KOTHA OF KOLKATA- TOWN HALL

The headline itself says it all; “KOTHA” is a Bengali word which describes (talks). So, it’s all about you to know something more about Kolkata’s historic period of British Raj “TOWN HALL”.

1. HISTORY:-

Town hall was built in the year 1813 the designe of the building was influenced by Roman-Doric style. At the beginning public were allowed to use the hall under certain terms and conditions of the Government. People were allowed to go and see the ground floor including the statues and large size portraits but visiting upper storey was restricted. To make a special visit to the second storey an application had to be written to the committee.

During the time of the Chief Justice Richard Couch, while the present building of the High Court was being built, the Town Hall was temporarily used for judicial purposes.

2. FACTS:-

1914 was the year when almost all the statues were moved to Victoria Memorial leaving behind only Ramanath Tagore’s statue. Town Hall was used as the council chamber of the Bengal Legislative Council after the introduction of Dyarchy in the year 1919. The interior of the hall was re-modified as the President of the Council had his chamber in the hall later Legislative Council moved to its new building in 1931.

3. LIBRARY:-

After we successfully conquered independence Town hall library was in special supervision of the corporation since 1999. The library was full of entire collection of rare books and journals on Kolkata from the noted Kolkata expert P. T. Nair to form a reference library. The inauguration of the library was officially done by Nimai Mal in a small function presided over by the then Mayor Subrata Mukherjee in 2004.  In the current date the library possesses about 12,000 books and journals and is visited by many scholars from different corners of India and abroad.

4. KOLKATA MUSEUM:-

1995 was the year when Kolkata Museum was made  by a joint initiative of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Government of West Bengal. It is  a story telling media which exhibits a 12 minutes projection on a big screen whit the help of a projector which shows a detailed videos of struggle during freedom fight.

It takes the help of animatronics where visitors witness poet and Nobel Lauret Rabindranath Tagore reciting 'Bharat Tirtha' and singing 'Tobu Mone Rekho'.

5. EXTRAS:-

Visitors can listen to old popular music of the bygone days through audio isolators avoiding interference with others or choose to view selected clippings of the films of people like Pramathesh Barua, Debaki Bose, Madhu Bose, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and others.

6. IMPORTANCE:-

Town hall has always been one of the most important buildings since British Raj as most of the meetings and communication arrangements’ were held in there. Town hall is the initial landmark of Kolkata. The hall has been witness to many historic proclamations and events during the 19th and 20th century. Even now many important Government events are organized and held in there.

7. TRAVEL:-

Esplanade is one of the liveliest parts of Kolkata and Town hall is just near to it. Metros, buses and cabs are always available to help you reach to your desired destination.

This is a must visit place so hurry up and plan it up for yourself.

HAPPY JOURNEY!

By Isita Thapa 25 January, 2019