Bengali stamp on Awadh’s culture and milieu endured

Long before people from everywhere migrated to Lucknow, it was second home to several Bengalis who shaped the city's education, culture and intellectual life.A walk under ‘Calcutta Lucknow Ka' banner organised as part of Sanatkada Festival, traced the Bengali presence in late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Lucknow emerged as an important centre of education, law and administration under British rule, informed Adity Chakravarty, leading the walk. Bengalis arrived as teachers, lawyers, clerks, artists and thinkers, settling in areas such as Sunder Bagh colony, Model House Park, Hewett Road, Nazar Bagh, and Jogendra Pathak Road. Over time, they were deeply embedded in the city's social and cultural fabric, she said.
Moving through landmarks like Boys' Anglo Bengali Inter College and Bengali Club, participants learned how these spaces evolved into centres of learning, debate and community life. Bengali Club & Youngmen's Association, established in 1892, was later strengthened by figures like Atul Krishna Sinha, a railway engineer who came to Lucknow in 1901 and promoted theatre, art and culture. Several prominent Bengalis left a lasting imprint on the city. Atul Prasad Sen—AP Sen Road in Charbagh area is named after him—was a writer and organiser of literary gatherings, who served as president of the Bengali Club and worked to consolidate community institutions. Artist Asit Kumar Haldar, associated with Bengal School of Art, became first Indian principal of Lucknow University's Arts College, symbolising cultural exchange between Calcutta and Lucknow. Bengali Club also witnessed historic moments, including Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's visit in 1938, giving it political as well as cultural significance. "Bengalis did not live on the margins of Lucknow; they were part of its everyday life," said Adity.