Rural Immersion Project

Ambika Kalna, the block under which Akalpoush is located, has a rich heritage. It lies on the banks of the river Hooghly and is about 60 kilometres from the town of Bardhaman. 

 

Kalna is the nearest centre which has several cooperatives and banks and is a busy trading centre for all the neighbouring villages. Several banks like SBI Agricultural Development Branch, UBI, UCO, ICICI, Axis, HDFC, BOI, and UBC have their branches at Kalna with Customer Service Points (CSPs) in the villages. 

 

Bardhaman is known as the "rice bowl" of Bengal. Villages like Akalpoush, Panchrokhi, Anukhal, Nepakuli, Singerkone, Baidyapur, Agradah, Tehata, among others, produce high yields of rice, potatoes, and jute. To support the needs of the farmers, several rice mills and cold storages have also been constructed near these villages.

 

Akalpoush is famous for its weaver community who produce handwoven khadi muslin cloth that is exported. It is also famous for the tangail and jamdani saree designs. Each weaver family, who form a small close knit community, owns at least two looms, and men, women, and children take turns to work on the loom. Businesses are run by cooperatives operating from Kalna and Nabadwip.

 

Fishing is also an important occuptation of the villagers. Big ponds, usually owned by village community centres or absentee land owners, are leased out (for 3 years 6 lakhs) for fishing activities. 

 

Self-help groups (SHGs) are involved in saree embroidery, tailoring, rakhi and bindi making and production of handmade paper packets. Mid-day meals in the schools are usually serviced by local SHGs. Microfinancing institutions provide the funding for these SHGs and cottage industries. 

 

This region boasts of producing many famous personalities in all fields, be it religion, social work, literature, science, business, cinema or fine arts. 

 

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a saint and social reformer, was from Nabadwip, a neighbouring town of Kalna. His teachings inspired the Bhakti movement in Bengal. The tamarind tree which he is said to have rested under is a place of religious interest. 

 

Debaki Bose, a doyen of Bengali films from 1930s to 1960s, was born in Akalpoush. He was a director, writer, and actor of Bengali movies and made major contributions in the area of background music and sound in Indian movies.

 

Bhabapagla was a writer and composer of devotional songs. He is said to have created almost 10,000 songs that are still sung today. He was a proponent of baul music and many notable musicians perform in the annual celebrations organized by his disciples.

 

Kalna also has a Rajbari which displays magnificent terracotta tiles from the 18th century. There is a 108-Shiva-linga temple attached to the palace with a unique architecture. Each Shiva-linga is situated two concentric circles, and actually cover 360 degree trajectory of the sun.

 

Kalna is famous for its makha sandesh, indigenous sweet made only from cow’s milk. Kalna’s vibrant market place have loads to offer from their locally produced handicraft to silk scarves.

 

Being a temple town it has several temples dedicated to Kali, Ma Ambika and Shiva. Famous among them is the Siddheswari Kali Mandir. Due to its proximity to Nabadwip and Mayapur, the seat of ISKCON community, it attracts a lot of foreign tourists. The cultural mix adds richness to this ancient temple town.