Gopalpur-On-Sea Odisha’s Hidden Time Capsule

By- Anil Dhir

Gopalpur-On-Sea was originally a small fishing hamlet on the southern coast of Odisha. Named after the ‘Krishna Gopal’ temple built in the 18th Century, the village’s antiquity stretches back to a much earlier age when Odisha had a rich maritime tradition. The early Kalingans had sailed to Java, Bali and Sumatra carrying the seeds of Indian civilization with them. It was a flourishing port on the eastern coast for years. The East India Company had built huge warehouses and godowns for trade with Burma. Even passenger ships sailed from the place, taking indentured labourers for the rubber plantations and railways in Burma and South East Asia.

Ultimate beauty of Gopalpur-On-Sea (Brahmapur)

In 1911, when the British shifted their capital to New Delhi, Kolkata developed a number of satellite getaway resorts like Kurseong, Kalimpong and Diamond Harbor. Gopalpur was known for its magnificent beach and was discovered as a perfect winter resort. Many Bristishers, Armenians and a few wealthy Bengalis made it their holiday home. Many Christian missions set up training schools and seminaries, a few of which still exist. Soon hotels and guesthouses lined the seafront. There were gas lights, wooden dance floors, and dancing and parties that continued till the early hours.

The road rounds a curve and stretching infinitely are the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal. The British put the suffix ‘on sea’, similar to the names of little English fishing villages like Middleton-on-sea, Frankton-on-sea and so many others

The road to Gopalpur from the railhead at Berhampur meanders through coconut plantations and casuarina groves, before sharply dipping downwards through the narrow marketplace. The road rounds a curve and stretching infinitely are the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal. The British put the suffix ‘on sea’, similar to the names of little English fishing villages like Middleton-on-sea, Frankton-on-sea and so many others. The pristine beach, the picturesque fisher folk, swaying palms and the salubrious climate made it the favourite rest and recreation place for those who could afford it.

In 1914, Signor Maglioni, an Italian businessman was charmed by the palm fringed beach of the languorous place, where the silence was broken only by the breakers and the occasional coconut thudding on the ground. He established the ‘Palm Beach Hotel’ in 1914, building it in the Mediterranean architectural style. It was the first hotel of the State and probably the first beach resort of the country.

Between the two World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945) Gopalpur was overrun by the men in Khakis and became the eastern sectors base for ferrying out troops and supplies to Rangoon. In 1945, after the end of the World War II, India inched towards being an independent nation. By the 1947, most of the British had left Indian shores and the commercial activity of Gopalpur had dwindled to a trickle. The once vibrant emblazoned ball rooms gaped at open skies. The busy wharfs crashed down and the warehouses became seedy gateways for derelicts. After the British left India, even the rich Bengalis preferred to holiday in other places and Gopalpur began to revert to what it originally was – a small fishing village.

Gopalpur-On-Sea (Brahmapur)

Many of the smaller bungalows along the seafront were taken over and developed by retired Anglo-Indians from Kolkata. These guest houses had names like White Hart, Smith’s Place, Homestead, Ocean View, Christopher Lodge, Colbon House and Sea View, The Anchorage and Wroxham House and Blue Haven. They were run on the lines of British Bed and Breakfast cottages. Their location was fantastic, overlooking the blue Bay. Beautifully maintained, they were a stark contrast to the crumbling ruins that lay alongside.

Rai Bahadur M.S Oberoi took over the Palm Beach Hotel in 1946. On a chance visit to Gopalpur, his keen eyes did not miss the state of disrepair that the hotel had fallen to. His instinct smelled a bargain and Maglioni was only too happy to sell it for a paltry three lac rupees, thereby enabling the Oberoi legend to root itself as the ‘Oberoi Palm Beach’. After its door opened, the who’s who of the country, from Prime Ministers, to celebrities and royalty left their impressions behind along with their footprints on the sands of time.

On a recent trip to the place, I once again went and met Mrs. Rosalind Dutt, the innkeeper of the Mermaid Motel. I had stayed at the place years ago, and remembered how she made me walk her dogs in return for a free meal. She is the last of the old lot who has stuck to the place. Mrs. Dutt is of Armenian ascent, she had moved to Gopalpur in 1983, after taking over the old property of the Brahma Kumari’s on the seafront. She renovated the core structure from scratch, lovingly touching up the details, reinventing the old magic, preserving the memories. After the death of her husband, she ran the place for years. Her ill health forced her to convert into a girl’s hostel for a couple of years. She had a bypass surgery after which she came back and restarted the inn. She stays in a quaint cottage aptly named Dutt Cottage adjoining the Motel. The place is kept spic and span by her staff comprising of locals. They serve traditionally cooked food from the kitchen.

