General Post Office Building of Kolkata

GPO Building

The GPO (General Post Office) Building in Calcutta was built in 1864. Actually the infamous building is located at the site of the old fort william which was destroyed after Siraj Ud Daullah, the Nawab of Bengal seized Calcutta in 1756. It was believed that the 'black hole incident' took place here at the old Fort William. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Post_Office,_Kolkata)

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 A thin brass plate along the Eastern staircase of the GPO building  marks the easternmost part of old Fort William building which was destroyed earlier (see left).
Recently a marble plaque has been put on the eastern side of the wall to mention the brass plate (see photograph). 







        





               

Walter B. Granville was the architect of the building. A magnificent structure with 220 feet dome sup[ported with Corinthian pillars is a major attraction and almost one of the landmarks in  Kolkata. It took Rs. 6,50,000 to construct the building. 

The building housed the philatelic museum, the only this kind of museums in West Bengal till date. 

Address- 

79-B Dalhousie Square

Kolkata G.P.O., Kolkata700001

Location- Near Writer's building in BBD Bag.

What to see- 

• The architecture.   
• The postal museum is the another one. One can get a glimpse of the history of the Indian postal  department. The old post boxes, postal stationaries of the British and Mughal era,  and different kinds of postal items are the main attraction.  

Standard Life Asssurance Building - decaying history

      Standard life assurance building 

One of the most beautiful architecture of the British age in India was built in 1896. The construction started in February, 1894 and was completed two years later in May 1896. Mumbai based architect Fredrick W. Stevens (of Victoria Terminus fame) designed the building. Located at the southern corner of Lal dighee (formerly Tank Square) the building is poorly maintained. Though it has been declared as a heritage building, some of the portion has already been abandoned. Renovation is yet to start. 

A  building with multi domed tower at the Northern corner, beautiful figures in the triangular pediment in the middle cherubs (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherub) with musical instruments in the upper windows. Most of the figures are still in good shape. Restoration of these figures which are basically delicate artwork is extremely difficult as the specially skilled masons and the artists specialist in these kind of work is rare. 

The entrance at the north is through an arched gateway with a triangular pediment at the top. The building features the logo of the standard life's which is based on the biblical parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1- 13) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Ten_Virgins). 

There are two figures at the walls just below the archway and the main entrance of the building. One at the left of the archway is a young lady carrying a lamp and Grim Riper carrying a skull at the right. The two figures represents Life and Death respectively. This is the actual official logo of the company. Unfortunately these two figures are obstructed by the telegraph pole and the telegraph wires (above photos). 

The building actually housed the Life Insurance Company of Scotland which was established in 23rd March, 1825 in Edinburgh. In 1832, the organization changed its name to The Standard Life Assurance by Royal assent. The British insurance companies were reluctant to allow their policy holders to travel let alone live in the colonies due to the very high mortality rate.

      

Standard Life pioneered insurance for British living abroad.

• 1846- establishment of the Colonial Life Assurance Company was specifically designed to handle business in the British colonies. They could offer attractive terms based on the colonial's more accurate assessment of mortality risk in the countries concerned. 
• 1871-  Colonial Life Assurance Company merged with the Standard. After the merger they had their head office here in Calcutta in this building and had a similar building in Mumbai. The Mumbai building is still there and have the logo at the main entrance.