Take a photo tour of Stately Homes and Palaces in Kolkata – Hindustan Times

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Anirban Mitra’s new coffee-table book, Calcutta: Stately Homes and Palaces (released in October), catalogues the interiors of 35 palatial homes, clubs and estates built in north Calcutta between the late 1700s and early 1900s, when this was the administrative centre of the British East India Company, and later the imperial capital of British India. In about 200 photographs, shot between 2005 and 2015, he captures a world frozen in time. Vast halls hold Venetian chandeliers, Japanese porcelain and Belgian mirrors. Colonnades stretch out from pillared porches; drawing rooms open up onto balustraded balconies peopled with marble statues. Take a look.

A wide-angle view of a courtyard in a north Kolkata mansion. A new coffee-table book by Anirban Mitra, called Calcutta: Stately Homes and Palaces and released in October, catalogues the interiors of 35 palatial homes, clubs and estates built in north Calcutta between the late 1700s and early 1900s, when this was the administrative centre of the British East India Company, and later the imperial capital of British India. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)

Updated on Dec 24, 2021 03:34 PM IST

ByCherylann Mollan

A made-to-order chandelier-cum-ceiling fan commissioned from Osler, inside a north Calcutta mansion. The special fan is still in use, though it hasn’t been serviced in decades according to the family. Also among Mitra’s favourite finds were original Philips (Holland) bulbs from the early 1900s, still lighting up; and furniture crafted by C Lazarus & Co, Calcutta, in the late 1800s. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
A made-to-order chandelier-cum-ceiling fan commissioned from Osler, inside a north Calcutta mansion. The special fan is still in use, though it hasn’t been serviced in decades according to the family. Also among Mitra’s favourite finds were original Philips (Holland) bulbs from the early 1900s, still lighting up; and furniture crafted by C Lazarus & Co, Calcutta, in the late 1800s. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
Marble statues stand grand and silent in hushed hallways. Many of these homes married elements of colonial British and Indian culture. Some have over 100 rooms, including drawing rooms fit for a ball, dining rooms with tables to seat 20 and billiards rooms for the game popular with the British, as well as worship halls with ornate pillars, arches and marble stairs. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
Marble statues stand grand and silent in hushed hallways. Many of these homes married elements of colonial British and Indian culture. Some have over 100 rooms, including drawing rooms fit for a ball, dining rooms with tables to seat 20 and billiards rooms for the game popular with the British, as well as worship halls with ornate pillars, arches and marble stairs. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
A pillared courtyard at a Daw family mansion. Mitra, 44, a photographer and filmmaker, says he picked structures that were the most intact and exemplary. Most are homes built by British-era merchants and moneylenders, landholders, administrators and philanthropists. Some were part-time homes to princes. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
A pillared courtyard at a Daw family mansion. Mitra, 44, a photographer and filmmaker, says he picked structures that were the most intact and exemplary. Most are homes built by British-era merchants and moneylenders, landholders, administrators and philanthropists. Some were part-time homes to princes. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
Statues in the corridor of a Mullick Mansion. In about 200 photographs, shot between 2005 and 2015, Mitra captures a world frozen in time. Vast halls hold Venetian chandeliers, Japanese porcelain and Belgian mirrors. Colonnades stretch out from pillared porches; drawing rooms open up onto balustraded balconies peopled with marble statues. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
Statues in the corridor of a Mullick Mansion. In about 200 photographs, shot between 2005 and 2015, Mitra captures a world frozen in time. Vast halls hold Venetian chandeliers, Japanese porcelain and Belgian mirrors. Colonnades stretch out from pillared porches; drawing rooms open up onto balustraded balconies peopled with marble statues. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
The cover of Mitra’s book features the exquisite entrance of a Mullick family home. It could well be a museum, he says. The book has been published by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), which operates under the union ministry of culture. “Mitra’s project captures a period in Kolkata’s history that is being lost to us. It also offers a rare and intimate peek at the interiors of private homes not otherwise accessible to the public,” says EZCC director Gouri Basu. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
The cover of Mitra’s book features the exquisite entrance of a Mullick family home. It could well be a museum, he says. The book has been published by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), which operates under the union ministry of culture. “Mitra’s project captures a period in Kolkata’s history that is being lost to us. It also offers a rare and intimate peek at the interiors of private homes not otherwise accessible to the public,” says EZCC director Gouri Basu. (Photo: Anirban Mitra)
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