This picture shows a view of Kolkata’s Eden gardens with a pagoda in the background and a bridge over a stream. Overlooking the Hooghly River, Eden Gardens was formally opened to the public in 1840. It was Lord Auckland, the Governor-General (1836-42), and his sisters who conceived the idea of the gardens and assigned the… Read more »
This photo shows a view of the Bandstand and the Burmese Pagoda in Eden Gardens from across Strand Road in Kolkata. It was Lord Auckland, the Governor-General (1836-42), and his sisters who conceived the idea of Eden Gardens around the northern periphery of Fort William and assigned the responsibility of planning it to Civil Architect… Read more »
An interview with Dr Xavier Bray of the Wallace Collection to understand how Bengal came to play an important role in the evolution of the striking Company School paintings
A land of memory and vision. A city of joy and heartbreak. A capsule of what was and what could have been. The cinemascape of Calcutta shows us all this and more
This picture shows the Calcutta High Court building on West Esplanade Row, as seen from across the street. In 1726 the East India Company created the Mayor’s Court, which was a court of record, to settle civil disputes. Consequently, English criminal law was also adopted and quarterly meetings were held by the Governor and five… Read more »
This is a photo of the Old Court House Street in Calcutta. This street lies on the eastern side of the Dalhousie Square and in this view you can see St. Andrew’s Church on the north corner of Old Court House Street and Lal Bazaar Street. This photograph is taken by Samuel Bourne in the… Read more »
This photograph shows the view from the north end of Chowringhee Road, beside the carriage stand, looking north-west across the Dharmatala Tank, towards the façades of the houses along Esplanade Row. The Government House is on the extreme left. The flat-fronted building with a verandah, located behind the premises of William Coish & Co is… Read more »
This picture shows Kolkata’s Writers’ building facing the northern side of the square tank known as Lal Dighi. Victory in the June 1757 battle of Plassey opened up a vast majority of Northern India to the British and contributed to the emergence of Calcutta as the Imperial Capital. Fort William, in ruins, had to be… Read more »
In this picture, the General Post Office of Calcutta with its conspicuous lantern topped dome and facade supported by Corinthian pillars is seen overseeing the tank square in the foreground, known as Lal Dighi today. In 1766, Robert Clive introduced a system where zamindars and landholders were held responsible for the supply of runners to… Read more »
This painting is among the early works of Jamini Roy. Trained in European painting styles in the Government School of Bengal, Roy began his career with realistic oil portraits and post-impressionist landscapes. He produced several paintings in this style from 1905 to 1930s, but his later indigenous bent oeuvre overshadows them. One such painting in… Read more »
Jamini Roy was probably the first artist to depict Christ in an Indian vocabulary. He was looking to test the effectiveness of his bold line and flat colour technique on a subject which was remote from his personal life. Being an orthodox Hindu who had never read the old or new testaments, Roy saw the… Read more »
‘The European in India; from a collection of drawings by Charles D’Oyly, Esq. engraved by J.H. Clark and C. Dubourg; with a description by Captain Thomas Williamson; accompanied with a brief history of ancient and modern India…by F.W. Blagdon Esq.’ is a collection of English colour plates about colonial life in India, with plates after… Read more »
Something is daunted when one attempts to remember the bequests of India’s early multi-hyphenate on his death anniversary. A good profile should be a seamless whole of the inner and outer life of the poet, Rabindranath Tagore had said, commenting on Tennyson’s biography by his son, which he admonished for being full of trivialities. But… Read more »
The history of the Indian Museum, is deeply associated with that of the foundation of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta. When British philologist Sir William Jones formed the Asiatic Society in 1784, he did not specifically address the establishment of a museum as part of the society’s projects. But over time artefacts and specimens started… Read more »
Hutwa Raj was a feudal estate belonging to the Bhumihar Brahmins of Baghochia dynasty and it was located in the Saran Division of present-day Bihar. Read about Indian kings and their fabulous jewels here. This studio portrait of the Maharaja is an albumen print mounted on a cabinet card. The front of the cabinet card… Read more »