Chitpur Road: The Old Spine of North Kolkata and Its Many Communities

Chitpur Road is one of the oldest roads in Kolkata. Today it is called Rabindra Sarani, but old people still call it Chitpur Road. It runs from the northern part of the city all the way down towards the centre. This road has seen more than three hundred years of Kolkata’s history. In the early days of Calcutta, Chitpur Road was the main road connecting the old villages in the north with the new British settlement in the south. It was a busy road with bullock carts, horse carriages, and people walking. Along this road lived many different communities — Bengalis, Armenians, Jews, Chinese, and people from other parts of India. One of the most famous things about Chitpur Road was its connection with the theatre world. In the 19th and early 20th century, many famous Bengali theatres were located here or nearby. The famous Star Theatre, Minerva Theatre, and others were on or near this road. People would come from far away to watch plays by great writers like Girish Chandra Ghosh and later by Sisir Bhaduri. The road would be crowded in the evenings with people going to the theatre. Chitpur Road was also a centre of business and crafts. There were shops selling brass items, sweets, cloth, and many other things. The famous Kumortuli, where clay idols of gods and goddesses are made, is very close to this road. During Durga Puja and other festivals, the narrow lanes would be full of people carrying idols and buying decorations. The road also tells the story of Kolkata’s many communities. The Armenian Church is nearby. The Jewish community had their synagogue and homes in this area. The Chinese community had their own shops and restaurants. Even today, if you walk along parts of Rabindra Sarani, you can still see old buildings with beautiful wooden balconies and old signboards in different languages. During the partition of Bengal in 1905 and later during the freedom movement, Chitpur Road saw many processions and meetings. It was a place where ordinary people lived and worked, and also where big political events happened. Today, Chitpur Road is still busy. There are shops, small factories, and old houses mixed with new buildings. The theatres are mostly gone or changed, but the memory of the old stage dramas remains in the stories people tell. The road is narrower than the grand roads of central Kolkata, and it feels more like the old Calcutta. If you want to understand how Kolkata grew from many small villages into one big city, you should walk on Chitpur Road. It shows the old mixed character of the city — rich and poor living close to each other, many languages being spoken, and old traditions continuing even as new things come in. This road has seen the rise and fall of many communities, many businesses, and many dreams. It is not as famous as Park Street or Chowringhee, but it carries the deeper, older history of Kolkata in its narrow lanes and old buildings.