Pixelated Memories: Black Hole

Showing posts with label Black Hole. Show all posts

August 14, 2013

General Post Office, Calcutta

"Driving southward down the western side of Dalhousie Square we have the General Post Office and some magnificent commercial buildings on our left. The dome of the Post Office is one of the most conspicuous land-marks of Calcutta. The building was designed by Mr. W. B. Granville, and completed in 1868. The flight of steps at the corner formed by Koila Ghat Street and Charnock Place (i.e., the western side of Dalhousie Square), and the spacious Corinthian Colonnade scarcely fall short of being impressive."

- Rev. Walter K. Firminger, "Thacker's Guide to Calcutta"

“Calcutta?? What’s there to see in Calcutta??”
I’ve lost count of how many times my friends have exclaimed this statement in astonishment, especially when I mention having visited some monument/structure that not even most Calcuttans would have heard of. For most Indians, it would be either Victoria Memorial or Howrah Bridge or the Durga Puja celebrations that define Calcutta – that’s the very problem with Indian tourism – by letting one or two monuments/places to become the representatives of a city/state, we relegate the rest of the architectural heritage that city/state might possess to obscurity. But can a couple of places define Calcutta’s art & architecture in its entirety – what then of the famous St. John’s Church Complex where Calcutta’s history, in the form of the mortal remains of Job Charnock (the guy who established the city as a bastion of British supremacy in India), is buried?? Or the gigantic Tipu Sultan Mosque close to the Esplanade Square that was built by the exiled family of the mighty sovereign of Mysore? The invisible Chinese clubs of Tiretta Bazaar & Thai monasteries of Tangra that bring to the fore the flavors of Asia in this ancient city? But, the most endearing thing about this beautiful city is that here the heritage is not hidden from the masses, it isn’t the exclusive of tourists – Calcutta’s interesting & equally amazing history is part & parcel of the city’s everyday life – the city breathes its history, it knows how to live it. In fact, the city folk have amalgamated the city’s architectural & cultural heritage so integrally into their daily life that structures such as the Church of St. John or the General Post Office (GPO) haven’t been turned into isolated tourist spots that remain only skeletons of their erstwhile magnificence & glory; instead these structures still serve the city’s population in their original capacity, be it administration, relaxation or worship.

Calcutta General Post Office, view from Writer's Building

I agree that at times it is hard to appreciate Calcutta’s beauty; the city has turned into a congested mess with its traffic & crowds – the whizzing yellow taxis, the people scurrying to reach their destinations, the hawkers & the beggars – nobody is ready to stop for even a minute; leave alone photographing a structure without swarms of people buzzing around it, at times the milling crowds make it difficult to even get a full view of a structure. But though now dilapidated, these structures still bring to the front the glory the city enjoyed first as the headquarters of the mighty British East India Company & later as the capital of entire Indian subcontinent when it had been colonized by Britain.

The GPO, a magnificent white building, with a huge dome gracing its front end & Corinthian columns (slender fluted columns, topped by decorative leaves & scrolls) along its sides, is a brilliant example of the simplistic Edwardian architecture that was prevalent in Britain from 1901-14. What attracted me to the post office?? Didn’t I tell you of my interest in philately?? What better place to buy stamps to satiate my philatelic appetite than one of the oldest post offices in the country, one that reeks of history from each of its crack & crevice. The building was designed by Walter L. B. Granville (1819-1874), the same architect who also designed the Indian Museum (refer Pixelated Memories - Indian Museum), Calcutta High Court & the University of Calcutta (later destroyed). I have added links to the architect’s life history as well as the museum that I had visited on an earlier occasion in this article’s footer. The construction of the GPO started in 1864 & it was handed over to the postal department in 1868. It was commissioned by the British Government of Bengal to ease the administration of the postal & telegraph network of the province of Bengal; it has since then served as the chief post office of Bengal.

Believe it or not, that magnificent dome looks small but is actually 220-feet high!!

