Jorasanko

Jorasanko is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. It is so called because of the two (jora) wooden or bamboo bridges (sanko) that spanned a small stream at this point.

This article is about the neighbourhood Jorasanko. For ancestral home of the Tagore family, see Jorasanko Thakur Bari.

Jorasanko
Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta)
Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral house of Rabindranath Tagore, now a campus of Rabindra Bharati University (RBU).
Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral house of Rabindranath Tagore, now a campus of Rabindra Bharati University (RBU).
Jorasanko is located in Kolkata
Jorasanko
Jorasanko
Location in Kolkata
Coordinates: 22.5855°N 88.3568°E / 22.5855; 88.3568
Country India
StateWest Bengal
CityKolkata
DistrictKolkata
Metro StationGirish Park
Municipal CorporationKolkata Municipal Corporation
KMC wards23, 25, 41
Elevation
36 ft (11 m)
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
700007
Area code+91 33
Lok Sabha constituencyKolkata Uttar
Vidhan Sabha constituencyJorasanko

History

Apart from the distinguished seat of the Tagore family, traditionally known as the Jorasanko Thakur Bari, it was also home of the Singhas (including Kaliprasanna Singha), the Pals (including Krishnadas Pal), and the families of Dewan Banarasi Ghosh, Gokul Chandra Daw, Narsingha Chandra Daw, Prafulla Chandra Gain, and Chandramohan Chatterji. "The area thus became the cradle of Bengal Renaissance."[1] It was earlier known as Mechuabazar.[2]

Jorasanko Thakurbari

The earliest list of thanas (police stations) in Kolkata was prepared in 1785 for both police and municipal administration. Jorasanko was one of the 31 thanas then recorded.[1]

Amongst the institutions in Jorasanko are – Adi Brahmo Samaj, the Jorasanko Bharati Natya Samaj, the Kalikata Haribhakti Pradayani Sabha, the Minerva Library and Oriental Seminary.[1] The Oriental Seminary, founded in 1829, was one of the earliest privately-run, modern educational institutions in Kolkata. It was open to middle and lower middle-class Hindu boys only.[3]

Rabindra Bharati University, the third university in Kolkata, was set up in 1962 in the Tagore family's house at Jorasanko, primarily as a centre for music and fine arts, but extended subsequently to arts and humanities.[4]

In 1888, one of the 25 newly organized police section houses was located in Jorasanko.[5]

Jorasanko was historically an important centre of the shell industry in Kolkata, but it has been on the decline in recent years.[6][7]

Rabindra Sarani

Jorasanko is located on Rabindra Sarani (earlier Chitpore Road).[8] Some people refer to the entire stretch through which Chitpore Road ran as Chitpore or Chitpur; that also includes Jorasanko.

Theatre

A pair of theatres, both named Jorasanko Natyashala, were established in Jorasanko by the Bengalis in the 1800s. The first only lasted for a single play, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, which was staged on 3 May 1854.[9]

The second was established in the home of Ganendranath Tagore in 1865. The first significant play staged there was Krishnakumari, written by Bengali playwright Michael Madhusudan Dutta. Playwright Jyotirindranath Tagore acted in the production.[10] When the theatre was first established, female roles were played by men, although this practice gradually died out.[2] Finding a dearth of Bengali-language plays to stage, Ganendranath held a contest to promote Bengali playwrights. He offered a prize of 200 rupees (then a large sum) to the winner, and paid for the printing of 1000 copies. Nabanatak by Ramnarayan Tarkaratna won the first prize.[11][12]

Geography
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Police district

Jorasanko police station is part of the Central division of Kolkata Police. It is located at 16, Bal Mukund Malkar Road, Kolkata-700007.[13]

Taltala Women police station covers all police districts under the jurisdiction of the Central division i.e. Bowbazar, Burrabazar, Girish Park, Hare Street, Jorasanko, Muchipara, New Market, Taltala and Posta.[13]

Transport

Road

Jorasanko is surrounded by Kalakar Street on the west, MG Road on the south, Chittaranjan Avenue on the east and Kali Krishna Tagore Street-Vivekananda Road on the north. Rabindra Sarani passes through the middle of the locality from north to south. Many buses and auto-rickshaws ply along these roads.[14]

Train

Burra Bazar railway station on Kolkata Circular Railway line is the nearest railway station. Sealdah Station, one of the major railway-terminals of the city, is also located nearby.

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jorasanko.
  1. Nair, P. Thankappan in The growth and Development of Old Calcutta in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol I, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, pp. 15–17, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-563696-1.
  2. Deb, Chitra, Jorasanko and the Thakur Family, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol I, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, pp. 64–66, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-563696-1
  3. Kopf, David, The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind, p. 49, Princeton University Press.
  4. Chaudhuri, Sukanta, in Education in Modern Calcutta in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol II, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, p. 205, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-563697-X.
  5. Nair, P.Thankappan, The Growth and Development of Old Calcutta, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol. I, pp. 18–19, Edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Oxford University Press, 1995 edition.
  6. "A little more help needed but…". Bengal Plus. The Statesman, 10 April 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  7. "Shell Craft of West Bengal". Crafta and artisans of India. Craftsandartisans.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  8. Cotton, H.E.A., Calcutta Old and New, first published 1909, revised edition 1980, p 283, General Printers and Publishers Pvt Ltd.
  9. Mukhopadhyay, Ganesh (2012). "Theatre Stage". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  10. Bannerjee, Hiranmay, Thakurbarir Katha, (in Bengali), p.103 , Sishu Sahitya Sansad.
  11. Bannerjee, Hiranmay, p. 219.
  12. Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, (in Bengali), p. 127, ISBN 81-85626-65-0
  13. "Kolkata Police". Central Division. KP. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  14. Google maps

Kolkata/North Kolkata travel guide from Wikivoyage

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