Opinion | How The Holy Ganga Forcibly Became Secular Hooghly

Bengal must restore the sanctity of the river by calling it once again by its traditional name

In 2023, rather belatedly, Ganga Arati on the riverbank unmistakeably similar to the hugely popular one at Varanasi began to be conducted every evening in Kolkata. Today, it’s a must-attend for tourists. Around the same time a Kumbh Mela also restarted up-river, held at the same time as the more famous one at Prayagraj. The natural question that comes to mind is, “Why on earth is the Ganga called Hooghly or Hugli then as it flows past the capital of West Bengal?"

More so as this undoubtedly ugly name was not given by locals. The Ganga bifurcates as it enters West Bengal from Bihar, with one distributary veering off into Bangladesh as the Padma. The one that remains in India is called the Bhagirathi. But once Bhagirathi/Ganga reaches the 16th century Portuguese trading post of Fort Ugolim (Bandel), its name changes to Hooghly, a corruption of that Portuguese word. And this name was readily adopted by the British.

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Hundreds of years of Islamic rule, European traders flocking to establish trading posts on the river and, finally, Calcutta becoming the headquarters of British Raj all contributed to the inexorable de-consecration—secularisation—of India’s holiest river in the final stages of its journey to the sea. Retaining the name Bhagirathi would hark back the river’s sacred status, clearly did not suit either the Muslim conquerors or their white successors whose focus was commerce.

Obviously the ‘firinghees’ preferred Hooghly: most foreigners........

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