Majumdar Rajiv Lochan Das

Majumdar Rajiv Lochan Das was one of the earliest patriarchs of the extended Munshi family of Kadirpara-Chougachi. He was the father of Hariram Das, Ramram Das and Munshi Balaram Das, and was the first individual of the Das family (later known as the Munshis) to settle in Kadirpara (present-day Kadirpara Union, Sreepur Upazila, Magura District, Bangladesh).

Contributions to society Rajiv Lochan was active in religious and philanthropic endeavours in Kadirpara. He and his descendants founded temples dedicated to Shri Shri Radhakanta, Shiva lingam, Dasabhuja, and Shri Shri Lakshmi-Narayan and instituted the observance of traditional annual festivals (the Baro maase tero parbon). According to a 2017 report in the Dhaka Tribune, the Radhakanta Lakshmi Narayan Jiu and Shitala temples in Sreepur Upazila, belonging to the Debuttar Estate, were subjected to acts of vandalism. His household maintained a strong tradition of hospitality. The estate included several inner courts and a council hall, and was served by six nearby reservoirs-known locally as Pachhpukura, Kaliyatala and Dighi Pushkarini among others. His wife, Shivani Thakurani, commissioned a large reservoir on the north-eastern side of the residence, south of the Bil field; this waterbody became known as Bilpukur. Most recently, in 2022, the shrine experienced an incident of theft.

Rajiv Lochan endowed numerous religious and service-related grants. He donated portions of his property as debuttar, brahmottar, and bhogottar lands for temple use and to support resident priests; he also assigned a mahatran (hereditary allotment) of house property to Ramchandra Roy, a Singha-lineage Barendra Kayastha, for the performance of daily and memorial rites. At or soon after his lifetime, his family donated approximately forty bighas of tax-exempt land from the Kadirpara taluq to fund the annual worship of the temple deity (dedicated to Shiva). Patiram Banik of Radhanagar was appointed as the hereditary sebayet (temple attendant), and Uddhav Chandra Ghosh of Nakol received forty bighas to supply dairy and festival provisions (curd, milk, chhana, ghee, butter, etc.). The village of Radhanagar was established in the name of the family deity, Radhakanta Jiu; Rajiv Lochan's descendants later developed market, school, and post office in that village.

Legacy Rajiv Lochan's life has been mentioned in the Bengali book Jessore-Khulnar Itihas (History of Jessore-Khulna) by Satish Chandra Mitra.

Family tree

Majumdar Rajivlochan Das (married to Shivani Thakurani) Hariram Das Premnarayan Munshi Krishnakanta Munshi Sambhunath Munshi Harinath Munshi Ramram Das Radhakrishna Munshi Raghunath Munshi Gabindanath Munshi Gatinath Munshi Tejendra Munshi Hemendra Munshi Chandranath Munshi Jatindranath Munshi Gopendranath Munshi Krishnanath Munshi Dwarakanath Munshi Trailakyanath Munshi Jadunath Munshi Munshi Balaram Das (childless, succeeded by Ramram's son Radhakrishna)