Ben: দুর্গাপুর durgāpura
‘Durgacharan’s City’ City, West Bengal
From Durgacharan and Skt: pura, ‘fort’, ‘city’.
Durgapur is a planned city, and West Bengal’s fourth largest. It was designed by two American architects in 1955 under the instructions of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the second Chief Minister of the state.
The Maharaja of Burdwan donated land here to Gopinath Chattopadhyay in the 18thC and, at first, the town was named after him. The name was changed to Durgapur in memory of Durgacharan Chattopadhyay (a descendant of Gopinath) in recognition of his temple-building achievements.
The modern city is an industrial hub with chemical, steel and engineering plants and power stations. It is nicknamed the ‘Steel City’.
