VenettaMahan1 at 00:59, 13 February 2026

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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Dharmatala 
| official_name =
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| settlement_type = [[Neighbourhoods in Kolkata Metropolitan Area|Neighborhood of Kolkata]]
| total_type = 
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| image_skyline = File:Bentinck Street - Chowringhee Square - Kolkata 2011-12-18 0053.JPG
| imagesize =
| image_caption = Bentinck Street in Dharmatala
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| image_map = Kolkata street-Dharmatala.svg
| mapsize = 300px
| map_caption = Location of Dharmatala in Kolkata
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| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{IND}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of West Bengal|District]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[West Bengal]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Kolkata district|Kolkata]]
| subdivision_type3 = City
| subdivision_name3 = [[Kolkata]]
| seat_type = [[Municipal Corporation]]
| seat = [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]]
| parts_type = [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation|KMC]] wards
| parts_style = 
| parts = [[Ward No. 46, Kolkata Municipal Corporation|46]], [[Ward No. 47, Kolkata Municipal Corporation|47]]
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| unit_pref = Imperial
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| elevation_ft = 36
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| population_total = For population see linked KMC ward pages
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| timezone = IST
| utc_offset = +5:30
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| coordinates = {{coord|22.560055|88.352540|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type = PIN
| postal_code = 700013, 700069
| area_code = +91 33
| blank1_name_sec1 = [[Lok Sabha]] constituency
| blank1_info_sec1 = [[Kolkata Uttar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kolkata Uttar]]
| blank2_name_sec1 = [[Vidhan Sabha]] constituency
| blank2_info_sec1 = [[Chowranghee (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Chowranghee]]
| blank1_name_sec2 = [[Kolkata Metro]] station
| blank1_info_sec2 = [[Chandni Chowk metro station, Kolkata|Chandni Chowk]], [[Esplanade metro station|Esplanade]]
| blank2_name_sec2 = [[Trams in Kolkata|Tram]] stop
| blank2_info_sec2 = Dharmatala, Esplanade
| blank3_name_sec2 = Bus stop
| blank3_info_sec2 = Dharmatala
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Dharmatala''' (archaic spelling '''Dharmotola'''<ref>{{cite book | title=The Madras Catholic Directory and General Annual Register for the Year of our Lord 1870 | publisher=Examiner Press | year=1869 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8adTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA187 | access-date=2024-03-09 | page=187}}</ref>) is a neighbourhood of [[Kolkata|Central Kolkata]], in [[Kolkata district]] in the [[India]]n [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[West Bengal]]. Dharmatala Street has been renamed after [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] as Lenin Sarani but the neighbourhood up to Wellington Square continues to be referred as Dharmatala. It is a busy commercial area that had come up with the growth of Calcutta during the [[British Raj]] and is thus one of the repositories of history in the city.

==Etymology==
Dharmatala means Holy Street. It is commonly held to derive its name from a large mosque which stood at the site of Cook and Company's livery stables. Some discern the name as a reference to [[Dharma (Buddhism)|dharma]], one of the units of the [[Buddhism and Christianity#The Trinity|Buddhist Trinity]]. There was a Buddhist temple at [[Janbazar]], nearby. [[Tipu Sultan Mosque]] at the corner of [[Chowringhee Road]] and Dharmatala, was built in 1842, by [[Ghulam Muhammad Sultan Sahib|Prince Gholam Mohammad]], son of [[Tipu Sultan]].<ref name = "Cotton">[[H. E. A. Cotton|Cotton, H.E.A.]], ''Calcutta Old and New'', 1909/1980, pp. 248-50, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd. {{PD-notice}}</ref> [[Binoy Ghosh]] feels that the name Dharmatala is because of the preeminence of [[Dharmathakur]] in olden days. [[Haris (caste)|Haris]] and [[Doms]], who are worshippers of Dharmathakur, predominated the area even in the memorable past.<ref>Ghosh, Binoy, ''Paschim Banger Sanskriti'', (in Bengali), part II, 1978 edition, p. 252, Prakash Bhaban</ref>

