Sandesh, one of Bengal’s most iconic sweets, transformed as sweet makers experimented with different sweetening agents, such as palm jaggery, sugarcane jaggery, and refined sugar. They crafted sandesh in a variety of moulds, infusing it with colours and flavours drawn from local fruits and flowers. The essences of orange, jackfruit, and rose were particularly popular, adding a fragrant and flavorful dimension to these delicacies.
Category: History
The Zenana System : History, Education & the Cosmopolitan Set-up
If gender is a social construct, then its impact is not only limited to enforcing behavioural norms but extends to power dynamics, politics of gender and forming patriarchal boundaries (in this case actual physical boundaries). The term “Zenana” originates from Persian, meaning “of the women” or “pertaining to women.” Women occupants themselves are euphemistically referred…
Kanpur as the centre of Revolutionary Activities
by Anushree Ghosh Kanpur, formerly known as Cawnpore, has a unique history of becoming the centre of revolutionary activities in India. Settled on the banks of the Ganga, geographically Kanpur was in a great strategic position. The first company trooped arrived in the city in the year 1770, at the request of the Nawab of…
Evolution of Bengali Cinema— the Cultural Nuances, Portrayal of the Society and the Transformation in Popular Culture – Part 1
The art cinema movement was set in motion with Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955). It was based on the story written by the Bengali author Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and was a testament to his deep engagement in Bengali literature which was inspired by Bengal’s deep-rooted reality. Ray’s international recognition, first at Cannes in 1956, and his presence on the international film scene worked to embed among common Bengalis the fascination for Bengali cinema.
Shekhawati — Havelis Reiterating The Tales of Glorious Days
Just how Orhan Pamuk’s ‘My Name is Red’ experiments with your imagination playing with the myriad hues, shapes, ideas, stories, and colours of the Ottoman Empire; Shekhawati enforces you to envision the tales of the most revered silk route period by carefully imbibing the murals on the walls. These murals are the display of the…