B. B. D. Bagh
Encyclopedia
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
in the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
.
Origin of name
B.B.D. stands for three young Indian independence activistsIndian independence activists
This is a listing of people who campaigned against or are considered to have campaigned against foreign domination and cultural imposition on the Indian sub-continent...
- Benoy
Benoy Basu
Benoy Krishna Basu or Benoy Basu or Benoy Bose was an Bengali Indian revolutionary.-Early life:Basu was born on 11 September 1908, in the village Rohitbhog in the Munshiganj District, now in Bangladesh...
, Badal
Badal Gupta
Badal Gupta was a Bengali Indian revolutionary who fought against British rule over India.-Early activities:Badal Gupta was born Sudhir Gupta in the village Purba Shimulia in the Bikrampur region of Dhaka, now in Munshiganj District, Bangladesh...
and Dinesh
Dinesh Gupta
Dinesh Chandra Gupta or Dinesh Gupta was a Bengali revolutionary who fought against British colonial rule.-Early activities:...
, who on 8 December 1930 shot dead the Inspector General of Prisons, N.S. Simpson, in the balconies of Writers' building
Writers' Building
The Writers' Building is the secretariat building of the State Government of West Bengal in India. 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...
of the then Dalhousie square. Previously the square had been named after Lord Dalhousie
James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie
James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie KT, PC was a Scottish statesman, and a colonial administrator in British India....
, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856. At different times it has been called ‘The Green before the Fort’ or Tank Square.|
Geography
The B.B.D. Bagh area is located near the Hooghly river in the western part of the central KolkataKolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
and is a square built around the old Lal Dighi
Lal Dighi
Lal Dighi is a body of water in the middle of B. B. D. Bagh, earlier known as Tank Square or Dalhousie Square, in the heart of Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal.-History:...
tank. The old fort built by the British was around where the General Post Office now is. The area was in the heart of Kalikata
Kalikata
Kalikata was one of the three villages which were merged to form the city of Kolkata in India. The other two villages were Gobindapur and Sutanuti. Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the honour of founding the city...
or the White Town in old Calcutta.
Significance
B. B. D. Bagh continues to be like the 'heart' of Kolkata and many famous buildings housing important businesses and banks are located here. The Writer's Building-secretariat of West BengalWest Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
government, Royal Exchange (a one-time residence of Robert Clive and now the office of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a chamber of commerce based in West Bengal, India.Established in 1853, it is the oldest such institution in India.The organization has its headquarters at the former Royal Exchange in B. B. D...
), General Post Office (G.P.O.) of Kolkata
General Post Office, Kolkata
The General Post Office, Kolkata is the central post office of the city of Kolkata, India and the chief post office of West Bengal. The post-office handles most of the city's inbound and outbound mail and parcels. Situated in the B.B.D...
, Telephone Bhawan, St. John's Church are all situated around the square. The place is locally known as the Office Para
Para
Para may refer to:*Para Loga, one among the seven Logas in Ayyavazhi mythology*Para-quaternions, expression from algebra in mathematics*Paramedic is a first response ambulance crew member...
- 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 the office-babus , 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
Job Charnock
Job Charnock was a servant and administrator of the English East India Company, traditionally regarded as the founder of the city of Calcutta.-Early life and career:...
. The building is supposedly the oldest piece of masonry in Calcutta.B.B.D.Bagh also has statue of famous philanthropist Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh
Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh
Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh of Darbhanga was the King of Darbhanga in State of Bihar, India. He was best known as one of the most munificent of living philanthropists of his time...
of Darbhanga
Raj Darbhanga
Darbhanga Raj, also known as Raj Darbhanga and the Royal Family of Darbhanga, were a family of Zamindars and rulers of territories that are now part of Mithila and Darbhanga district, Bihar, India. Their seat was at the city of Darbhanga...
(1858 -1898) sculpted by Edward Onslow Ford
Edward Onslow Ford
Edward Onslow Ford , English sculptor, was born in London. He received some education as a painter in Antwerp and as a sculptor in Munich under Professor Wagmuller, but was mainly self-taught....
.
Preservation
The Dalhousie Square was included in the 2004 and 2006 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments FundWorld Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
(WMF) due to "decades of neglect". After this listing the international financial services company American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
provided funding through WMF for the square's preservation.