College Street (Kolkata)

College Street is a 900 metre long street in Central Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. It stretches from B.B. Ganguly Street crossing (Bowbazar) to MG Road crossing (Barna Parichay Market) via Dr. Lalit Banerjee Sarani crossing and Colootola Street/Surya Sen Street crossing. South of Bowbazar, College Street becomes Nirmal Chandra Street and north of Barna Parichay Market, College Street becomes Bidhan Sarani.[1][2] Its name derives from the presence of many colleges (Presidency University, The Sanskrit College and University, City College of Commerce & Business Administration to name a few). The road houses many centres of intellectual activity especially the Indian Coffee House, a café that has attracted the city's intelligentsia for decades.[3] Kolkata’s historic College Street is India’s largest book market, lending it the endearing nickname Boi Para (”Book Town”).

College Street
Book stores along College Street
Maintained byKolkata Municipal Corporation
Length0.9 km[1] (0.6 mi)
LocationKolkata, India
Postal code700012, 700073
Nearest Kolkata Metro stationMG Road, Central and Sealdah(under construction)
Coordinates22.575514°N 88.363354°E / 22.575514; 88.363354
north endBarna Parichay Market
south endBowbazar

Book stores

The College Street is most famous for its small and big book stores, which gives it the nickname Boi Para (Colony of Books).[2][4] People from the whole city and different parts of the state gathers here for their books. Many bigwigs of the Bengali publication industry (like: Ananda Publishers, Mitra and Ghosh Publishers, DasGupta and Company Pvt. Ltd, Dey's Publishing, Rupa & Co., Asha Book Agency etc.) are situated here. The street is also dotted with countless very small book kiosks which sell new and old books.[2] An article in the journal Smithsonian described College Street as ...a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement, carrying first editions, pamphlets, paperbacks in every Indian language, with more than a fair smattering of books in and out of print from France, Germany, Russia and England.[5] One can buy rare books at throw-away prices and extensive bargaining take place.

Recognition

In 2007, College Street featured among the famous landmarks of India which have made it to 6pm to 9pm Magazine’s "Best of Asia" list.[6]

Educational institutes

Well-known academic institutions situated on this street include

  • College Street view
  • College Street on Holiday
  • Kolkata Tram route no. 5 on College Street
  • College Street and MG Road Crossing
  • College Square at Night
  • View of College Square Swimming Pool

References
  1. Google maps
  2. College Street or the Boi Para Archived 2013-11-16 at the Wayback Machine astrainfotech.org. Retrieved 24 March 2013
  3. Kolkata Heritage- College Street Archived 2013-09-02 at the Wayback Machine westbengaltourism.gov.in. Retrieved 24 March 2013
  4. Kolkata's historical College Street 'Boi-Para' ceases to exist webindia123.com. Retrieved 24 March 2013
  5. Hollick, Julian Crandall (July 1991). "Amid Calcutta's poverty, there's no dearth of cultural wealth". Smithsonian. 22 (4): 32–41. ISSN 0037-7333.
  6. Press Trust of India (28 April 2007). "Mehrangarh Fort, College Street, figure in Time's Best of Asia". The Statesman. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
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