HeikeC58098401 at 16:17, 20 January 2026

2026-01-20T16:17:12Z

>SdkbBot: /* Rabindra Sarani */removed erroneous space

2021-05-31T09:32:27Z

Rabindra Sarani: removed erroneous space

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{{About|the neighbourhood Jorasanko|the famous Jorasanko Thakur Bari (Tagore House)|Jorasanko Thakur Bari}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement



|name =Jorasanko 
|official_name =
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|settlement_type =Neighbourhood in Kolkata (Calcutta) 
|image_skyline = Jorasanko Thakur Bari.jpg
|imagesize =
|image_caption = [[Jorasanko Thakur Bari]], now [[Rabindra Bharati University]]
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|pushpin_map = India Kolkata
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|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Kolkata
|coordinates = {{coord|22.5855|N|88.3568|E|region:IN-{{IndAbbr|[[West Bengal]]}}|display=inline,title}}

|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{IND}}
|subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
|subdivision_type2 = City
|subdivision_type3 = [[List of districts of West Bengal|District]]
|subdivision_type4 = [[Kolkata Metro|Metro Station]]
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|subdivision_name1 = [[West Bengal]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Kolkata]]
|subdivision_name3 = [[Kolkata district|Kolkata]]
|subdivision_name4 = [[Girish Park metro station|Girish Park]]
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|seat_type = [[Municipal Corporation]]
|seat = [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]]
|parts_type = [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation|KMC]] wards
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|parts = [[Ward No. 23, Kolkata Municipal Corporation|23]], [[Ward No. 25, Kolkata Municipal Corporation|25]], [[Ward No. 41, Kolkata Municipal Corporation|41]]
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|postal_code = 700007
|area_code = +91 33
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|timezone = IST
|utc_offset = +5:30
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| blank1_name_sec1 = [[Lok Sabha]] constituency
| blank1_info_sec1 = [[Kolkata Uttar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kolkata Uttar]]
| blank2_name_sec1 = [[Vidhan Sabha]] constituency
| blank2_info_sec1 = [[Jorasanko (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|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.

==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 [[Kristo Das Pal|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."<ref name = "Nair">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}}.</ref> It was earlier known as Mechuabazar.<ref name = "Deb">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}}</ref>
[[File:Jorasanko.jpg|thumb|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.<ref name = "Nair"/>

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]].<ref name = "Nair"/> The Oriental Seminary started in 1829 by the educator Gour Mohan Addy, was one of the earliest privately run, first-rate, Hindu supported modern school in Kolkata, open to middle and lower middle-class Hindu boys only.<ref>Kopf, David, ''The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind'', p 49, Princeton University Press.</ref>

[[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.<ref>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}}.</ref>

In 1888, one of the 25 newly organized police section houses was located in Jorasanko.<ref>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.</ref>

==Rabindra Sarani==
Jorasanko is located on Rabindra Sarani (earlier Chitpore Road.) "The great thoroughfare, which commencing in the extreme south, assumes the various names of Russa Road, Chowringhee Road, Bentick Street, Chitpore Road, and Barrackpore Trunk Road, forms a continuation of the Dum Dum Road and was the old line of communication between Morshedabad and Kalighat. It is said to occupy the site of the old road made by the [[Sabarna Roy Choudhury]]s, the old zemindars of Calcutta, from [[Barisha, India|Barisha]], where the junior branch resided, to [[Halisahar]], beyond [[Barrackpore]], which was the seat of the senior branch."<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., ''Calcutta Old and New'', first published 1909, revised edition 1980, p 283, General Printers and Publishers Pvt Ltd.</ref> Some people refer to the entire stretch through which Chitpore Road ran as [[Chitpur|Chitpore or Chitpur]]. That includes Jorasanko too.

