College Street, Kolkata

 

College Street, Kolkata

            In the Indian state of West Bengal in Central Kolkata there is a 900 Meters long street famous for books and book lovers which was established in 1817. This street is also popularly known as “Boi Para” in Bengali, Boi means books and Para means area or colony. This street boast of India’s largest repository of 2^nd hand books which can be obtained in dirt cheap price on hard bargain. It is the heaven for book lovers and books on every subject are available for sell here. It is the meeting point (adda) of Kolkata who’s who in literary arena. It is also home of the most prestigious academic colleges and institute of India such as

1.      Presidency College established 1817,

2.     Hindu College and Hare School established in 1817 and 1818,

3.      University of Kolkata 1857, with total of 14 campuses spanning all over Kolkata,

4.      Kolkata Medical College and Hospital established on 28th of the January 1835 by the then Governor General William Bentic,

5.     Sanskrit College in 1824 which provide education in Pali, Sanskrit, libral Arts, ancient and World history.

            It history goes back to 1817, when David Hare established the Hindu College to give liberal education to the children of the members of the Hindu community. It started with only 20 scholars at the first batch. The Hindu College building and its area is developed by Lord Wellesley and after that the street was named College Street and ever since then it is the same. This street also boasts of a famous Coffee house which was the congregation point of the famous Bhadra lok of West Bengal like Ritvik Ghatk, melodious singer Manna Day, Satyajit Ray, Aparna Sen, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore but its sheen is slowly drabbed. In post independent era in 1958, this Coffee house was closed for ever but due intervention from the professors of Presidency college and Kolkata university it was again opened and considered it as heritage structure.

            Nowadays, this street is the most visited place for the students of the educational Institutes which are surrounding the area and also attracts lot of tourists and literary persons.

Place to visit at College Street Kolkata-

Howrah Bridge,Eden Gardens, Marble place,Mother House, Princep Ghat, BBD Bag, Fort William, Victoria Memorial, Birla Planatorium.

How to reach College Street-

            It is easily accessible and can be reached the College street lot of transports are available like trams, buses, taxis, hand pulled rickshaw and one can also hire private transport for the same and it will be a nice experience to visit that famous street.

Text and Photos by- Ashok Karan,

Ashokkaran.blogspot.com,

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