For me it was a trip down memory lane. I had spent a week at Gopalpur in 1985 and stayed at the place. We comprised of a group of ghost hunters and spent many nights in the ruined buildings which were believed to be haunted. After a week of ghost busting, we gave up and had returned disappointed. Mrs. Dutt had sternly warned against disturbing the ghosts and threatened to throw us out of her place.

I met the sweet old lady and spent a couple of hours with her. I borrowed a bike and went around the small place, visiting the dilapidated old buildings. I visited two dozen of these old bungalows; all of them were in a state of near collapse. With plaster peeling off and tiles missing from the roofs, thick vegetation growing from the walls and roofs, they wore a forlorn air of neglect. Carved doors and windows hung loosely from their hinges. Some of the old grandeur was still evident, the roof beams and carven pillars had survived the years. Some of them still had the floor tiles in place.

Ocean View, the red bungalow that Geoffrey Moorehouse had written about in his book “Calcutta” is in a slightly better state, but abandoned. The road outside Mrs. Dutt cottage, like all the streets in Gopalpur-on-Sea, is adrift with sand which has blown up from the beach fifty yards away, leaving only a small channel of cracked tarmacadam for pedestrians in between its shallow banks.

There is certainly something else in the place. The easy familiarity, the otherworldly nature of a land that has escaped the world as it changes around it and the simple lives of the local fishing community is charming. Today, this small fishing village is again attracting attention and trying to become a popular holiday resort.

Courtesy -udayindia.in/August 14, 2015

George Fernandes was in Berhampur city as Indira Gandhi declared Emergency on the night of June 25, 1975

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes, who passed away recently, was in Berhampur City (Ganjam) when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi proclaimed Emergency in the country on the night of June 25, 1975.

On that day, Fernandes, a fiery socialist leader, was attending a meeting of intellectuals at Prakasham Theatre in Berhampur in the evening. While addressing the gathering, he apprehended that Indira Gandhi would either resign or might undemocratically declare Emergency in the country to retain power in her hands.

The police and the administration on being alerted beforehand had readied themselves to crack down on the dissidents.

Fernandes fled the scene when the meeting was on in Prakasham Theatre in the City. Former Kabisuryanagar MLA-cum-Janata Party leader late Tarini Charan Patnaik and environmentalist-cum-tribal rights activist Prafulla Samantara and others had helped the socialist leader escape from the scene.

He had arrived in Berhampur on June 24, 1975 and was staying at his father-in-law Humayun Kabir’s house on Gopalpur-On-Sea beach near Berhampur City, Odisha. Humayun Kabir was the Education Minister in former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet.

George Fernande's June 25th schedule in Berhampur was packed. He attended a meeting of the Berhampur University Employees Association, a meeting with socialist leaders and workers and a gathering of intellectuals in the evening.

He was scheduled to attend a meeting of the Railways Workers Association on June 26 in Berhampur City but before that he fled the Silk City secretly.

Fernandes was the National President of the All India University Employees Association and the Railways Workers' Federation at that time.

A warrant was issued in Fernandes' name and subsequently he went underground to escape arrest and prosecution. When the police failed to capture him, they arrested and tortured his brother, Lawrence Fernandes, to reveal his brother's whereabouts. 

On 10 June 1976, he was finally arrested in Calcutta on charges of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the imposition of emergency, in what came to be known as the Baroda dynamite case. After his arrest, Amnesty International members cabled the Government requesting that he be given immediate access to a lawyer and that his physical protection be guaranteed. 

Three world leaders from Germany, Norway and Austria were believed to have cabled Indira Gandhi and cautioned her against harming Fernandes. From Baroda, the accused were shifted to Tihar Jail but the accused were never chargesheeted.

Brahmapur born globally recognized scientist & IIT Kharagpur alumnus Dr.Prakash Patnaik gets prestigious 'NATO AWARD' for contributions to science

#FUTUREBRAHMAPUR CONGRATULATES DR.PRAKASH PATNAIK FOR THIS AWARD & FOR HIS GREAT CONTRIBUTIONS TO AEROSPACE SCIENCE

How did Prakash Patnaik contribute to science?

Dr. Prakash Patnaik hails from Berhampur, Odisha. At present, Dr Patnaik is leading the Defence Technology and Sustainment Program at the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) as Principal Research Scientist at NRC’s Aerospace Research Centre in Ottawa, Canada.

He joined NRC in 2002 as Chief of Aerospace Materials and in 2006 became Director of R&D at NRC. He is among the very few Indians to hold such a coveted post in the domain of science and technology in Canada.

Dr Patnaik has made significant contributions in the domain of Aerospace Materials and Protective Coating Technologies including more than 140 research papers in international journals and conferences.

Chairman of the Applied Vehicle Technology Panel of the NATO-STO, as well as the Director of the NATO-STO’s Collaboration Support Office in Paris, cited the expertise of Dr Patnaik in the field of high-temperature metal alloys and coatings used in gas turbine engines which has strengthened the core of Applied Vehicle Technology business of NATO-STO.