South Park Street Cemetery is located on

Mother Teresa Sarani Park Street, is a famous thoroughfare in downtown Calcutta, India. In Bengali, it oftenly referred as Shaheb -er Para or the “neighbourhood of Englishmen”.The street runs through what was a deer park of Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of th ...

, Central Kolkata,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The road used to be called Park Street, and prior to that Burial Ground Road.

History

The Park Street Cemetery was one of the earliest non-church cemeteries in the world, and probably the largest Christian cemetery outside

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and America in the 19th century. Opened in 1767 on what was previously a marshy area, the cemetery was in use until about 1830 and is now a heritage site, protected by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

(ASI). The cemetery was opened to relieve the pressure on the old burial ground in the heart of the city. The road leading to the cemetery came to be known as the Burial Ground Road but was subsequently renamed Park Street after the park around Vansittart's garden house. By the year 1785 the burial ground had been extended on the northern side of Park Street and by 1840 a vast new

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

was opened to the east of the Lower Circular Road. The

ans started to disuse it in the year 1790. It has been confirmed by a marble plaque at the gate which reads "South Park Street, Opened:1767, Closed:1790". Tollywood's

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

film, '' Gorosthaney Sabdhan'' (literal translation: Beware in the cemetery) was shot here. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Satyajit Ray.

Notable tombs

*Rose Aylmer (died 1800) *Elizabeth Barwell (died 1779) * George Bogle (1746–1781), diplomat *Lieutenant-General Sir John Clavering (c.1722–1777), army officer * Augustus Cleveland (d. 1784), colonial administrator *Captain Edward Cooke (1772–1799), Royal Navy officer *

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (18 April 1809 – 26 December 1831) was an Indian poet and assistant headmaster of Hindu College, Kolkata. He was a radical thinker of his time and one of the first Indian educators to disseminate Western learning a ...

(1809–1831), teacher and poet *Sir Elijah Impey (1732–1809), judge *Sir William Jones (1746–1794), Indologist, founder of the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

*Colonel

Robert Kyd The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(1746–1793), botanist * Lt. Col.

Colin Mackenzie Colonel Colin Mackenzie CB (1754–8 May 1821) was Scottish army officer in the British East India Company who later became the first Surveyor General of India. He was a collector of antiquities and an orientalist. He surveyed southern India, ...

(1754–1821), Surveyor General of India *

Sir John Hadley D'Oyly, 6th Baronet Sir John Hadley D'Oyly, 6th Baronet (January 1754, Ipswich – 5 January 1818, Kolkata) was a politician in Great Britain. He primarily inherited debt when his father died when he was ten, but through family connections had a successful care ...

(1754–1818), politician *Major-General Charles Stuart (1758–1828), army officer and Indophile popularly known as "Hindoo Stuart" *

Walter Landor Dickens Walter Savage Landor Dickens (8 February 1841 – 31 December 1863) was the fourth child and second son of English people, English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine Dickens, Catherine. He became an officer cadet in the East Ind ...

, son of English novelist

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

. He was buried initially in Bhowanipore war cemetery and the tombstone was later moved here in 1987. The memorials are almost all architecturally imposing and replete with classical details and sculptures. Among the interesting professions mentioned in the epitaphs are: breeder of cattle, jail-keeper, silversmith, schoolteacher, architect, translator, livery, printer, head tide-waiter, park superintendent, cooper, postmaster and surgeon.

Grave 363 and the oldest

This grave contains only the following epitaph, possibly indicating that the person wished to remain anonymous: "A virtuous mother (died 1825)". The oldest grave in this graveyard is of Mrs S. Pearson (1768).

Features

The tombs are a mix of

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

and the rich flavour of the Indo-Saracenic style. Among the Indo-Saracenic tombs is a unique and composite brick structure built in the ''panchyatana'' manner, with a central dome flanked by miniature replicas of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

n ''rekha deul'' on four sides. Coupled with this peculiarity, the black basalt carvings on the frontal façade indicate a distinct respect for the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

faith.

Controversies

A well known business family wanted to turn the cemetery into an arts centre. The demolition work had begun in 1984 and the Calcutta High Court intervened and issued an order stopping further construction work. Nevertheless, substantial damage had already been done by then and many graves were lost. The grave of Charles Stuart was destroyed (and was later restored) and the demolition of Derozio's grave had been initiated, when, Justice Bagbati Banerjee of Calcutta High Court issued orders to stop further construction work.

North Park Street Cemetery

The former North Park Street Cemetery is now the site of the

Assembly of God Church School The Assembly of God Church is a school in the city of Kolkata. Established in the year 1964 with moderate beginnings. The school is affiliated to the CISCE board (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations). References External ...

and the Mercy Hospital with only a sole grave standing that recalls its past. The Lower Circular Road cemetery still exists today and is used for burial, although it has fewer monuments.

Gallery

File: South Park Street Cemetery.jpg, Main gate File:South-Park-Street-Cemetery-Gate.jpg, The marble plaque which reads: "South Park Street Cemetery, opened 1767, closed 1790" File:South-Park-Street-Cemetery-5.jpg, The pavilions inside the cemetery File:South-Park-Street-Cemetery-4.jpg, A tomb inside the cemetery File:South-Park-Street-Cemetery-3.jpg, The tomb of Charles Stuart, known as "Hindoo Stuart" File:South-Park-Street-Cemetery-2.jpg, The tombs inside the cemetery File:Tomb of Sir Henry Vivian Derozio.jpg, Tomb of Sir Henry Vivian Derozio

References

External links

*The Telegraph.
Sleuth’s trail to cemetery of veiled ghosts
', by Rangan Datta. December 26, 2010.

{{Coord, 22.546568, 88.360390, display=title Cemeteries in India Christianity in Kolkata 1767 establishments in India 1767 establishments in the British Empire