Khardah. The descendants of these Goswámís are regarded as gurus, or spiritual guides, by the Vaishnavs, and they exercise great influence over their followers. Khardah has become a great place of pilgrimage for the sect, and large numbers flock thither on the occasion of the fairs held at the Dol and Rás Festivals.
The Rás temple at Khardah holds an image of Syámsundar or Krishna. The origin of this idol is as follows:—About three centuries ago, a Hindu devotee named Rudra proceeded to Gaur, and informed the Hindu Prime Minister of the Muhammadan Governor of the place, that God had ordered him to remove a particular stone which was above the doorway of the palace. This stone had the singular quality of sweating; and the Hindu Minister having pointed out to his master the tears which it shed, advised that so inauspicious a block should be sent away with all speed. It was ordered to be taken down; but as Rudra was placing it in the boat it fell into the water, and was miraculously carried to Ballabhpur, near Serampur, where Rudra resided. Part of the stone was fashioned into an image, and a splendid temple constructed over it. The Khardah Goswámís secured another piece of the sacred stone, and made the image of Syámsundar for their own temple, which has now become a source of considerable wealth. A short distance above the Khardah Vishnuvite temple is a cluster of 24 shrines dedicated to Siva.
Titagarh, a village and station on the Eastern Bengal Railway, between Khardah and Barrackpur, contains several country residences of European gentlemen. Although now only a small and an unimportant village, about seventy years ago the place was a scene of life and activity. It contained a dockyard, and the largest merchant vessel ever built on the Húglí was launched from it,—the Countess of Sutherland, of 1445 tons. No vestige of the dockyard remains at the present day.
Palta, a village on the Húglí, about two miles above Barrackpur, in Parganá Calcutta. Lat. 22° 47' 40"; long. 88° 24' 10". It contains a powder magazine, and is the place where the Grand Trunk Road from Calcutta leaves the District and crosses the Húglí towards the north-west. It is now better known as the place whence Calcutta draws its water supply, the distance being about fourteen miles. Dr. George Smith gives the following description of the waterworks: ‘The works include a jetty for landing machinery, coals, and filtering media, while it protects the two large suction pipes, thirty inches in
