Barisha, India

Barisha (বড়িশা) is a residential locality of Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India. Historically, it one of the oldest boroughs in Kolkata. It was the abode of the great Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. Barisha is known today for being the home of the Indian Cricket idol Sourav Ganguly. It is one of the major educational and cultural hubs of the metropolis.

Barisha is situated in the southwest of Kolkata about 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the city centre Esplanade. Although originally a separate village, it is now under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and is spread over four wards: the 123, 124, 125 and 126. The area starts from Vivekananda Women's College in the north and is spread to Thakurpukur in the south. The Diamond Harbour Road and the James Long Sarani runs through the heart of Barisha.

The origin of the name is a matter of research. According to the sources of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury Paribar Parishad three theories have been put forward.

Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury got the Jaigirdari of huge area of lands in CE 1608 from Man Singha. It was then that the place of Barisha came under his dominion. He started a durga puja here in CE 1610, which is at present the oldest durga puja of Bengal. Also in total, eight durga pujas are being held in the family at present. The descendants of Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury later on started living here from the year CE 1716 and carried on developmental works and since then it is the biggest settlement of the Sabarna family.

The family also established other pujas like Chandi puja, Jagatdhatri puja etc. and also founded a large number of temples like the Annapurna Temple, Radhakanto temple, Dwadash Shiva Temples etc. The Barisha Rathayatra Utsav started in 1719 is one of the oldest in the city and is quite famous.Sabarna Prithivi

There is also a Lord Jagannath Temple(at least 150 years old) at Sakherbazar.

Barisha is also renowned for the Durga pujas. The six Durga Pujas of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family are world famous. The Aatchala Bari hosts the oldest Durga puja of Kolkata which dates back to 1610, when the first Jaigirdar of the Sabarna Family Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury started the family puja at Barisha, which was a prosperous village of his donimion. The other pujas of the Sabarna family at Barisha are those of Baro Bari, Mejobari, Kalikingkar Bhawan, Benaki Bari, and Majher Bari.Sabarna Prithivi

...
Wikipedia