Sadly, the crowd at the GPO began thinning after the advent of modern lines of communication such as email, telephones & SMS texting – the GPO has fallen on bad times & the bulk of post passing through it has reduced drastically, the structure remains more of a tribute to the glorious past. It stands at the centre of all posts passing through Calcutta, but also as a memorial to the city’s erstwhile position at the world stage. The GPO also has further gory history associated with it – it is built at the site of Fort William, the British outpost at Calcutta, that was the site of the “Black Hole Tragedy” of 1756 AD – a singular event where several British men & women were imprisoned in a small dungeon by then Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah, leading to several deaths by asphyxiation & panic – an action that provoked the army of East India Company led by Robert Clive to attack the Nawab & impose heavy sanctions on him. The Company then became the virtual rulers of Bengal (of course, now the scale of the tragedy & the motives behind Clive’s attack are also under dispute – see post Pixelated Memories - Black Hole Memorial for the complete details). Along one of the staircases of the GPO, brass plates have been embedded in the floor to mark the dungeon where the “Black Hole” incident took place – however not many people are aware of this aspect of the GPO’s history. This is where the British rule in India started, sadly the brass plates are imperceptible & difficult to spot, just like the country’s history remains remote to the masses.

The plaque & the brass lines added to remind visitors of the Black Hole Tragedy (Photo courtesy - Rangandatta.wordpress.com)

Standing in the courtyard of the GPO, one can see history writ all over its newly whitewashed walls, the massive pillars seem to reflect pride & might at having carried the weight of the huge dome as well as the load of the entire communication service of Calcutta. The GPO has spawned an entire class of traders around its premises – there are some who sell envelopes, first-day covers, post cards & currency coins (the Reserve Bank is situated next to the GPO), others read & write letters for the uneducated, many others would perform legal paperwork & prepare documents for their patrons, some would even bring along their makeshift offices (consisting of rickety wooden tables & chairs) along with typewriters to draft letters for those who aren’t so fluent with the language of official communication.

One can see the GPO’s 220-feet high dome, complete with the big clock that graces its face & the Sanchi three-lion motif (the emblem of Indian state) from across the large water tank (locally known as “Lal Dighi”) that separates the GPO & the magnificent Writer’s Building (office of the Chief Minister of Bengal, refer Pixelated Memories - Writers' Building). Along with Writer’s Building, St. John’s Church (refer Pixelated Memories - St. John's Church) & the Raj Bhavan (residence of the Governor of Bengal), the GPO has become one of the defining landmarks of BBD Bagh Area, an old locality boasting of colonial architecture complete with pillars, idols, & imposing facades.

I'm in love with this place!! - The Philatelic Bureau associated with the GPO building

On the inside, the GPO is much like any normal government office in India – clerks manning their stations, bundles of files stacked on & around their tables, many of these covered with thick layers of dust, gunny bags filled with papers & documents stacked along the corners, slow-rotating fans that creak more than they rotate, long queues of visitors lining up to get their work done. A Postal Museum was added to the GPO in 1884 & has on display a collection of stamps and postal artifacts such as letterboxes & seals. The GPO also boasts of a Philatelic Bureau which is a stamp collector’s delight, it was here that I bought stamps & first-day covers worth Rs 500 (as an indicator, except for the stamps, the entire trip cost me Rs 300, including Rs 200 for travel from Durgapur!!). The place is decked up with stamps on all sides, even the walls are adorned with large replicas of newly issued stamps, posters & information bulletins about Indian postal system.

It has even featured on a stamp.. (Photo courtesy - Indianpost.com)

Postage stamps worth 40 paise depicting the GPO were also issued by the postal department on its centenary celebrations in 1967 & 68. Several of those stamps I have in my possession, which brings me back to the question that my friends always pose to me, I answer it with another question - Isn’t it worth visiting a building that has been commemorated on stamps & still stands as a living testimony to the postal department’s establishment & continuing tradition of service to the citizens?

