Prinsep Ghat is a beautiful Ghat built during the regime of British East India Company, along the river bank of Hooghly and on its bank on Kolkata side. The Palladian porch in the memory of eminent British Oriental James Prinsep. James Prinsep was an English scholar and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (West Bengal) and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts of ancient India. He studied, documented and illustrated many aspects of numismatics, metallurgy, meteorology apart from pursuing his career in India as an assay master at the mint in Varanasi. He was famous for deciphering the inscriptions of Ashoka. The monument of Prinsep Ghat was designed by W. Fitzgerald and later constructed in 1843.
Prinsep Ghat is situated between the Water Gate and the St George`s Gate of the Fort William. Prinsep Ghat was built in 1841 and named after James Prinsep, the Anglo-Indian scholar and antiquary. The monument rich in Greek and Gothic inlays was restored by the state`s public works department in November 2001 and has since been well-maintained. In its initial years, all the royal British entourages used the Prinsep Ghat jetty for embarkation/disembarkation.
Prinsep Ghat is one of the oldest recreational spots of Kolkata. People come here in evenings on weekends to have stroll along the bank, with many food-stalls selling variety of road-side foods. There one can see a flock of amateur and professional photographers clicking the historical site. Princep Ghat also carries the reputation of number of Bollywood and Tollywood movies like Parineeta and Autograph.
Prinsep Ghat also has a railway station named after it, which falls under Kolkata Circular Railway and maintained by Eastern Railway. There is a jetty nearby called the Man-O-War jetty that belongs to the Kolkata Port Trust and commemorates the role played by the Port in the Second World War. The jetty is mainly used by the Indian Navy, and is properly maintained.
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