A blue plaque identifying the house of Rani Rashmoni in Janbazar in central Kolkata was put up outside the building on Friday by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
The civic body said it intended to install similar plaques in front of all Grade I heritage buildings in the city.
The objective behind putting up such plaques is to make people aware about the history of the structures and give birth to a sense of pride in the city among the residents, said a KMC official.
Houses in London where famous people lived or epoch-making events took place have blue plaques installed outside.
In Kolkata, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) has installed blue plaques outside 40 buildings, but most of them are popular heritage structures, including eateries and social clubs.
“We put up a circular blue plaque outside the main entrance to Rani Rashmoni’s house in Janbazar. It is a 14-inch diameter circular plaque. The font size of the text is large enough for people to read it,” said a KMC official.
“We will put up such plaques outside about 100 houses in the first phase. The houses in Boroughs I and II of the Kolkata municipal area that are listed as Grade I heritage buildings will have such plaques installed outside as part of a pilot project. Gradually, it will be expanded across the city,” said the official.
Rani Rashmoni started living in the Janbazar building after her marriage.
“The house belonged to her husband’s family. Post-marriage, this was her primary address. Though she visited other places to look after the zamindari, this was where she lived,” said Bhaskar Chakraborty, a retired professor of history at Calcutta University.
It was while living at the Janbazar house that Rashmoni built the Dakshineswar Kali temple. “Sri Ramakrishna had visited this house during Durga Puja and offered puja to the deity dressed as a woman. Ramakrishna had also offered puja to Jagadhatri at the house,” said Mitul Hazra Tarafdar, a sixth-generation descendant of Rani Rashmoni.
The house was built by Rashmoni’s father-in-law Pritiram Marh in 1790, she said.
A similar plaque will be installed outside a gate of the KMC headquarters in the Esplanade area.
The KMC official said a contractor had been chosen to make 100 plaques with the names of the structures written on them.
