Park Street, Kolkata
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Park Street, is a famous thoroughfare in downtown
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It is one of Kolkata's most visited places, famed for numerous celebrations such as on
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
and
New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
. The street runs through what was a deer park of Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta from 1773 to 1789, hence the earlier name. It's located in central part of Calcutta.


History

Documented records of the throughfare can be traced back to 1760, when
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
(then Calcutta) was the capital of the British Empire in India. Since 1760, the street has been through several name changes. Previous names include 'Ghorustan ka Rasta', Vansittart Avenue and Burial Ground Road. Some 250 years ago, Park Street was known as Burial Ground Road and was not a preferred choice of residence, as there were a number of cemeteries in this area, the South Park Street Cemetery, opposite to it was the North Park Street Cemetery (now replaced by a school). Further west, there were two smaller cemeteries, one French and one Italian (now replaced by offices and schools). Park Street has been the main evening recreation zone for Kolkata people since the British era. In the 1970s and 1980s much of Kolkata's
night life Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, Bar (establishment), bars, nightclubs, party, parties, live music, conc ...
took place in Park Street, with many clubs and restaurants situated there. Many noted musicians had played at various popular night spots, such as Trinca's, Peter Cat, Oly Pub, Blue Fox, Mocambo and Moulin Rouge. Even before that, from the 1940s through to the late 1960s, Kolkata's prolific night life was centred on fashionable Park Street. The Park Hotel chain started with the opening of its first hotel, the 150 room The Park Hotel on 1 November 1967. The park street name coinage is assumed to be having association with such a history.


Location and importance

Park Street originates from
Chowringhee Road Chowringhee Road (also spelt ''Chourangi Road''), located in the Chowringhee neighbourhood of Kolkata, is the arterial road running from the eastern fringes of Esplanade southwards up to the crossing with Lower Circular Road (AJC Bose Ro ...
(J L Nehru Road) and connects to Park Circus 7 point crossing in a south eastern direction. The portion of Park Street between
Chowringhee Road Chowringhee Road (also spelt ''Chourangi Road''), located in the Chowringhee neighbourhood of Kolkata, is the arterial road running from the eastern fringes of Esplanade southwards up to the crossing with Lower Circular Road (AJC Bose Ro ...
and Mullick Bazar has been one of the city's attractions for years. Several important roads originate from/intersect at Park Street in the northward and southward directions, namely Russell Street, Middleton Row,
Camac Street Abanindranath Thakur Sarani (formerly and popularly known as Camac Street) is a one-way road in Kolkata, India. Running in the Kolkata CBD, it connects Allen Park at Park Street to Nizam Palace at Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road. The roa ...
, Wood Street, Loudon Street and Rawdon Street towards the South and Free School Street, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road towards the North. Park Street also intersects
AJC Bose Road Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (earlier known as Lower Circular Road) and its continuation northwards called Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road (earlier known as Upper Circular Road), are together the longest and the most important north-south ...
at Mullick Bazar crossing and eventually goes to Park Circus from where other major roads such as Syed Amir Ali Avenue, Darga Road, Park Circus Connector starts and connects to important areas such as Ballygunge, EM Bypass and CIT Road. Park Street remains Kolkata's foremost dining district, with many restaurants and pubs. It is often known as "Food Street" and "The Street that Never Sleeps". In the last 15 years, many new restaurants, shopping malls, 5-star hotels and nightclubs have opened in other areas of the city and hence Park Street has lost much of its earlier attraction as being the ''numero uno'' entertainment hub of Kolkata. However, it is still one of the prime commercial and entertainment zones of the city. Park Street is traditionally decorated with lights on Diwali, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.


