The former Dalhousie Square, now known as Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh, is an oasis at the heart of modern Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, in eastern India. Occupying an area of over two square kilometers, the plaza is ringed by historic architecture and contains the Lal Dighi, or “Red Tank,” a body of water that reflects the buildings above. (...)
The former Dalhousie Square, now known as Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh, is an oasis at the heart of modern Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, in eastern India. Occupying an area of over two square kilometers, the plaza is ringed by historic architecture and contains the Lal Dighi, or “Red Tank,” a body of water that reflects the buildings above. The space was originally named for James, Marquess of Dalhousie, who served as the Governor-General of India from 1847 to 1856. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Calcutta was the capital of British India and Dalhousie Square was the city’s financial, social, and political nucleus. Calcutta’s first parish church, St. John’s, faces the square with its classical exterior and its early-19th-century steeple, modeled after Gibbs’s St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields in London’s Trafalgar Square. After the capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911, the buildings surrounding Dalhousie Square were neglected over time and occasionally demolished. In more recent years, local preservation groups have begun to advocate for the restoration and revitalization of the area.
