| Boi Para (Books Neighborhood) | |
 Book stores and tram tracks along College Street | |
| Native name | কলেজ স্ট্রিট (Bengali) |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | Kolkata Municipal Corporation |
| Length | 0.9 km (0.56 mi)[1] |
| Location | Kolkata, India |
| Postal code | 700012, 700073 |
| NearestKolkata Metro station | MG Road,Central andSealdah |
| Coordinates | 22°34′32″N88°21′48″E / 22.575514°N 88.363354°E /22.575514; 88.363354 |
| North end | Bidhan Sarani |
| South end | Bowbazar |
College Street (Bengali:কলেজ স্ট্রিট) is a 900 metre long street in CentralKolkata in theIndian state ofWest Bengal. Also known asBoi Para (Bengali: বইপাড়া;lit. Book Town), it stretches fromBidhan Sarani road up toBowbazar (before Nirmal Chandra Street) viaMG Road crossing and Surya Sen Street crossing.[1][2] Its name derives from the presence of numerous colleges and universities likeUniversity of Calcutta,Calcutta Medical College,Presidency University,The Sanskrit College and University,City College of Commerce and Business Administration etc. The road houses many centres of intellectual activity especially theIndian Coffee House, a café that has attracted the city'sintelligentsia for decades.[3] College Street is the largest book market in India as well asAsia[4] and the largest secondhand book market in the whole world.[5]
The College Street is famous for its small and big book stores, which gives it thenicknameBoi Para (Colony of Books).[2][6] People from the whole city and different parts of thestate flock the innumerable book stores along the side-walk for books. Many bigwigs of theBengali publication industry (like:Ananda Publishers, Mitra and Ghosh Publishers, DasGupta and Company Pvt. Ltd, Dey's Publishing,Rupa & Co. etc.) are situated here. The street is also dotted with countless small book kiosks which sell new and old books.[2] An article in the journalSmithsonian described College Street as...a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement, carrying first editions, pamphlets, paperbacks in every Indian language, with more than a fair smattering of books in and out of print from France, Germany, Russia and England.[7]One can buy rare books at throw-away prices and extensive bargaining takes place.
In 2007, College Street featured among the famous landmarks of India which have made it to6pm to 9pm Magazine's "Best of Asia" list.[8]
Well-known academic institutions situated on this street include:
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