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Ballygunge | |
|---|---|
Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta) | |
.jpg) Ballygunge Circular Road | |
  Ballygunge Location in Kolkata | |
| Coordinates:22°31′44″N88°21′43″E / 22.529°N 88.362°E /22.529; 88.362 | |
| Country | India |
| State | West Bengal |
| City | Kolkata |
| District | Kolkata |
| Kolkata Suburban Railway | Ballygunge Junction |
| Metro Station | |
| Municipal Corporation | Kolkata Municipal Corporation |
| KMC wards | 65,68,69,85,86,90 |
| Population | |
• Total | For population see linked KMC ward pages |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| Area code | +91 33 |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Kolkata Dakshin |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Ballygunge,Rashbehari |
Ballygunge is a locality ofSouth Kolkata inKolkata district in theIndianstate ofWest Bengal. It is one of the city's most affluent neighbourhoods.
TheEast India Company obtained from theMughal emperorFarrukhsiyar, in 1717, the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their settlement. Of these 5 lay across theHooghly in what is now Howrah district. The remaining 33 villages were on the Calcutta side. After the fall ofSiraj-ud-daulah, the last independentNawab of Bengal, it purchased these villages in 1758 fromMir Jafar, and reorganised them. These villages were known en-bloc asDihi Panchannagram and Ballygunge was one of them. It was considered to be a suburb beyond the limits of theMaratha Ditch. Beltala was a village in Dihi Mohanpur (later Monoharpukur).[1][2][3]
Ballygunge grew up around a market for sand (bali in Bengali) and had garden-houses of 18th century Europeans. Amongst the prominent residents wereGeorge Mandeville, the zamindar/ collector, andColonel Gilbert Ironside, a friend ofWarren Hastings. In 1840,Emily Eden called Ballygunge 'ourEltham orLewisham'. It also emerged as a citadel of the educated Bengali middle class after the suburban railway opened up the area.[4]
In 1888, Ballygunge andTollygunge had a combinedthana (police station).[4]
Entally,Manicktala,Beliaghata,Ultadanga,Chitpur,Cossipore, parts ofBeniapukur, Ballygunge,Watgunge andEkbalpur, and parts ofGarden Reach andTollygunge were added to Kolkata Municipal Corporation in 1888. Garden Reach was later taken out.[5]
When theBengal Renaissance started taking roots in 19th century Calcutta, it was initially limited to the predominantly Hindu 'Indian town' stretching north and north-east from the fringes ofBurrabazar, with a somewhat later extension south and south-east of the 'European town' toBhowanipore, and some decades later to Ballygunge, which was then developing as a suburb.[6][7]
In the first half of the 20th century, "in the milieu of relative urban prosperity... Calcutta's rich citizens – those connected withjute, coal, tea, other industries, trade, money-lending and rentier income from urban property – did fabulously well for themselves." Large chunks of Ballygunge, Sunny Park, Rainey Park and Southern Avenue were developed during the 1930s and 1940s. Many of the mansions in Ballygunge,Bhowanipore andAlipore were built by the city's Bengali and new Marwari elite who wanted to move from the "dirtier sections of north Calcutta to the more fashionable areas in the south".[8]
Ballygunge is flanked byPark Circus in the north,Kasba and theEastern Railway south suburban line in the east,Dhakuria and the Lakes (now calledRabindra Sarobar) in the south, and the localities ofBhowanipore and Lansdowne in the west. It is served byBallygunge Junction railway station.
The following police stations in the Ballygunge area, which are part of theSouth-east division ofKolkata Police, cover four police districts in the area:[9]
Rabindra Sarobar police station is a new police station being set up in the Rabindra Sarobar area.[10][11]
Karaya Women police station, has jurisdiction over all police districts under the jurisdiction of the South-east division, i.e. Topsia, Beniapukur, Ballygunge, Gariahat, Lake, Karaya, Rabindra Sarobar and Tiljala.[9]
Gariahat market, spread alongRashbehari Avenue,Gariahat Road and the lanes in the area, is one of the largest and busiest markets in Kolkata. The shops sell variety of saris, clothes, jewellery, electronic goods, furniture and what not. The makeshift shops along the footpaths, popular ashawkers, sell everything – crockery, cutlery, decorative items and utilities. It has numerous eateries and street food joints. Modern malls have also come up.[12] Gariahat market is also well known for selling fish which is a staple for the Bengali community living in Calcutta.[13]
Ballygunge is home to some of the following educational institutions in Kolkata:
Kolkata/South travel guide from Wikivoyage
| External videos | |
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 Gariahat Shopping (video with Hindi commentary) |