==Geography==
{{OSM Location map 
| coord = {{coord|22.564645|88.354540}} 
| zoom = 15 
| label = Dharmatala
| mark-coord = {{coord|22.564645|88.354540}}
| label-pos = right
| float = left
}}
Dharmatala extends from [[Chowringhee Road]] (renamed Jawaharlal Nehru Road) to Nirmal Chandra Street. It is bounded to the north by [[Bowbazar]], the south by [[Janbazar]], the east by [[Taltala]] and the west by [[Maidan (Kolkata)|Maidan]].<ref name = "Cotton"/>

The neighbourhood is spread over 2 wards: 46 and 47 of [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]].<ref>Map nos. 29, 30, and 32, Detail Maps of 141 Wards of Kolkata, D.R.Publication and Sales Concern, 66 College Street, Kolkata – 700073</ref>

==History==
In the 18th century, Dharmatala is described as ‘a well raised causeway, raised by deepening the ditch on both sides’. It was shaded with trees on both sides.<ref name = "Cotton"/>

Just north of Dharmatala a creek formerly ran from Chandpal Ghat to [[Beliaghata]] (or Baliaghata, as it was then known). The creek passed through what was later Wellington Square (renamed Subodh Chandra Mallick Square) and Creek Row. The earlier name of Creek Row was Dhinga Bhanga, as a ship broke there during the cyclone of 1737. The creek was navigable for large boats. Wellington Square was a tank made on the bed of this creek. Both Wellington Square and Creek Row were developed by the Lottery Committee. Calcutta Gazette of 9 August 1821 refers to Wellington Square as ‘the new square in Dharmotola.’<ref name = "Cotton"/>

While the English quarter was then restricted to around the old fort (present [[B.B.D. Bagh]]), the area south of Dharmatala was a jungle. The native quarters to the north consisted of a number of straggling villages.<ref>Nair, P. Thankappan, ''The Growth and Development of Old Calcutta'', in ''Calcutta, the Living City'', Vol. I, edited by [[Sukanta Chaudhuri]], p. 11, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-563696-3}}.</ref>

After their victory in the [[Battle of Plassey]], the English decided to build new [[Fort William, India|Fort William]], in 1758. For this purpose, the native population shifted from [[Gobindapur, Kolkata|Gobindapur]] mostly to [[Sutanuti]]. The European inhabitants of [[Kalikata]] gradually forsook the narrow limits of the old palisades and moved to around the [[Maidan (Kolkata)|Maidan]].<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., p. 72</ref> Civilians were not allowed to live within the new fort. Gradually the areas to the south of the [[Lal Dighi, Kolkata|Great Tank]] and to the east along [[Chowringhee Road]] were emerging as preferred haunts for the Englishmen. While Sutanuti developed as the Black Town, the [[Esplanade, Calcutta|Esplanade]] and [[Chowringhee]] emerged as the White Town. However, the areas around [[Writers' building]], [[Sealdah|Baitakkhana]] ([[Bowbazar]]), Dharmatala and [[Janbazar]] went down in estimation and were gradually taken over by ‘the rest’, which included half-castes, [[Portugal|Portuguese]], [[Armenia]]ns and so on, 'to become grey areas between Black and White Towns of old Calcutta'.<ref>Lahiri Choudhury, Dhriti Kanta, ''Trends in Calcutta Architecture'', in ''Calcutta, the Living City'', Vol I, pp.159-160</ref>

The district lying between Dharmatala and Bowbazar and bounded on the west by Bentinck Street was in the 19th and 20th century inhabited by a variety of people that included Portuguese, other Europeans of poorer classes and Indians. The area was full of ‘tortuous and narrow lanes, badly drained and reeking with foul odours, thickly populated and miserably housed.’ In this district on the northern side of Dharmatala is a bazaar called Chandney Chowk. ‘It is a labyrinth of ill-kept passages, lined with shops, in which may be found a wonderful collection of sundries, from a door nail to a silk dress.’<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., p. 219</ref>

Dharmatala Bazar was established in 1794 at the corner of Dharmatala and Chowringhee. [[Rudyard Kipling]] in the last chapter of his Kolkata sketches published under the title of ''The City of Dreadful Nights'', has given a lively description of the market and its frequenters.<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., p. 771</ref> It was formerly called Shakespeare's Bazar.<ref name = "Cotton"/>

