Wednesday 16 September 2015

Kolkata Sites - Dalhousie Square

Kolkata Sites - Dalhousie Square 
Dalhousie Square

B.B.D. Bag formerly called Dalhousie Square, is the shortened version for Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bag .It is the seat of power of the state government, as well as the central business district in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal.

BBD bag stands for Binoy Badal Dinesh who were the freedom fighters and killed Inspector General of Prisons, N.S. Simpson, in the balconies of Writers' building. Previously the square had been named after Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856.

B. B. D. Bagh is considered to be the 'heart' of Kolkata as many famous buildings housing important businesses and banks are located here.
Writer's Building-secretariat of West Bengal government: The Writers' Building (Bengali:Mahakaran) is the secretariat building of the State Government of West Bengal in India.[1] It is and is located in West Bengal's capital city of Kolkata. The Writers' Building originally served as the office for writers of the British East India Company, hence the name. Designed by Thomas Lyon in 1780, it received its impressive Corinthian façade, an example of the Neo-Renaissance style, in 1889.
Hare, along with raja Rammohan Roy reasoned with the British Empire and became instrumental in founding Hindu College in 1817. In 1855, the school was split up in Hindu School and Presidency College.

Royal Exchange: A one-time residence of Robert Clive and now the office of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

General Post Office (G.P.O.): A heritage building right in the heart of Dalhousie Square, Kolkata (PIN 700001) housing the general post office. This two-storied Victorian style building with an impressive dome is a key landmark for Kolkata. Earlier Fort William was situated here. A long strip of brass on the eastern staircase of GPO is the reminiscent of initial Fort William of Kolkata.

Telephone Bhawan, St. John's Church are all situated around the square. The place is locally known as the Office Para - meaning the locality of offices. A large part of the daily commuters to Kolkata from the neighbourhood area comes here for livelihood. The square is famous for the cheap food vendors that sell ready foods throughout the day to all the clerks and officers that work in the offices. However, in the night, the place becomes eerily silent as there are hardly any residential buildings in the district.

The St. John's Church's yard has the Mausoleum of Job Charnock. The building is supposedly the oldest piece of masonry in Calcutta.B.B.D.Bagh also has statue of famous philanthropist Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh of Darbhanga(1858 -1898) sculpted by Edward Onslow Ford.


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