Archaeological site, Magura
Chandidas and Rajakini's Ghat, Shatakhaliশতখালীর চণ্ডীদাস ও রজকিনীর ঘাট
- Time needed
- About 45 minutes.
- best months
- Nov–Feb
Where local tradition places the poet Chandidas and the washerwoman Rajakini: the pool where he fished, and Dhopakhali across it, with old pottery shards.
At a glance
- Place
- Shatakhali village, Shalikha
- From Magura
- About 22 km
About
The love of the medieval poet Chandidas for Rajakini, a washerman's daughter, is one of Bengal's best-loved stories. Several places claim the poet; historians tie the author of the Srikrishna Kirtan to Nanoor in Birbhum, in West Bengal. Shatakhali, in Shalikha, keeps its own tradition, and it is a vivid one.
People here show you the doha, a deep pool, where Chandidas is said to have fished with a line. On one bank live families who count themselves his descendants. The other bank is called Dhopakhali para, after Rajakini's washerman family, and very old shards of pottery still turn up in the soil there. Come for the story and the water, and leave the shards where they lie.
Getting there: About 22 km from Magura town in Shatakhali union, Shalikha: a bus towards Shalikha, then a van to Shatakhali.
Things to do
- See the pool where Chandidas is said to have fished.
- Cross to Dhopakhali para and hear the story from the villagers.
Good to know
- The shards are part of the site: do not take any.
- Banks can be slippery after rain.
