The spark of the Calcutta Illumination Project (CIP) is being noticed not just in India, but beyond its borders, too. Ignited last September by Mudar Patherya, and supported by the Kolkata Restorers, this movement to illuminate 500 heritage structures of the city is bringing in a new wave of nighttime tourism to Kolkata, with people marvelling at the city’s architecture well past sunset.
It is this spark that brought Ajay Shah back to his hometown after six years. A software engineer, who did his schooling at St. Joseph’s College, Bowbazar, before studying at IIT Bombay, Ajay has been living in San Francisco for 35 years. While he and his wife, Sonal, generally made it a point to visit the City of Joy every alternate year, the pandemic changed things.
‘The plot where St. Andrew’s Church stands is where the Supreme Court of India earlier stood. When the court was moved to where the Calcutta High Court presently stands, the East India Company offered the land to the Scottish community for their church,’ informed Navpreet
At the start of this month, the couple squeezed in a Kolkata trip, but could only manage two days here. Even with such a tight schedule — Ajay and Sonal even cancelled a dinner plan — they dedicated an evening to the city’s freshly illuminated facades.
Heritage tour guide and founder of FunOnStreets, Navpreet Arora, took them on a specially curated tour, weaving interesting stories about all the lustrous structures. These included the General Post Office (GPO), Royal Insurance Building, St. Andrew’s Church, Standard Life Assurance Building, St. John’s Church, Magen (or Maghen) David Synagogue, House of B. K. Paul and Kalachand Temple.
The house of B. K. Paul was an interesting stop for the couple as they discovered the ‘Edward’s Tonic’ that made Paul a household name. The tonic continues to be sold at the pharmacy even today
“When my cousin told us about CIP, we knew we had to see it. Despite our short trip, we moved our schedule around, cancelled commitments and even truncated a dinner with friends, just to make this happen,” smiled Ajay.
When Navpreet was tasked with designing a tour for Ajay and Sonal, she knew that simply showing them the structures wasn’t enough. In order to make the architecture come alive, she decided to weave stories around them. “I decided to tell them the story of the white, black and grey town. The goal was to demonstrate how there’s more to the city than meets the eye,” she said.
Ajay and Sonal marvelled at the gleaming Standard Life Assurance Building. ‘The building’s architect was Frederick William Stevens, who was also behind the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai!’ shared Navpreet
The tour started with the GPO, which was a place that Ajay had walked past all through his childhood. He was amazed to see it with renewed glory. “We were just expecting to see the illuminated buildings, but Navpreet’s vignettes accentuated their aura. To learn about the history of a place adds to its beauty,” he said.
An architecture enthusiast, Sonal was just as amazed, exclaiming how the city had transformed since her last visit. “I always knew Kolkata was rich in heritage, but until my last visit, everything was very grimy. This time though, it’s gleaming,” she said.
(L-R) The Kalachand Temple and Magen David Synagogue showed how the CIP has impacted architecture across faiths
Ajay confessed that the tour had dramatically changed his perception of Kolkata, and he was looking forward to learning and absorbing more about the city on his future trips.
Navpreet was delighted, since this is exactly what she aspires for with FunOnStreets. She revealed that she is working on a more expansive version of this tour, which will span over three hours and explore Kolkata at night on a bus. “In addition to the white, grey and black town, the tour will explore the city’s bustling markets. We will also examine the relationships of churches with education, which has remained intact till today. This is our attempt to show the city as a living entity,” she said.