==Jorasanko Natyashala==
There were two Jorasanko Natyashalas. The earlier one was organised by Peary Mohan Bose at his house on Banarasi Ghose Street, in Jorasanko. The only play staged was [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caeser]]'' on 3 May 1854.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Ganesh |year=2012 |chapter=Theatre Stage |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Theatre_Stage |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref>

[[Ganendranath Tagore]] established the second Jorasanko Natyasala, a home theatre, in 1865 and staged ''Krishnakumari'' written by [[Michael Madhusudan Dutta]] that year itself. Young [[Jyotirindranath Tagore|Jyotirindranath]] had the first opportunity to act in it in the role of Ahalyadevi.<ref>Bannerjee, Hiranmay, ''Thakurbarir Katha'', {{in lang|bn}}, p.103 , Sishu Sahitya Sansad.</ref> At first men played women's roles, but subsequently women of the family also acted before an audience of friends and relatives and even late before the public.<ref name = "Deb"/>

As there were few good plays in Bengali, which could be taken up for staging, Ganendranath announced a prize for writing plays. ''Nabanatak'' written by Ramnarayan Tarkaratna won the first prize. He awarded the playwright [[Rupees]] two hundred (a large sum in those days) and promised to bear the cost of printing a thousand copies of the play.<ref>Bannerjee, Hiranmay, p. 219.</ref><ref>Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, {{in lang|bn}}, p. 127, {{ISBN|81-85626-65-0}}</ref>

==Recent developments==
[[Buddhadeb Dasgupta]] won the award for the Best Direction for the Year 2001 for the film Jorasanko Thakurbari for artistically unfolding the history of the house of the Tagores.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2002/rjul2002/26072002/r2607200224d.html | title = 49th National Film Award | access-date = 2007-04-24 | work = Award for the Best Direction | publisher =Press Information Bureau, Government of India.
}}</ref> Joanne Taylor who has written a book on the ''Forgotten Palaces of Calcutta'' was spell bound by the Jorasanko Thakur Bari. "These structures form the fabric of Kolkata’s history," she says.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=26&id=146834&usrsess=1
|title=Charming Bricks
|access-date=2007-04-24
|last=Paul
|first=Mathures
|work=Kolkata Unplugged
|publisher=The Statesman
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091427/http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=26&id=146834&usrsess=1
|archive-date=2007-09-29
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

Jorasanko is an important centre of shell industry in Kolkata.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.craftandartisans.com/shell-craft-of-west-bengal.html | title = Shell Craft of West Bengal | access-date = 2007-04-24 | work = Crafta and artisans of India | publisher =Craftsandartisans.com}}</ref> However, the industry has not been in good shape in recent years.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=23&id=180393&usrsess=1
|title=A little more help needed but…
|access-date=2007-04-24
|work=Bengal Plus
|publisher=The Statesman, 10 April 2007
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926214512/http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=23&id=180393&usrsess=1
|archive-date=26 September 2007
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{OSM Location map 
| coord = {{coord|22.5855|88.3568}} 
| zoom = 15 
| label = Jorasanko
| mark-coord = {{coord|22.5855|88.3568}}
| label-pos = right
| float = left
}}

===Police district===
Jorasanko police station is part of the [[Divisions of Kolkata Police|Central division]] of [[Kolkata Police]]. It is located at 16, Bal Mukund Malkar Road, Kolkata-700007.<ref name="police">{{cite web| url = http://www.kolkatapolice.gov.in/division.asp?ID=1&Division=C |title = Kolkata Police |work = Central Division | publisher= KP| access-date = 9 March 2018}}</ref>

[[Taltala#Police district|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.<ref name="police"/>

==Transport==
===Road===
Jorasanko is surrounded by Kalakar Street on the west, [[Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kolkata|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.<ref>Google maps</ref>

===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.

==Gallery==
<gallery> image: Jatra Posters.jpg|Posters adorn the offices of Jatra groups
image: Oriental Seminary.jpg|[[Oriental Seminary]]
image: Sugar Cane.jpg|[[Sugarcane juice|Sugar Cane]] for sale for [[Rath Yatra]] on a Jorasanko footpath
image: Litho printer.jpg|A litho printer at work – a Jorasanko speciality </gallery>

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage-inline|Kolkata/North Kolkata}}

{{Kolkata neighbourhoods}}

[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Kolkata]]

Jorasanko - Revision history

HeikeC58098401 at 16:17, 20 January 2026

>SdkbBot: /* Rabindra Sarani */removed erroneous space