India Offers Support to Preserve Satyajit Ray's Ancestral Home Amid Demolition Reports

India's Response to Demolition of Cultural Heritage

On Tuesday, the Indian government expressed its readiness to assist the Bangladeshi authorities in the restoration of filmmaker Satyajit Ray's ancestral residence, following alarming reports of its demolition.

Earlier, a Bangladeshi publication highlighted that the ancestral property of Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury, Satyajit Ray's grandfather, was being torn down to facilitate the construction of a new semi-concrete building. Chowdhury was a notable figure in literature and the father of poet Sukumar Ray.

#Bangladesh | The ancestral home of filmmaker #SatyajitRay in #Mymensingh is being demolished to make way for a new structure.… pic.twitter.com/2fNZJ4vec1

— DD News (@DDNewslive) July 15, 2025

The report indicated that the property had been “abandoned for a decade” and was previously utilized as the Mymensingh Shishu Academy. An official mentioned that the demolition was necessary to construct a new facility with multiple rooms for educational activities, citing safety concerns regarding the old structure.

In response to the demolition news, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for intervention from both the Indian and Bangladeshi governments.

“Reports indicate that the ancestral home of Satyajit Ray’s grandfather, a significant figure in Bengali literature, is being demolished,” she stated on social media. “It appears that the demolition has already commenced.”

Banerjee expressed her distress over the situation, emphasizing the Ray family's vital role in preserving Bengali culture. She urged the Bangladeshi government and its citizens to take action to protect this culturally significant site.

Later, India's Ministry of External Affairs expressed deep regret over the demolition of the ancestral home, noting its current state of disrepair. The ministry highlighted the building's importance as a symbol of the cultural renaissance in Bengal and suggested reconsidering the demolition in favor of restoration as a literary museum representing the shared heritage of India and Bangladesh.

The ancestral home, situated approximately 120 kilometers north of Dhaka, was constructed over a century ago by Chowdhury, as reported by a local news outlet, citing the Bangladesh Department of Archaeology.

Following the Partition in 1947, the property came under government ownership and was transformed into the Mymensingh Shishu Academy in 1989.