The Haldarpukur & Village Ponds

Ramakrishna's biography makes extensive reference to the ponds (tanks) and waterways of Kamarpukur, which were the social and domestic infrastructure of nineteenth-century village life. The principal tank associated with the family is the Haldarpukur, a large rectangular pond whose stepped edges are still used for bathing in the early morning. Standing at its edge in the pre-dawn light, watching the first bathers descend the steps into the still water, with the temple shikhars visible above the surrounding trees, is to experience a scene that has changed in its essentials very little in two centuries. Beyond Haldarpukur, visitors can trace other sites of spiritual significance, such as Lakshmijala, to its west, the small paddy field granted to Khudiram Chattopadhyay, and Bhutir Khal, a secluded cremation ground where Ramakrishna practised austerities beneath an old banyan tree.