Situated on the streets of Beliaghata, this centuries-old residential building on 92, Kavi Sukanata Sarani, still stands tall, boasting of European architectural influences, making you stop and look up in awe. My Kolkata got all the deets about foreign influences during a visit to this Beliaghata address, popularly called Barrister Babur Bari, which is currently owned by Krishnakali Mitra. The tour was conducted by Manish Golder, co-founder of Calcutta Houses, an Instagram page depicting the best of Calcutta’s cityscape.
Photos: Soumyajit Dey
A few steps from the entrance of this grand old house, you’ll find a pillar with Greek architectural influence on your left. Manish says, “The style of flowers constructed represent Acanthus leaves, a common feature in Corinthian columns. Left to this stunning pillar, is a stained glass window, reminiscent of a decadent household”
Every affluent Bengali household in those days would boast of a Thakur Dalan, a space dedicated to holding Durga Pujas. The house, inclusive of this capacious puja area, was built by Chandi Basu, after he amassed a great deal of wealth by starting a trading outpost close to the Maratha ditch. It was during the time when the East India Company was starting to make its presence felt
As you head up using the red-oxide staircase, an entrance leads you to a marble-floored room with windows as big as the doors, the 100-year-old teak wood chairs and tables. A striking feature found in this massive room is the two full-length mirrors imported from Belgium and placed close to the main entrance
Right opposite to the room with the hanging balcony, lies another teaser to an old-school affluent Bengali house with suitcases called portmanteau kept at one corner of the room. While the room gives you movie-set vibes, it's interesting to find out that actually several film shoots have been done in this very same room
Right from the entrance, the house is an accurate depiction of the grandeur and passion with which residential properties were built by the Kolkata elite two centuries ago. “Krishnakali Mitra, daughter of Dr Nandita Basu and the present house owner, is trying to preserve the building on her own, as there's no help from the government's end, which eventually results in demolition,” says Manish
This historical address also boasts of a courtyard right in front of the Thakur Dalan, which transports one’s imagination to a time where people must have sat under the 6 o' clock sun, soaking in the pleasures of reading the early-morning newspaper as the aroma of burning puja sticks filled the house
