There only two buildings on the Southern side of
Koilaghat Street (now Babu Tarapada Mukherjee Sarani). Between the corner of
Charnock Place (now N.S. Road) and Bankshall Street lies the Edwardian “blood
and bandage” looking Royal Insurance Building. The corner from Bankshall
Street, Westwards, to the corner with Strand Road, is occupied by an extremely
large and magnificent exposed brick and stucco building, currently in
possession of the South Eastern Railways.
Upjohn’s map of Calcutta identifies this building as the
Office of Military Accounts. The building originally provided accommodation for
the Commissariat and Pay Offices, the Controller of Military Accounts, the
Examiner of Commissariat Accounts, the Inspector General of Ordnance, the Pay
Examiner, the Examiner of Marine Accounts, the Examiner of Ordnance and
Clothing Accounts, the Examiner of Fund Accounts, and the Examiner of Medical
Accounts. Today the computerized reservation system of South Eastern Railways
takes up most of the building and people may be seen queuing up outside it’s
counters as early as 6am on Sundays. The building also houses certain printing
facilities of the government.
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| The Office of Military Accounts, Koilaghat Street |
While
the specific date of construction remains unknown, we do know that the building
was built by the Public Works Department, Mr. C. A. Mills being the Executive
Engineer in charge, assisted by Mr. William Banks Gwyther. The overall look of the building is very similar to two
better known buildings nearby; The Writers’ Building on Dalhousie Square North
and The Treasury Building on Council House Street. Indeed, the same crossed
palm tree motif may be seen on the railings on this building and Writers’. The
only publication to deal with the building at any length is British historian,
film-maker and Indophile, Brian Paul Bach’s formidable tome “Calcutta’s Edifice: The Buildings of a Great City”. Bach says, “Being built in the
Writers’ style, it has a multitude of points of interest. One of its most
admirable features is the series of genteel balconies which extend the whole
route of the second floor’s main windows. Their tokenism is noted, but what a
splendid Neapolitan effect they make. The engaged columns all along the façade
are topped with Corinthian capitals. They support an entablature (structure
between the columns and roof) which is busy without being fussy, and
conspicuous blank spaces in the wall surfaces are nicely accented by relief
busts of utterly unknown and probably allegorical humanoids. The parapet all
around is lively and cheerful, full of variety which in itself is a great
achievement, certainly unlooked-at, but in prime repair. Finials of shapes
inspired by Burmese or Sri Lankan abstractions of Buddhist pagodas, a
low-profile mansard roof, little cupolas at different levels, dormer windows,
and mini-pediments thrown in for good measure”.
RAI BAHADUR SATYENDRANATH ADITYA
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| Marble nameplate on the Rai Saheb's house on Lansdowne Road |
Frustratingly little is available on this Calcutta
personality, and all that can be gleaned from “Second supplement to Who's who
in India: brought up to 1914” is this...
“Satyendra Nath Aditya, Rai Saheb — of the Military
Accounts Department, Eastern Circle. The title of Rai
Saheb
was conferred on him in June, 1912, in recognition of
his
public services”.
But what manner of service did the Rai Saheb perform? Did
he donate money to a worthy cause? Help start a school? Have a tank dug? It is
impossible to say. His rather unique looking house, though, may be found still standing
on 133 Lansdowne Road (now Sarat Bose Road). Like it’s former resident, no
information is available about when the house was made, or who designed it. But
it’s exposed brick frontage and the two castle-like towers looming above the
neighbourhood, make it easy to spot.
There are two boards hanging from the building’s façade.
One is the municipality’s warning that this is a dangerous and derelict
building. The other is a board which announces that part of the building is
being used as a municipal primary school. I wonder if the school is still
operating. The poor can be far less caring about the dangers of collapsing
buildings than those more fortunate.
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| The Rai Saheb's unique looking house on Lansdowne Road |
The building is not listed anywhere as a heritage
structure, and has passed into the hands of a promoter. A guard has been posted
to the gate to prevent squatters (or curious urban explorers) from accessing
the wooden staircase inside. Very soon, this unique piece of architecture will
be brought down, and a bland or garish apartment block will take it’s place.
Amit Chaudhary in a recent article mourned the wholescale destruction of such
buildings. While they may not be heritage structures, they add a certain unique
look to each city. There are the kind of buildings that set Calcutta apart. Unfortunately
they are being replaced, shockingly fast by the bland uniformity of modern apartments
and garish atrociousness of shopping malls.
- by Deepanjan Ghosh
- by Deepanjan Ghosh
