B. B. D. Bagh

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B.B.D. Bagh, formerly called Dalhousie Square, is one of the central business district areas of Kolkata, India.

1 Origin of name
2 Geography
3 Significance
4 Heritage site

[edit] Origin of name

B.B.D. stands for three young Indian freedom fighters - Benoy, Badal and Dinesh, who on 8 December 1930 shot dead the Inspector General of Prison, NS Simpson in the balconies of Writers' building of the then Dalhosie square.

The original name of Dalhousie square was named after James, Marquise of Dalhousie, Governor General of India from 1847 to 1856.

[edit] Geography

The B.B.D. Bagh area is located near the Hooghly river in the western parts of the central Kolkata and is a square built around the old Lal Dighi tank.

[edit] Significance

B. B. D. Bagh continues to be like the 'heart' of Kolkata and many famous buildings housing important businesses and banks are located here. The Writer's Building-secratariat of West Bengal government, Royal Exchange (a one-time residence of Robert Clive and now the office of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry), General Post Office (G.P.O.) of Kolkata, Telephone Bhawan, St. John's Church are all situated around the square. The place is locally known as the Office Para - meaning the locality of offices. A large part of the daily commuters to Kolkata from the neighbourhood area comes here for livelihood.

The St. John's Church's yard has the Mausoleum of 'Calcutta's Founder', Job Charnock. The building is supposedly the oldest piece of masonry in Calcutta.

The square is famous for the cheap food vendors that sell ready foods throughout the day to the office-babus , all the clerks and officers that work in the offices. However, in the night, the place becomes eerily silent as there are hardly any residential buildings in the district.