File:Chandpal Ghat.jpg

English: There was a time, when Chandpal Ghat (Chundpaul Gaut or Ghaat) was the busiest ferry Ghat of Calcutta, and it retained the ‘busiest’ title for quite a long time, until the railways started to operate in the Country. The name of the Ghat was mentioned as the southernmost Ghat on Hooghly, in the ‘Plan of Fort William and part of the city of Calcutta’ surveyed in 1753. Chandpal Ghat created history, when Sir Philip Francis and his fellow Councillors of the Supreme Council of India under the East India Company, disembarked here in 1774. Since then it belonged to a separate class, a class that is apart from the other Ghats of Calcutta. Lord Cornwallis was the first Governor General of India, who landed at this Ghat on 12th September 1786. With time, Chandpal Ghat became the gateway, not only of Calcutta, but also of British India. Its importance was increased, as Calcutta became the most important trading centre in India. Usually a Ghat is named after a deity or a celebrity who founded it for the benefit of the commoners. But Chandpal Ghat is absolutely an exception to this custom. Chandpal was neither a rich man nor an eminent person, he was simply a most ordinary man from unknown family. He was a petty shop owner, who used to sell the necessary household items by the side of the Ghat. With time, the name of the petty person became synonym of the Ghat. Address: 1, Strand Bank Rd, Fairley Place, BBD Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal 700001.