I was travelling towards Kolkata through the Grand Trunk Road (GT Road) when I saw this monument at Chinsurah and stopped to take a few pictures. I had no idea about the fascinating history associated with it. Today before posting the photos, I searched about it and much to my surprize I find that this structure/monument is the mausoleum of a Dutch lady named “Susanne Anna Maria” who died in 1809. It is an Archaeological Survey of India protected site. The neo-classical and baroque hybrid monument is a classic example of Indo-Dutch architecture. The drum of the dome contains an inscription which read as: "SUSANNA ANNA MARIA YEATS REBOORE VERKERK OBiIT 12 MAY ANNO 1809". The tomb is locally famous as 'Saat Saheber Bibir Kobor' (Grave of the Wife of Seven Europeans) or 'Memsaheber Kobor' (Grave of European Lady) though the official records only vouch for her two husbands. This had inspired Ruskin Bond to write his short story, ‘Susanna's Seven Husbands’ which further was adopted into the Hindi film ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ (7 Murders Forgiven) by Vishal Bharadwaj. Also this monument is an exact replica of Tammerus Canter Visscher's mausoleum in Cossimbazar, Bangladesh (View: https://i0.wp.com/indianvagabond.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Places-To-Visit-Around-Cossimbazar-19.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1).
Also read this interesting article on the mausoleum (though in Bengali): https://www.anandabazar.com/west-bengal/howrah-hooghly/tomb-of-susanna-anna-maria-or-dutch-mandir-has-been-standing-for-200-years-in-chisurah-dgtld/cid/1264494 .
#Chinsurah #India #archaeologicalsurveyofindia
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW1BMrK3mLQ