Jaun Bazaar Street, Chowringhee, Calcutta, c1833

জান বাজার স্ট্রীট, অধুনা কর্পরেসন স্ট্রীট, চৌরঙ্গী, c১৮৩৩
Jaun Bazaar Street (now Corporation Street) was the first sidestreet of Chowringhee Road in Calcutta. On the corner of Jaun Bazaar Street was a complex of buildings housing the Secret and Political Department, dealing with relations with the Indian and other foreign states in the region.
Residential areas like Chowringhee and the Esplanade acquired boundary walls, screens and gates to match the imposing new buildings, many of which were consciously based on classical styles – as if to bring the effects of Western civilisation into the alien Indian environment. The styles were adapted from their European models to provide greater shade and good circulation of air.
This lithograph is taken from plate 8 from ‘Views of Calcutta’ an album of paintings by William Wood.

October 16, 2013 0

Mansions on Chowringhee Road, Calcutta, 1833

চৌরঙ্গী রোডে সাহেবদের প্রাসাদোপম বাসগৃহ, ১৯৩৩
The proud mansions that made Chowringhee Road – a much-vaunted address for the European residents of Calcutta. One contemporary writer, William Henry Giles Kingston, described these houses in the fashionable suburb: “clusters of columns, long colonnades and lofty gateways have a very imposing effect, especially when mingled with forest trees and flowering shrubs.”
This lithograph is taken from plate 24 from ‘Views of Calcutta’ an album of paintings by William Wood.

October 16, 2013 0

The Bishop’s Palace, Chowringhee Road, Calcutta, c1833

কলকাতা বিশপের অট্টালিকা, ৫ নং রাসেল স্ট্রিট, চৌরঙ্গি, ১৮২৫-১৮৪৯

The mansions featured in Wood’s panoramas of Chowringhee Road are normally unidentifiable. Exceptions include this image of the Bishop’s Palace at No 5 Russell Street. This housed four successive Bishops of Calcutta between 1825 and 1849. The last of these, Bishop Wilson, built a new cathedral on the south-east corner of the Maidan and relocated the palace to a house opposite the cathedral.
This lithograph is taken from plate 19 of William Wood’s ‘Views of Calcutta’

October 8, 2013 0

Asiatic Society on Park Street, Chowringhee, Calcutta, c1833

পার্ক স্ট্রিট, চৌরঙ্গী রোডের মোড়ে এশিয়া সোসাইটির গৃহ , c১৮৩৩
The view shows the Asiatic Society buildings at the junction with Park Street. Founded in 1784, the society acquired this land from the government in 1805 and had constructed these buildings by 1808. Warren Hastings was its first patron and Sir William Jones its first president.
This lithograph derives from plate 15 of the ‘Views of Calcutta’, an album of paintings by William Wood

October 7, 2013 0

Panoramic View of Chowringhee Road and Maidan On Left, Calcutta, c1870

ময়দান কাছবরাবর চৌরঙ্গি রোড, ১৮৭০
This is a view of northward Chowringhee Road with impressive array of private and public buildings along the side of the wide landscape of Maidan with distinct picture of Monohurdass Tank close to the road.
Photograph by Samuel Bourne

July 7, 2013 0

View of Chowringhee Road and Middleton Street, 1833

চৌরঙ্গী রোড ও মিডিলটন স্ট্রিটের দৃশ্য, ১৮৩৩

a painting by William Wood

Wood’s view of Middleton Street perfectly illustrates the typical Calcutta scene of the time, comprising a grand colonnaded building surrounded with trees. In the foreground, the natives of Calcutta are pictured going about their business, tending to their animals and relaxing in groups.