India extends help to Bangladesh for reconstruction of Satyajit Ray's ancestral home

India on Tuesday said it is willing to cooperate with the Bangladesh government for the repair and reconstruction of the ancestral property of renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray's ancestral home in Dhaka.

India's response came after reports of Ray's home being demolished by Bangladeshi authorities.

"We note with profound regret that the ancestral property of noted filmmaker and litterateur Satyajit Ray in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, belonging to his grandfather and eminent litterateur, Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury, is being demolished," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

The property, currently owned by the Government of Bangladesh, is in a state of disrepair, the readout said.

"Given the building’s landmark status, symbolising Bangla cultural renaissance, it would be preferable to reconsider the demolition and examine options for its repair and reconstruction as a museum of literature and a symbol of the shared culture of India and Bangladesh. The Government of India would be willing to extend cooperation for this purpose," it said.

The matter was earlier raised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The century-old property in Dhaka's Horikishore Ray Chowdhury Road belonged to Ray's grandfather, Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury. Citing local media reports, Banerjee said the demolition work on the historic property had already begun.

"This news is extremely distressing. The Ray family is one of the foremost bearers and carriers of Bengali culture. Upendra Kishore is a pillar of Bengal's renaissance. Therefore, I believe this house is intricately tied to the cultural history of Bengal," Banerjee said in a post on X.

Upendra Kishore Ray Chowdhury's house -- a prominent archaeological landmark -- was formerly used as the Mymensingh Children's Academy but had reportedly fallen into disrepair after years of neglect by the authorities. It's being demolished to make way for a new semi-concrete structure," according to Bangladeshi publication, Daily Star.

According to the Bangladesh Department of Archaeology, the house was built more than a century ago. After Partition, the property came under the government ownership.

“The house has been left abandoned for 10 years. Shishu Academy activities have been operating from a rented space,” Md Mehedi Zaman, Dhaka's Children Affairs Officer, told Daily Star.