The phaeton that Dey picked up from Calcutta. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

Cooch Behar, April 21: The princes are gone, but the palace is still there. Mona Dey has added a phaeton drawn by tow horses to add to the royal flavour so familiar with this heritage town

The rides started from the Bengali New Year’s Day and a trip to the Madanmohan temple from the palace comes for Rs 10. “Not much if you consider the taste of royalty that you get,” said a resident of the town.

The idea of hiring out a horse drawn carriage struck Dey when he went on frequent business trips to Calcutta.

“I was drawn to the fun people were having near Victoria Memorial, riding around the Maidan in carriages. I wondered what it would be like if such a carriage was introduced back home.” Dey approached a coachman offering rides in front of Victoria. He agreed to sell his carriage and also work for Dey in Cooch Behar. “We refurbished the carriage and brought it over from Calcutta by truck. The two horses were bought locally,” Dey said.

Eighty-five-year old Biswanath Mukherjee is happy that now there is a phaeton in town. “So what if the princes have gone, a ride on the phaeton from the front of the palace to the Madanmohan temple, Ranibagan, Baneswar and Madhupurdham and back makes you feel like a maharaja,” said Mukherjee after a ride. The phaeton has been named Rajbahadur.

Razia Khatun, another elderly resident, said it was nice to see a horse-drawn carriage after such a long time. “This is not just another tonga, it’s a proper carriage meant for kings,” she said.

But the phaeton is not just for joy rides. There is an increasing demand from grooms, who now want to land up for their wedding not in cars but in the phaeton. “I am seriously thinking of hiring the phaeton for my wedding,” said 26-year-old Tarun Saha, a resident of Mathabhanga, 40km from here.