GUWAHATI: In a historic day for the residents of Dhubri district and Assam, Matiabag Hawa Mahal which belongs to the descendants of the Zamindar family of Gauripur which reportedly belonged to the maker of the first movie adaptation of the Classic ‘Devdas’, Pramathesh Chandra Barua, was officially handed over to the Cultural Department, Government of Assam for restoration and preservation purposes in the memory of Padmashri Pratima Barua Pandey on Monday, January 2, 2023.
In this regard, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Gauripur town in Dhubri district to attend the ceremonial handing over of the authority of ‘Hawa Mahal’ to the state government so as to be converted into a heritage monument and museum, as per media reports.
The ‘Hawa Mahal’ was built on the orders of Zamindar Prabhat Chandra Baruah who traces his lineage and ancestry to that of the Gauripur royal family and which was also the abode of late Pratima Pandey Baruah, the stalwart of Goalparia folk music genre. Located on the bank of river Gadadhar, the construction of Hawa Mahal was completed in the year 1914, which cost a total of ₹3.2 lakh at that point in time.
Speaking at a public meeting correlating with the event, the Chief Minister said converting ‘Hawa Mahal’ into a heritage monument and a museum would be a befitting tribute towards the "empress of Goalparia lok sangeet" for her extraordinary body of work in the field of art and music.
Taking to the microblogging site Twitter, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote, “Offered Bhumi Pujan for the renovation of Hawa Mahal, the residence of legendary Goalpariya folk singer Pratima Pandey Baruah at Gauripur, after her family handed over its possession to GoA.”
Work on turning the historic house into a heritage site is likely to be completed by January 1, 2024, the Assam Chief Minister tweeted.