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| South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata telegraphindia.com |
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| South Park Cemetery, Kolkata.indiatimes.com |
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| South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata,telegraphindia.com |
The South Park Street Cemetery in Kolkata, established in 1767, is more than just a burial ground. It’s a silent archive of the city’s early colonial past, housing nearly 1,600 graves of British officers, scholars, merchants, and others who helped shape the identity of 18th and 19th-century Calcutta. Over time, the cemetery slipped into neglect, its tombstones blackened and inscriptions obscured by soot, moss, root wedging and age. But in recent months, a powerful citizen-led restoration movement has brought it back into the public eye, reviving forgotten names and stories one grave at a time. It is believed to be one of the earliest non-church cemeteries in the world, and likely the largest Christian cemetery outside Europe and America in the 19th century.
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| South Park Street Cemetery shadowsgalore.com |
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| South Park Street Cemeteryshadowsgalore.com |
The impetus was unexpected. In August, columnist Mudar Patherya received a message in his Urdu WhatsApp group about a fading epitaph in Urdu at South Park Street Cemetery. This gave him the needed spark and spirit to clean the south park cemetery that was slowly dying. Upon getting permission from the Christian Burial Board, he began the difficult job of recovering the weathering tombstone. But what began as a small gesture quickly grew into an ambitious mission - to clean and restore every grave in the cemetery. The board, chaired by Ivan Satyavrata, welcomed the initiative. Despite the cemetery being classified as a heritage site, many graves had remained untouched for decades due to limited funds and awareness. Mudar’s effort presented a rare opportunity to undertake comprehensive restoration at an unprecedented scale.
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| South Park Street Cemetery, Kolkata. Travelomy |
Above image: South Park Cemetery, Kolkata. Before restoration......
With no confirmed financial help to move ahead Mudar pinned his hopes on his network and fundraising efforts, securing nearly Rs 7 lakh, about 70 percent of the projected budget. Prominent Kolkata-based industrialists came forward to foot part of the budget.
Initially, the cleaning itself posed challenges as several graves hadn’t been tended to for over a century, and layers of grime had rendered marble unreadable. That’s when marble expert Khurshid Alam joined the project, bringing his experience in heritage conservation from his travels abroad. He assembled a dedicated team of 15 workers, who began the painstaking task of cleaning tombstones — spending up to three hours on each one. As of early July, over 750 graves had been restored.
This transformation has redefined the ambiance of a dying grave that was once a dark and overgrown expanse, a haven for poisonous critters. The sunbathed space now reveals a dazzling array of restored marble, engraved calligraphy, and well-tended walkways. Several important historical figures have emerged from obscurity. Among them is William Jones, the polymath who founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784 and was instrumental in introducing Indian legal and linguistic traditions to Europe
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| South Park Cemetery. Family mausoleum,shadowsgalore.com |
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| Grave of Vivian Derozio South Park Cemetery shadowsgalore.com |
The total number of graves is 1600. Among the prominent people buried here, mention may be made of Sir William Jones (1746–1794), Indologist, founder of the Asiatic Society, Sir Elijah Impey (1732-1809), first Imperial judge impeached, Walter Landor Dickens, son of English novelist Charles Dickens who was buried initially in Bhowanipore war cemetery, and the tombstone was later moved here in 1987. Of particular interest is that of Major-General Charles Stuart (1758–1828), army officer and Indophile, popularly known as “Hindoo Stuart”
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| Lotus mark on Hindoo Stewart tomb.shadowsgalore.com |
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| plaque on the tomb of Hindoo Stuart, South Park Cemetery. |
The grave of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, a pioneering figure of the Bengal Renaissance and founder of the Young Bengal movement, now stands out clearly. Robert Kyd, who established the Botanical Gardens at Shibpur, is also buried here, alongside lesser-known yet equally significant individuals who contributed to the city's early development.
One particularly intriguing discovery was the grave of the wife of Edoardo Tiretta, the Italian who founded Kolkata’s iconic Trinetta Bazaar. She was initially buried in the French cemetery, but her grave eventually made its way to South Park Street. Such details open new doors to understanding personal histories and colonial-era movements in Bengal. Mudar also noticed a disturbing trend in the epitaphs — a high number of deaths among children and teenagers, which he believes could serve as an informal record of diseases like malaria that plagued early Calcutta.
For the first time since its inception, the cemetery is now seeing light after dusk. Select sections are being illuminated to encourage public visits and increase visibility. Once the full restoration is complete, likely by the end of this year, the plan is to introduce curated heritage walks based on new insights from the cleaned graves. For many residents of Kolkata, this may be their first real encounter with the cemetery — and with a key chapter of their city’s colonial past.
But the vision doesn’t end here. Mudar is already preparing to shift focus to the Lower Circular Road Cemetery, another colonial-era site in need of attention. He hopes to restore at least 40 historically significant graves there. His goal is not just about reviving old stones, but about transforming public memory, encouraging heritage consciousness, and reshaping how Kolkata is seen by its residents and the world.
In a city where existential challenges often overshadow historical preservation, this grassroots effort stands out as a rare example of community-led urban conservation. What was once a neglected graveyard has become a luminous symbol of remembrance, resilience, and pride — and a testament to how one man's initiative can inspire an entire city to look back with reverence and move forward with purpose.
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 of Kolkata: Now restored to old glory!!){kind=link}