Bhowanipore or Bhabanipur is the oldest locality of South Kolkata. It is located just south of the Lower Circular Road (now A.J.C. Bose Road). It is the second largest locality in South Kolkata after Ballygunge. The locality has its boundary touching the AJC Bose Road, Maidan, Victoria Memorial and consists of well-known and posh localities like Elgin Road, Gokhale Road, Woodburn Park, Bakulbagan Road, Harish Mukherjee Road, Beltala Road, Townshend Road and parts of Chakraberia and Lansdowne. The locality has an illustrious past and abounds with stories of great men and women who lived here, although in the recent years it has lost much of its glory to Ballygunge, which has gone ahead in terms of good roads, posh locales, and modern day developments.
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Bhowanipore is perhaps the first 'posh' south Kolkata neighbourhood. In the early 19th century, it was just a small village on the southern outskirts of the city of Calcutta. Soon it developed into a favourable home to many immigrants into the city from the countryside of West and East Bengal[1]. These immigrants were very literate and prosperous and just wanted to settle outside the more famous localities of northern Kolkata.
The Lower Circular Road (present A.J.C. Bose Road) had just been constructed and the area just south of the road became home to many Indians who wanted to live in proximity to the city and yet away from it.
Many Britishers also took fancy to the area and they also began settling in the area, but were far outnumbered by the local populace.
Initially the locality was bounded by Lansdowne Road (presently Sarat Bose Road) to the east, Russa Road (presently A.T. Mukherjee Road and S.P. Mukherjee Road) to the west and the Hazra Road to the south. But it expanded much more to the west, far beyond Harish Mukherjee Road to the Tolly Nullah.
The Jadu Babu's Bazaar on Russa Road was the heart of south Kolkata before Gariahat even developed. It is still the major market for the locality.
Many young people from the locality became notable individuals like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee and his son Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, Uttam Kumar and lately Satyajit Ray, who made the area his home, among others.
Bhowanipore was also known as the cinema hall area of the city. Number of cinema halls like Purna, Indira, Bijoli, etc. screened Bengali and Hindi movies. Many of the halls are now closing down due to lack of patronage.
Since the start of the 20th century, the area became home to a large number of immigrants from other parts of India. Sikhs, Rajasthanis, Gujaratis and Tamils now form a major population of the locality.
Bhowanipore has also has its share of 21st century commercialization sweeping Kolkata. It is home to Kolkata's first mall-cum-multiplex - The Forum mall on Elgin Road with its Inox multiplex.
Many big companies have their head office in Bhowanipore, like Exide Industries Limited, Tata Tea Limited and Phillips India Limited to name a few. The head office of Automobile Association Of Eastern India is also located in this area.
A club in the name of " Bhowanipore Club" founded by one Nani Mitra stands at the entrance of the Maidan near the Rani Rashmani Statue and presently managed by the " Sangbad Pratidin" group.
Bhowanipore sits on some of the most important roads of Kolkata and till date the most accessible residential area of South Kolkata from its city-centre,and is excellently served by all buses plying through the southern part of the city.
The Kolkata Metro serves the area with the Rabindra Sadan, Netaji Bhawan and Jatin Das Park stations.
Bhabanipur (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
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