Jorasanko

Jorasanko is a neighbourhood in north Kolkata. It is so called because of the two (jora) wooden or bamboo bridges (sanko) that spanned a small stream at this point. 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 Krishnadas Pal), and the families of Dewan Banarasi Ghosh and Chandramohan Chatterji. “The area thus became the cradle of Bengal Renaissance.” It was earlier known as Mechuabazar.

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. 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. 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.