Location: Crossing of Netaji Subhas Road and Koilaghat Street, B.B.D Bagh Area. Ask your way around to Writer's Building from Esplanade Bus/Metro Station (refer Pixelated Memories - Writers' Building for identification). Traverse the pathway running along the tank opposite the Building to reach the GPO. Don't forget to photograph the ducks & swans that waddle in the tank!
Nearest Bus & Metro Station: Esplanade
Timings: 9am - 5pm
Entrance Fee: Nil
Photography/Video Charges: Nil
Relevant Links -

Suggested Reading -

September 13, 2012

Charnock's Tomb, Calcutta

This post is part of series about St. John’s Church located in BBD Bagh area, Calcutta. The integrated post about the church and the structures within can be accessed from here – Pixelated Memories - St. John's Church

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"Calcutta, founded amidst the vilest climate, the remotest marshes, and the most intemperate people in India, embellished and aggrandized by successive Viceroys with monstrous buildings and preposterous statues, and breathing a preponderantly commercial opinion upon the fate of 300,000,000 people.."

– Robert Byron, "New Delhi", The Architectural Review Magazine (1931)

Inside a walled compound in a forgotten, desolate corner of St. John’s Church stands a diminutive octagonal structure – painted a serene white throughout and possessing a small dome and arched doorways, this unique structure is both a tomb and a memorial dedicated to the memory of Job Charnock. Surrounded by several more uniquely constructed memorials, Charnock’s tomb looks different – peaceful, otherworldly and charming in its own way. Pigeons coo around the obscure structures, scores of them perching on the numerous electrical wires hanging about the high rises that dwarf the church complex. One gets the strange sensation that only Charnock’s tomb is maintained and cared for in the walled enclosure while the rest have been forgotten, ignored. An administrator for the East India Company, Job Charnock was one of the first English traders to set foot in Calcutta – In fact, it is contended that Calcutta did not even exist that time and Charnock was the one who stubbornly merged three adjacent villages (Sutanuti, Kalikata and Goindpur) in the militarily strategic Sutanuti region on the banks of river Hooghly into one administrative unit christened Calcutta (from “Kalikata” – the land of Kali, the Hindu Goddess of death & destruction, but not in any way associated with the ancient temple of Kalighat, refer Pixelated Memories - Kalighat Temple) and established it as a British military and commerce stronghold in the face of administrative opposition and persistent run-ins with fellow English bureaucrats. The theory has been contested by many scholars, as well as the Armenian community of Calcutta who claim to have settled in the city over half a century before Charnock and his team; most notably, the Calcutta High Court noted in its rulings (2003) that Calcutta was already a full-fledged city on the trade route by the time the British arrived. Yet the lore goes on.

The compound housing Charnock's and Admiral Watson's memorials

Resisting arrest and evading pursuance by the armies of the Nawab of Bengal with whom he had differences arising out of alleged injustice in taxation and imposition of cruel custom rates, a physically strained and mentally fatigued Charnock arrived in Sutanuti in August 1690, after much harassment and trouble with the Mughal and Bengal forces, and assumed command as the Company’s Chief Agent in Bengal. His persistence in establishing the Co.’s stronghold and associated port in Bengal paid handsomely and within a few years the Co. gained the enviable position of a regional territorial power possessing a proper seafaring route. However, aggrieved and heartbroken at the demise of his Indian wife (supposedly named Maria, however no records exist regarding her identification – she is said to have originally been a Hindu Rajput princess Charnock rescued from the horrific tradition of Sati where a wife is forced to burn herself upon the funeral pyre of her (usually decades older) husband while he was posted in Bihar; she later converted to Christianity) and the consequent death of his son, Charnock passed away two years later and did not live to see the Co. he so loyally served yield fruit from his extensive labours. Upon his death, his eldest son-in-law Charles Eyre constructed this structure in his memory with black stone for the tombstone specially brought all the way from Chennai (then Madras) – the rock from which the stone was chiseled has since been identified and isolated as an individual geological formation not found elsewhere and named in his honor as “Charnockite” (Pallavaram black gneiss). Charnock had served the Company for 34 long years – a period in which he was maliciously and often falsely accused of corruption, mismanagement, weak control over the British establishment and policy paralysis besides possessing questionable morals and supplicating to pagan (Hindu) religion to appease his wife. To please the subcontinent’s puritanical English society whom Eyre was required to interact with and manage as the Co.’s Indian Agent and President of Bengal territory (positions once occupied by Charnock), the memorial stone makes no mention of Maria who too is buried with her beloved husband. Overtime, several other relatives and other prominent personalities who demised in colonial territory were also buried close to Charnock in the small compound. The small octagonal tomb sits on a low plinth and is built in two distinct levels, the upper being considerably smaller in its cross-section than the lower; externally the tomb is marked with slender pillars along each corner, simplistic battlements at the interface of the levels and horizontal embossments running all over its otherwise plain surface. Within the tomb were erected the three jet black stone tablets, each etched with fairly artistic Latin, English and Arabic calligraphic obituaries in white paint. The English translation of the central tablet commemorating Charnock reads –