In the earliest list of police stations in Kolkata made in 1785, both Dharmatala and Dingabhanga were included. However, when the police stations were reorganised in 1888–89, the number of police stations were reduced and no mention is there of either.<ref>Nair, P. Thankappan, ''The Growth and Development of Old Calcutta'', p. 15.</ref>

==Transport==
A three-horse [[Bus|omnibus]] plied briefly between Dharmatala and [[Barrackpore]] in November 1830 but the truly successful horse-drawn public transport was the [[tram]]car. These were introduced in Dharmatala in March 1882. In 1899, the [[Calcutta Tramways Company]] started electrifying the entire system.<ref>Nair, P.Thankappan, ''Civic and Public Services in Old Calcutta'', in ''Calcutta, the Living City'', Vol I, pp. 234-6</ref>

Dharmatala has always been a major traffic hub. Today, Dharmatala is the busiest bus terminus of [[West Bengal]]. [[Trams in Kolkata|Kolkata trams]] route no. 5, 25 and 36 also start their journey from Dharmatala.<ref>Google maps</ref>

During rush hours some 200,000 to 300,000 vehicles pass through Dharmatala. Experts say 50–60 percent of air pollution in Kolkata is due to vehicle emission. Increase in number of vehicles may have added to the problem.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=6&id=29113&usrsess=1
|title=Better Kolkata Campaign.
|access-date=2007-07-25
|publisher=The Statesman, 17 June 2002
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103131/http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=6&id=29113&usrsess=1
|archive-date=29 September 2007
|url-status=dead
|df=dmy
}}</ref> In the Dharmatala area, the noise levels are 75–84 dB.<ref>Chakraborti, Dipankar, ''Calcutta's Environment'', p.185, in ''Calcutta, the Living City'', Vol II</ref>

According to transport department officials, over 2,000 long-distance buses operate from the city. Most of the state and private buses originate from here.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030818/asp/calcutta/story_2272211.asp
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030822195347/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030818/asp/calcutta/story_2272211.asp
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 22 August 2003
|title = Bypass, Setu sites for twin central bus terminals | access-date = 2007-07-25 | last = Mukherjee | first = Shankar | publisher = The Telegraph, 18 August 2003 | location=Calcutta, India | date=18 August 2003
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/calcutta-times/breather-for-choking-esplanade/articleshow/35302852.cms | title = Breather for choking esplanade? | access-date = 2007-07-25 | last = Konar | first = Debashis | publisher = Times of India, 24 January 2003 | date=24 January 2003}}</ref>

[[Eden Gardens railway station]] on [[Kolkata Circular Railway]] line is the nearest railway station. [[Sealdah Station]], one of the five major railway-terminals of [[Kolkata Metropolitan Area]], is also nearby.

The [[Esplanade metro station]] of [[Kolkata Metro]] opened on October 24, 1984, with the opening of the Esplanade–Bhawanipur section of [[Blue Line (Kolkata Metro)|Blue Line]]. Ten years later, the line was extended northward to [[Chandni Chowk]]. Both these stations in the Dharmatala area are among the busiest in the network. It serves as an interchange station since the opening of [[Kolkata Metro Green Line 2]] between Esplanade and [[Howrah Maidan metro station|Howrah Maidan]]. [[Purple Line (Kolkata Metro)|Purple Line]] of Kolkata Metro is also planned to terminate at Esplanade running from [[Joka, Kolkata|Joka]].

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px">
file:Kolkata Dharmatala1.jpg|A part of Chandni Chowk Street
file:Metropolitan Building - Esplanade - Kolkata 2012-09-19 0013.jpg|[[Metropolitan Building (Kolkata)|Metropolitan Building]]
file:Kolkata Dharmatal4.jpg|Statue of [[Gopabandhu Das|Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das]]
file:Kolkata Dharmatala3.jpg|Thoburn Memorial Methodist Church, established in 1873
file:Kolkata Dharmatala2.jpg|A closer view of [[Tipu Sultan Mosque]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage-inline|Kolkata/Esplanade}}

{{Kolkata neighbourhoods}}

[[Category:Neighbourhoods in Kolkata]]

Dharmatala - Revision history

VenettaMahan1 at 00:59, 13 February 2026