Weekly Photo Challenge – Tour Guide

I stumbled upon this weekly photo challenge just a while ago. The topic for this week is Tour Guide – What do you love about where you live? I was born in the capital of Bengal – Kolkata or Calcutta as the city of Joy used to be referred to as earlier but I grew up in a small town of Bengal called Berhampore. After my plus two, I moved cities for higher education and then for job assignments but whenever I use the word home, it always means Berhampore. It still does. The town is a part of the heritage district of Murshidabad.

My husband and I had come down for a small vacation here with our toddler. But this time around, I decided to take a trip down the town to discover the history and essence of the place. This was going to be part of my travel diaries. The more I get to know this place, the more intrigued I feel. Sometimes having stayed in a place for too long, we start taking it for granted. Now that I hardly get to visit this place, I realize how little I have explored it till date.

The set of pictures is taken in Katra Masjid in Murshidabad. The place houses a mosque or rather remnants of a mosque after massive destruction caused by an earthquake and a Lord Shiva Temple in the same premises. The owner of this place – Nawab Murshid Quli Khan on whose name the district town is called Murshidabad is believed to be a Hindu by birth but was sold to Muslim clergy at a tender age. While most of the pillars and interiors of the mosque have been severely affected by the earthquake, the place is still a tourist destination for people visiting the town. At a time when religion is a primary factor in dividing the world, it is heartwarming to see this historical co-existence of two religions in the form of a mosque and temple.

Author: Sonia Chatterjee

Who am I? An erstwhile banker turned blogger/writer/author. Any qualifications? A Post-Graduate degree in Chemistry followed by a second Post-Graduate Diploma in Management. Currently, I am pursuing a one-year MFA in creative writing course from the Writer's Village University, U.S. Though I must admit that I am still trying to figure out how and when I can connect all these dots. Have I done any real work? If two years in market research, six years in banking as a branch head two-and-a-half years in blogging and publishing a book can be considered as real work, then yes. Where do I live? After spending life like a nomad for sixteen years in Delhi, Bangalore & Mysore, I am back to where it all started from - Kolkata. My favorite things - Books, coffee, travel, food, and my four-and-a-half-year-old son. What is this blog about? Through Sonia's musings, I intend to explore writing in various genres, create social awareness, spread laughter and channelize emotions through words and pictures. Anything for readers? You can check out my book 'Deal of Death' on Amazon Kindle. If you like fast-paced thrillers, this Detective fiction introducing the woman sleuth, Raya Ray could turn out to be your perfect weekend read. View all posts by Sonia Chatterjee