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Federation Hall Ground : was a site at 294 Upper Circular Road, Calcutta, purchased in 1905-06 to build an assembly hall symbolising the union between East & West Bengal which were created in 1905 by Viceroy Curzon. On 22 September 1905, at public meeting at the Town Hall, it was resolved by the representatives of Bengal to organize a Federation of the old & severed Provinces with a view “to maintain the unity & the solidarity of the Bengali race & to tighten the bonds between two Bengals after the partition takes place. This news was revealed to the public on October 5 in a statement which further informed the public that a piece of land had already been secured for the construction of Akhanda Banga Bhavan (Hall of Unbroken Bengal) or Milan Mandir (Temple where East & West Bengal are one) or the Federation Hall, the foundation-stone of which would be solemnly laid on October 16 at 4 pm at 294 Upper Circular Road. The Hall was to be a symbol of the indissoluble union between the two provinces, a meeting-ground of the Eastern & Western Bengal. On 16 October in Calcutta (and practically all over Bengal) all the business was suspended & vehicular traffic stopped, & all the shops were closed for the whole day. Young men paraded the streets from before sunrise, singing Bande Mataram song, & a huge concourse of people marched towards the Ganga in order to take bath in the holy river. There were processions, sankirtans (religious songs) & patriotic songs. After the bath in the sacred river the people met at different public places & there tied Rākhi on each other’s hands. In the afternoon a meeting was held at Circular Road in order to lay the foundation of the Federation Hall, an assembly hall which was to be the meeting ground of the old province & its severed parts, the mark & symbol of their indivisible union. The meeting was attended by more than 50,000 people. . . . Ananda Mohan Bose laid the Foundation Stone of the Akhanda Banga Bhavan. Seriously ill at the time, he was carried out there on an invalid’s chair. He read out the Proclamation written & signed by himself: “Whereas the Government has thought fit to effectuate the partition of Bengal in spite of the universal protest of the Bengali Nation, we hereby pledge & proclaim that we, as a people, shall do everything in our power to counteract the evil effects of the dismemberment of our province & to maintain the integrity of our race. So God help us.” A Bengali translation of this proclamation was made by poet Rabindra Nath. After the ceremony was over, the entire crowd, all barefooted, walked a distance of nearly 2 miles to the house of Pashupati Bose at Bagh Bazar…without shoes over the rough streets of Calcutta. A huge meeting was held at Bose’s house, & a sum of Rs. 70,000/- was collected in the meeting itself for the promotion of Swadeshi movement. The subscription consisted mainly of small donations from the members present…. [R.C. Majumdar, History of the Freedom Movement of India, Vol. 2, pp.25-27] 10 Sept 1909, telegram Chief Secy., Bengal, to Home Secy., India: “Provincial Conference... about 1,500 people from both Bengals, mostly young men. .... One point in (the Presidential) speech received with noisy protest was the proposal to drop the word boycott in reference to Swadeshi movement.... Proceedings of the (Subjects) Committee are said to have been stormy. Surendra Nath Bannerjea & Arabinda Ghosh were both present & the latter received warmest reception on 6th. Time was occupied in passing five resolutions. No violent speeches were made. Arabinda Ghosh only spoke briefly.... He also called upon the trustees for account of the national fund opened on partition day, 1905.” Karmayogin, 11 September, 1909, under title “Impatient Idealists”: “The President... in reference to the formal statement by Sj. Aurobindo of the adherence of the Nationalist Party to the policy of self-help & passive resistance in spite of their concessions to the Moderate minority, advised the party of the future under the name of impatient idealists to wait. The reproach of idealism has always been brought against those who work with their eye on the future by politicians wise in their own estimation who look only to the present. The reproach of impatience is levelled with equal ease & readiness against those who in great & critical times have the strength & skill to build with rapidity the foundations or the structure of the future. The advice to wait is valueless unless we know what it is that we have to wait for... the only reason we have been able to find is that the fears & hesitations of our Moderate countrymen stand in our way. ... Of all the great nations of the world India alone is bidden by Lord Morley & Anglo-India to wait for ever. It is bidden by its own leaders to wait till the rulers are induced by prayers & petitions to concede a constitutional government. .... Under the circumstances, which is the more unpractical & idealistic, the impatience of the Nationalist or the supine & trustful patience of the President of the Hugly Conference?” Report of Govt. of Bengal, 20 September, 1909: “There is every indication that if the boycott movement survives at all, it will be in the... form advocated by Arabinda Ghosh.... Arabinda (will) supersede Surendra Nath Bannerjea…. Babu Surendra Nath is a political mountebank, a Bengali Kossuth rolled up in the rogueries of a Talleyrand. He always bids for popularity & sails before the wind. He believes that if Arabindo be allowed to remain too long out of jail, he would take the shine out of him (Surendra Nath). Besides he had correctly gauged public opinion in Bengal & sees it drifting on to Arabindo’s side. Hence...the mingling of the two parties.... And so far as Bengal is concerned there will be no more extremists & moderates, & perhaps a new force will get up to disturb the public peace.” Karmayogin, 9 October, 1909: “The two most essential features, however, of the Partition Day are the Rākhi Bandhan & the reading of the National Proclamation; it is above all a day of the declaration of Bengals indivisible unity & these two functions are for that reason the very kernel of the observances….” The Bengalee, 17 October, 1909: “It was a day…when men young & old, high & low, issued forth in big batches... Swadeshi songs & shouts of Bande Mataram resounded in the city.... These batches of men made their way to the holy Ganges. .... It was indeed a pleasing sight to see a man tying a rākhi round the wrist, in most cases, of a stranger & embracing him. .... Then everyone proceeded towards Beadon Square, where a preliminary meeting was held.... Then amidst…prolonged shouts of “Bande Mataram” in came Babu Aurobindo Ghose…[who] also spoke a few words in Bengali…he would only say one thing, namely, that the rākhi bandhan was…the sign of uniting the hearts of millions of people of United Bengal. …. From half-past two in the afternoon again people from different quarters…to form a huge procession…for the Federation Hall Ground …. [After the President A. Chaudhuri’s speech] at a request from the audience Babu Aurobindo Ghose stood on the table so that they could take a glimpse of him....” Report of Federation Hall Society, 1959: “...site was purchased on 5 June 1909 for Rs. 40,000 in the names of B.N. Basu & Upendranath Mukherjee”; “in 1916, S.N. Bannerjea, N.R. Sircar & B.N. Basu became its Trustees”. Thereafter, “portions of the said land were sold from time to time & the portion left... measured one bigha more or less”. Only upon this portion, & only after 1947, could a Milan Mandir be actually built due to “the upheaval that followed since 1905 till 15 Aug. 1947”. The “front portion” of this Temple to United Bengal was “thrown open on 24 April, 1955.” Report of Federation Hall Society, 1959: “...site was purchased on 5 June 1909 for Rs. 40,000 in the names of B.N. Basu & Upendranath Mukherjee”; “in 1916, S.N. Bannerjea, N.R. Sircar & B.N. Basu became its Trustees”. Thereafter, “portions of the said land were sold from time to time & the portion left... measured one bigha more or less”. Only upon this portion, & only after 1947, could a Milan Mandir be actually built due to “the upheaval that followed since 1905 till 15 Aug. 1947”. The “front portion” of this Temple to United Bengal was “thrown open on 24 April, 1955.”