Landmarks

Park Street has notable landmarks, showrooms, buildings and cenotaphs and tombs of prominent figures from the
British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...
era and European population such as: *
Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an 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 philologist Will ...
* St. Xavier's Collegiate School *
St. Xavier's College, Calcutta St. Xavier's College is a Private university, private, Catholic, autonomous college in Kolkata, India. It is run by the Calcutta Province of the Society of Jesus. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1860 and named after Francis Xavier, St. Franc ...
* Loreto College, Kolkata * St. Thomas Church, Kolkata *Assembly of God Church school *'Park Plaza' Office *Queen's Mansion *Park Mansions, housing both kolkata Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata and Alliance Française du Bengale * The Park Hotel * South Park Street Cemetery *Stephen Court Building


Police district

Park Street police station is part of the South division of
Kolkata Police The Kolkata Police () (formerly "Calcutta Police"), is the Law enforcement in India, territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within the Kolkata metropolitan region, metropolitan area of the city of Kolkata, ...
. Located at 89, Park Street, Kolkata-700016, it has jurisdiction over the police district which is bordered on the ''north'' from the north-west corner of the junction of Dr. Md. Ishaque Road (old Kyd Street), Jawaharlal Nehru Road (old Chowringhee Road) and Janaki Saha Road (old Mayo Road), thence crossing Jawaharlal Nehru Road to the north-east corner of the junction of Dr. Md. Ishaque Road (old Kyd Street) and Jawaharlal Nehru Road, thence eastward by the northern limits of Dr. Md. Ishaque Road up to Mirza Galib Street (old Free School Street) and thence northward along the western limits of Mirza Galib Street up to the north-west corner of the junction of Mustaque Ahmed Lane (old Marquis Street) and Mirza Galib Street, thence crossing Mirza Galib Street, to the north-east corner of the junction of Mustaque Ahmed Lane and Mirza Galib Street, thence eastward by the northern limits of Mustaque Ahmed Lane to Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road (old Wellesly Street), thence crossing Rafi Ahmed Kidwai to the north-east corner of the junction of Mustaque Ahmed Lane and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, thence eastward by the northern limits of Haji Md. Mohsin Road and Alimuddin Street respectively to Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road thence crossing Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road up to the north-east corner of the junction of Alimuddin Street and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road. It is bordered on the ''east'' from the north-east corner of the junction of Alimuddin Street and the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, thence by southward the eastern boundary of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road up to the south-east corner of the junction of Park Street and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road. It is bordered in ''south'' from the south-east corner of the junction of Park Street and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (old Lower Circular Road) then crossing Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road to the south west corner of the junction of Park Street and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, then westward by the southern limits of Park Street to Jawaharlal Nehru Road (old Chowringhee Road) thence crossing Jawaharlal Nehru Road up to the south-west corner of the junction of Park Street, Outram Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road. It is bordered on the ''west'' From the south-west corner of the junction of Park Street, Jawaharlal Nehru Road (old Chowringhee Road) and Outram Road, thence northward by the western limits of the Jawaharlal Nehru Road up to the north-west corner of the junction of Dr. Md. Ishaque Road (old Kyd Street), Jawaharlal Nehru Road and Janaki Saha Road (old Mayo Road). See also
Park Street police district map
Tollygunge Women's police station has jurisdiction over all the police districts in the South Division, i.e. Park Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Alipore, Hastings, Maidan, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Tollygunge, Charu Market, New Alipur and Chetla.park Street police station


See also

*
Camac Street Abanindranath Thakur Sarani (formerly and popularly known as Camac Street) is a one-way road in Kolkata, India. Running in the Kolkata CBD, it connects Allen Park at Park Street to Nizam Palace at Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road. The roa ...
* Sudder Street *
Chowringhee Chowringhee (also Chourangi) is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. Chowringhee Road (officially Jawaharlal Nehru Road) runs on its western side. A neighbo ...
* AJC Bose Road & APC Road * Free School Street


References


External links


Park Street history
(archived 13 January 2005)

- covering Park Street {{coord missing, West Bengal Streets in Kolkata Tourist attractions in Kolkata Shopping districts and streets in India Memorials to Mother Teresa Neighbourhoods in Kolkata