] patronised by former aristocrats in theBengal region. Apart from the familial Durga Puja, Jamini Mallick also patronised Chandi Puja in today'sEast Midnapore region.[6]
Active in the political sphere, in 1865, ChowdhuriBabu Janmenjay MallickBahadur, along with other prominent individuals like BabuRajnarayan Basu, Prasanna Chandra Bandyopadhyay andMaulavi Khairat Ali, founded the Midnapore Municipality, under the aegis of thenDistrict Magistrate and Collector.[7] Jamini Nath Mallick, later Zamindar and one of the district's wealthiest individuals,[8] was also once reprimanded by the colonial government for his association with revolutionaries and funding several movements.[9] He was convicted, along with Raja Narendralal Khan[10] of theNarajole Raj Estate, in the Midnapore Bomb Conspiracy Case[11] in 1911.[8]
Over the years, the family built long-standing ties with theAnushilan Samiti andJugantar Dal. In December, 1907,Khudiram Bose,Barindra Kumar Ghosh, andSatyendranath Basu stayed at the rajbari and Chaudhuri Jamini Mallick played a key role in the unsuccessful wrecking attempt on the Lieutenant GovernorAndrew Henderson Leith Fraser's train nearNarayangarh, Paschim Medinipur.[12]
Among the notable architectural standards are the palace, built in theneoclassical style, and theDurga Dalan, constructed in theDo-Chala pattern of theVaishnavite temples ofBishnupur. Apart from these, there are twelveShaivite temples dedicated to theHindu GodShiva at Shibbajar, a Rasmancha, site of the famedRas Purnima celebrations of the palace, and a few water bodies and canals constructed by Janmenjay Mallick.[13] In 1878, one of the district's firsttheatrical performances was held at theNatmandir, constructed in theat-chala style of temple architecture, within the palatial quarters. This was also for the first time that the foot-light technique had come to be used in dramatics.[14] Among the most prominent personalities who advocated for and regularly patronised dramatics wereChowdhuri Kumar Joggeshwar Mallick andChowdhuriKumar Jogendranath Mallick, brothers ofChowdhuri Zamindar Jamini Mallick Bahadur. Two of the first dramatic performances - ‘Ramabhishek’ and ‘Pravabati’, were organised by their theatrical association, which also included severalMagistrates andZamindari Rajas, and was patronised bySirNilratan Sircar.[14]
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