I sipped my cool beer as the pleasant Bay of Bengal breeze washed over my face in a shack on Digha beach. The refreshing drink held an uncanny resemblance to the place’s forgotten past. Not many know that the bustling Digha was once a sleepy fishing village called Beercool, or Birkul. The name seems almost prophetic.
Unfortunately, the evocative name has faded from use.
The credit for transforming this unknown village into a popular destination goes to an English tourist, John Frank Smith. He fell in love with Beercools between the two World Wars, captivated by its beauty.
The village had attracted earlier British interest too. In the late 18th century, Warren Hastings, impressed by the shark-free beach and nearby mangrove hunting grounds, called Beercools the “Brighton of the East” in a letter to his wife (1780 AD):
//Beercool was the sanitarium, the Brighton of East. ….. and the news paper and council’s records mentioned constantly that so-and-so gone to Beercool for his health……..It already has advantage of beach which is free from shark and all noxious animals except crabs & there is proposal to erect convenient apartments for the reception of the nobility and the gentry and organize entertainment.//
Despite this early recognition, Beercools fell into obscurity after Hastings’ time. Difficult travel conditions and frequent cyclones discouraged visitors.
John Snaith’s arrival in 1921, riding an elephant, marked a turning point. Enchanted by the scenery, he convinced the government to grant him land. Runswick House, his grand estate, was built there. Once the British left India, Runswick House became home to West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSkEDC).
Snaith actively promoted Beercools, hosting Christmas parties for orphans and writing about its beauty. However, his plans were disrupted by World War II and later, India’s independence.
Undeterred, Snaith convinced West Bengal’s first Chief Minister, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, to develop Beercools, now known as Digha, as a beach resort. And so, the “cool beers” of the past paved the way for the popular beach town we know today.
