Lal Dighi - History

History

Lal Dighi in Dihi Kalikata was there before the arrival of Job Charnock.Sabarna Roy Choudhury had a kutchery (court-house) and a temple of its family deity Shyam Rai, near Lal Dighi. It was so named possibly because of the red colour the water acquired during dol, the festival of colours. The court-house was first taken on rent and later purchased by the British East India Company.

Some jackals were howling on one of the banks of the tank. Further away another larger animal was breathing heavily. A few horses released from their carriages were savouring the grass, but in the indistinct moonlight Trilochan Das could not recognise them from a distance. He felt a bit scared. Waves of glow worms blown by the winds formed alternative patches of light and darkness.

On getting into water in a tank, Trilochan Das was used to removing the moss by thumping around. However, the water in that tank was crystal clear. It was the favourite Great Tank or Lal Dighi of the English. They did not drink water from that tank but they sometimes dropped the fishing lines in the afternoons or embarked upon swimming competitions. The water in the tank was protected for possible use in case of a sudden fire somewhere. Natives were prohibited from going there.

After getting into knee deep water, Trilochan Das first washed his face. He drank the water to his heart’s content. Then as he attempted to get up, after filling up his pot, two guards came running after him…

There are other theories and stories about Lal Dighi. Some say that the reflection of the red colour of the old fort used to sparkle in the water of the tank and so it acquired its name. According to another school of belief, Lalchand Basak, had dug the immense pond and it came to be known as Lal Dighi after his name.

Prankrishna Dutta had given yet another history in Nabyabharat. According to him, the tank was dug by either Mukundaram Seth of Gobindapur or his son. He had a court house there, where dol festival was celebrated in a big way. The tank became red or crimson with the colours used and hence the name.

Whatever may have been its beginning, it was deepened and lengthened in 1709 and converted from a dirty pond full of weeds and noxious matter into a much needed reservoir of sweet water.

In the 18th century Tank Square was, ‘in the middle of the city’. It covers upwards of 25 acres (100,000 m2) of ground. ‘It was dug” says the Dutch admiral Stavorinus who visited the settlement in 1770, ‘by order of Government, to provide the inhabitants of Calcutta with water, which is very sweet and pleasant. The number of springs which it contains makes the water in it almost on the same level. It is railed around, no one may wash in it.’ The tank was formerly more extensive, but was cleansed and embanked completely in Warren Hastings’ time. It has always been esteemed the sweetest water in Calcutta, and until the introduction of municipal water supply, was the chief source of supply of drinking water to the European community.