Address:

Jawaharlal Nehru Road and
Lenin Sarani Road Crossing,
Kolkata – 700001
» view on map

Did you know

1. Jawaharlal Nehru Road was named after Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India (ofcourse, you know that)
2. “Esplanade” stands for open area close to a river body.
3. The area was named Esplanade even before 1784 because of it’s proximity with Ganges/Hooghly.
4. “Dharmatala” means Holy Street.
5. Tipu Sultan Mosque (at Jawaharlal Nehru Road) was built in 1842, by Prince Gholam Mohammad (youngest son of Tipu Sultan).
6. Chandni market was established in 1794 and was then known as Shakespeare’s Bazar.

Esplanade (1940)

Esplanade (2009)

Note: K.C. Das, popular for its rossogulla, still exists at the same place (right most edge of the corner building). On the current image you would be able to locate it on a Red banner.

I was not able to achieve the same angle because I wasn’t allowed on the first floor (from where the old image is taken). The first floor was then a chinese restaurant, Chung Saw Restaurant, which has now turned into Chowringee Hotel and Restaurant.

Related Images coming soon:

1. Tipu Sultan Mosque.
2. Chung Saw Restaurant.

Address:

Hemanta Basu Sarani,
Lal Dighi, Kolkata – 700001,
West Bengal
» view on map

Did you know?

1. Great Eastern Hotel was founded by David Wilson in 1841 and was known as Auckland Hotel.
2. Wilson’s Hotel, Auckland Hotel, Hall of Nations, Japani Hotel, Jewel of the East are the other names of Great Eastern Hotel itself.
3. Mark Twain described it as the best hotel East of the Suez on his voyage along the Equator.
4. Rudyard Kipling mentioned the hotel in “The City of  Dreadful Night”
5. It has been host to such notables as Queen Elizabeth II & Nikita Khruschev.
6. The hotel was privatised in November 2005 with the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
7. The hotel has been re-christened The Grand Great Eastern, Kolkata.
8. Currently, the hotel has over 244 rooms.

So, somehow the hotel has managed to live (with a new name, The Grand Great Eastern.) The adjacent area is now converted into a commercial hub with the Head Offices of many Indian companies, even United Bank of India. Quite a number of businesses have drawn their names from the name of the hotel. At times, Great Eastern is used for a major electronic store which is on the opposite side of road. (I rate it #2, after eBay.)

Anyway, something that everyone was waiting for, find the photos below (click on the photo to enlarge):

Great Eastern Hotel 1910

Great Eastern Hotel (2009)

Note: Towards the right hand corner how “Chutberson & Harper” has been replaced by “KLH” & “VIP”. Even the building on the rightmost corner (will find more details later) is almost a century old. Which was built a decade later from the time of the shot!

I have been getting a lot of people questioning me that who shot the current photograph. Well, treat this as an official announcement that I (Rahul Bharadwaj) has taken the current pictures.

Also, not to forget, comments awaited!

Address:

Chittaranjan Avenue,
Bow Bazaar,
Kolkata – 700001.
» view on map

Did you know?

(Click on the image below to enlarge)

Statesman House (1930s)

Statesman House (2009)

Note: Sorry, I was not able to achieve the same angle because of the garden that is now constructed infront of the gate. Also, please ignore the tree that has now grown right infront of the building.

Shamasis Bhattacharya (my friend) will soon be adding more information to the page. Any other comments are invited.

Address:

Biplabi Trailakya Sarani,
B B D Bagh, Kolkata – 711204,
West Bengal, India.
» view on map

Did you know:

1. B.B.D. stands for – Benoy, Badal and Dinesh, three martyrs, who shot dead N.S. Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons, in the balconies of Writers’ building.
2. Dalhousie square was named after Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856. At different times it has been called The Green before the Fort or Tank Square.
3. The St. John’s Church’s yard (Catheral Church) has the Mausoleum of Job Charnock (was considered the founder of Kolkata until 2007).
4. Catheral Church is supposedly the oldest piece of masonry in Calcutta.
5. The Dalhousie Square has been declared as one of the world’s 100 most endangered sites by the World monument watch.

More Information (by Sankhadip Basu): Binoy and Badal had shot themselves dead and Dinesh was captured alive and later hanged. The daring attack on Writers’ Building carried out by the trio had shaken up the entire British establishment in India then and had a deep impact on the British administration in Bengal. Read more.

Recent changes that have happened to the place:

1. The tram has stopped plying on this road. They now ply on the left of where the current shot is taken from.
2. The building that is just cut off on the right hand side is Stephen’s House which is now getting renovated (am trying to find a old snap of this building too.)
3. The left of the place used to be a park (called Dalhousie Square) which has been now changed into BBG Bagh Bus stand.
4. And, greenery, of course.

The top image was taken by Glenn S. Hensley in 1944 and image at the bottom was taken by Rahul Bharadwaj on 11th July, 2009. You can find this place on BBD Bagh (E) Road and Lalbazar Street crossing. The shot was taken from current BBD Bagh Bus stand.

(Click on the image below to enlarge)

Cathedral Church, Kolkata (1944)

Cathedral Church, Kolkata (2009)

Note: To the extreme left you would find the tower of Cathedral Church and towards the right you would see 3 building (only 2 are clearly visible) which still exists. Also notice (on the old image) the right most building with a flag of England, well, the post still exists, without any flag though.

Comments invited people.

PS: Thanks to Chetan Bharadwaj & Anurag Ahuja for accompanying me. And a very special thanks to Yogesh Goel (who lent me his camera).