In the autumn of 1776, the air over the newly cleared flatlands of Jagtai carried a scent it had never known before: the heavy, resinous smoke of burned dhuno blending with the crispness of the oncoming season.
The family had not always belonged to this land. Their roots lay across the waters in Pabna, where they lived as a landed aristocratic family. Following the death of her husband, Babu Saheblal Choudhury, Rani Gaurangini Choudhurani took her family and moved to Sherpur, near Nimtita in Murshidabad. However, the mighty river Ganga proved to be a volatile neighbor. Every monsoon, its waters would breach the banks, submerging Sherpur and threatening to wash away everything they possessed.
Driven by fierce determination and a refusal to be at the mercy of the river, Gaurangini Devi made a bold choice. She looked inland toward a wild, unclaimed tract of land known as Jagtai, which was then a dense jungle of tall straw. Under her command, the wilderness was systemically cleared, and the foundational stones of the grand Choudhury Villa were laid into the soil. Local lore even speaks of her formidable courage—once fiercely protesting the presence of British houseboats at the women’s bathing ghats, an act of defiance that earned her deep respect from both locals and authorities.
Once the estate was established, Rani Gaurangini Devi handed over the reins of the zamindari to her son, Babu Keshto Mohun Choudhury. As his first major act of leadership, and to declare that the family had finally found a permanent sanctuary away from the floods, he decreed that they would host their own Durga Puja within the newly constructed Thakur Dalan.
The year 1776 carried a heavy political atmosphere across Bengal. The East India Company had firmly gripped the region’s administration, and grand, public “Company Pujas” were beginning to emerge in Calcutta. But in Jagtai, the atmosphere was deeply spiritual and communal. Local artisans were brought in to sculpt a traditional Ekchala idol—where Goddess Durga and her children were framed beneath a single, magnificent chalchitra, their features painted with the classic, elongated eyes typical of the era.
When the sounds of the dhak (traditional drums) echoed through the columns of the Thakur Dalan on Bodhon night, it wasn’t just a celebration for the elite. The villagers who had spent months clearing the straw jungles flocked to the courtyard, welcomed as equals to share in the grand feasts and witness the arati. As Babu Keshto Mohun offered the first pushpanjali to the Goddess, the centuries-old tradition of the Jagtai Choudhury Bari Durga Puja was officially born—cementing a legacy of resilience, survival, and rebirth that continues to be remembered to this day.