'Heritage Fest' in Chandernagore

A 'Heritage Fest' is being held at the former French colony of Chandernagore, about 35 km from the city, on November 25 by the University of Liverpool, IIT Kharagpur and a local project team.

The fest is the culmination of a two year project which covers the stretch from Bandel in neighbouring Hooghly district to Barrackpore in the fringes of the city in North 24 Parganas and seeks to protect and raise awareness of the rich cultural heritage of the towns along the Hooghly river, an IIT Kharagpur statement said Friday.

The 'Heritage Fest' will bring together participants from schools and colleges of Chandernagore and through an interactive session sensitise them about the value of the town's heritage, it said.

The school children will be taught how to use a custom-made, free smartphone app 'the Hugli River AR App' - specially designed by the University of Liverpool.

The app on the free-to-download platform allows any location-enabled smartphone user in Chandernagore to point his or her camera at important houses and monuments and see, superimposed on the actual real-time image, a historical image taken from the same angle of that place as far back as 120 years ago, the statement said.

The image also carries additional information about the heritage site, it said.

Various competitive events, such as drawing, debate and interactive quiz on Chandernagore would also be held, Jenia Mukherjee, the principal investigator on the part of IIT Kharagpur, said.

IIT Kharagpur director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti said the institution believes in a knowledge economy "where the modern and heritage have a harmonious and caring relationship."