Woman Times walks around the ‘City of Joy‘ to find The Hanging Bridge, a spot to venture in weekends. Read to know it better.
Uncertainty always pulls me as it is the gateway to adventure. And how about an adventure in a known place? Yes, a known place! The Hanging Bridge in Rabindra Sarobar or Dhakuria Lake is right in the hurly-burly of the city with an unknown identity and wears a forlorn look awaiting its admirers but only to be dejected at large. Stepping out of a transport and getting through the passage the view is breath-taking. Allegorically, ‘the–arm-spread-hanging-bridge’ looked like a young girl and the lake its protector draping beneath the bridge which also gives an opportunity for the swans to play. Standing on the bridge to a large horizon is a subtle peace adorned by the beauty of the bridge, a 25 feet deep lake and nature. It sets a perfect frame for scenic synchronisation of tranquillity, adventurous voyage and photography. The hanging bridge gives a befitting surrounding and is a definite place for lone-seeking lovers. Though just when the bridge starts, the opposite wall refrains lover saying ‘No lover point’ which is seldom adhered to by the desperate love devotees.
In the lap of Southern Avenue, the picture perfect surroundings create the urge to track the history of its making. The inscription on the iron plate above the cable-stayed bridge states its inception since the colonial culture way back in 1926 constructed by Burn & Co. connecting the island with the Lake Mosque to the Western shore. Approximately 76 hectares area spins the magic of the trio – the bridge, the mosque and the lake. Sheikh Zaheeruddin pioneered to construct the mosque in the year 1824 who interestingly dreamt of the mosque in sleep long back he constructed it. The mosque holds mass prayer in the month of Ramzan every year. The legacy has been passed on from generations to generations and the small mosque is now a historical spot bearing a century old tradition with traces of colonisation as evident with the presence of cannons lying on the west bank of the lake found during the excavation in the early 1920s.
Certainly, words may not be apt to define the naturally historical experience and only one gets that tinge of enthusiasm on visiting this mesmerising trio. If you often fall for one plus one offer this shall give you one plus two offer and in a single package you get to know the combined natural and man-made beauty of the ‘city of joy’. Flavours of British India served hot on the platter of the lake with the spice of mosque, it dares you to leave the place not admired or unattended.
