Bengal Rising Walking Tour

Cornwallis Street, now known as Bidhan Sarani, was built by the Lottery Committee in early 1800s. It runs right through the heart of Calcutta, and features sites that were witness to the Bengali spirit of nationalism and cultural renaissance, through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

This walk begins from Vivekananda’s family mansion in Simla, on Bidhan Sarani, and traverses the heartland of nationalist politics and the Bengal Renaissance, consisting of sites which house(d) the Anushilan Samiti (a society of young body-builders in the pre-Independence era who took part in nationalist agitations in Bengal), Vidyasagar College, Sadharan Brahmo Samaj & Bharotborshiyo Brahma Samaj (meeting places of different factions of the Brahmo faith, propounded by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore and Keshav Chandra Sen respectively). We will take some short detours to explore the back alleys of Cornwallis Street (Bidhan Sarani) to see the places associated with landmark events and personalities associate with…