“In the hands of God Almighty, Job Charnock, English knight and recently the most worthy agent of the English in this Kingdom of Bengal, left his mortal remains under this marble so that he might sleep in the hope of a blessed resurrection at the coming of Christ the Judge. After he had journeyed onto foreign soil he returned after a little while to his eternal home on the 10th day of January 1692. By his side lies Mary, first-born daughter of Job, and dearest wife of Charles Eyre, the English prefect in these parts. She died on 19 February AD 1696–7”.

The obituaries within, carved on a unique rock since christened "Charnockite"

Another tablet commemorates William Hamilton, a surgeon who gained prominence in the Mughal court by treating the then emperor Farrukhsiyar (reign AD 1712-19) when the British Co. officers visited the royal court in order to discuss trade rights and factory privileges, in the following words –

“Under this Stone lyes interred the Body of William Hamilton, Surgeon, who departed this life the 4th December, 1717. His memory ought to be dear to his Nation for the credit he gain'd the English in curing Ferrukseer, the present King of Indostan, of a Malignant Distemper, by which he made his own Name famous at the Court of that Great Monarch; and without doubt will perpetuate his memory, as well in Great Britain as all other Nations of Europe."

On the ground around the tomb, blanketed by a meager layer of fallen dead and dry leaves and trampled regularly by unaware visitors, are several thick iron plates that on first observation appear to be rectangular manhole covers, but on close inspection can be identified as tablets engraved as memorials to the deceased. These too are part of the tomb, these too have been forgotten in the midst of the numerous tombs and memorials, many of which belong to more historically-renowned personages, that litter the hallowed grounds of St. John’s Church.

Memorials around Charnock's mausoleum

Flanking Charnock’s modest mausoleum are two even smaller memorials – the first is made up of three connected but successively bigger memorial tablets enshrined in enclosing masonry rectangles while the second and the most ornate of all memorials commemorates Admiral Charles Watson, Commander of His Majesty’s Navies in East Indies. Relegated to a mere footnote in India’s colonial history, Admiral Watson played a noteworthy role in commanding the naval segment of the forces led by Colonel Robert Clive during the retaking of Calcutta after the British fortress had been seized by Siraj-ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, and its occupants confined to a small dungeon prison where supposedly 146 Europeans, including officers, women and children, died due to asphyxiation. This strange and horrific event was termed “Black Hole Tragedy of Calcutta” and prompted indignation and outrage among the British, leading to a treacherous war against the Nawab and subsequently his grisly murder – the entire event later was proved to be a hoax where a small incident had been blown out of proportion in order to generate an atmosphere conducive for military and territorial expansion in India. Incidentally, a memorial commemorating the said event was also erected nearby and can be read about here – Pixelated Memories - Black Hole Memorial. Outside the small enclosure and keeping these forgotten memorials company are beautiful but even lesser known commemorative structures dedicated to Lady Charlotte Canning, the Second Rohilla War and Lady Johnson (see links below). The Church came up close to the memorials much later in 1787 AD and was consecrated to St. John.

(Left to right) An indecipherable memorial commemorating three individuals, Admiral Watson's memorial and the spire of St. John's church looming behind the tree line

Location: St. John's Church, BBD Bagh

Nearest Bus stop: Esplanade
Nearest Metro Station: Esplanade
How to reach: Walk/avail a taxi from Esplanade. Buses are available from different parts of the city for Esplanade and BBD Bagh.
Open: All days, 10 am – 5 pm
Entrance Fee: Rs 10 for visitors on foot (parking charges extra)
Photography/Video Charges: Nil
Time required for sight seeing: 20 min

Relevant Links -

Suggested reading -

August 14, 2013

General Post Office, Calcutta

September 13, 2012

Charnock's Tomb, Calcutta

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