About

The Writers' Building is the secretariat building of the state government of West Bengal in Kolkata, India. The 150-metre long building covers the entire northern stretch of the Lal Dighi (Red Lake) in the B.B.D. Bagh area. It originally served as the principal administrative office for writers (junior clerks) of the British East India Company (EIC), thus giving it its name. It was designed by Thomas Lyon in 1777. The Writers' Building has gone through several expansions and refurbishments.

A 128 ft-long verandah with Ionic columns, each 32 ft high, were added on the first and second floors in 1832.

A statue of Minerva stands atop the pediment at the centre of the front facade. The terrace contains four clusters of statues - Justice, Commerce, Science, and Agriculture, with the respective Greek gods and goddesses of these four disciplines (Zeus, Hermes, Athena and Demeter respectively) flanked by a European and an Indian practitioner of these vocations.

Constructed in:

18th century CE

History

The land on which the Writers’ Building stands originally belonged to St. Anne’s Church. The church was demolished and the land was donated for the construction of this Administrative office.

Fort William College dedicated to the purpose of training writers in Oriental languages, moved to the Writers building about 1800. Over the next 20 years, structural changes and enhancements were made, including a new hostel for 32 students and an exam hall, a lecture hall, four libraries and rooms to teach Hindi and Persian.

Three new blocks (classified as Blocks 1,2 and 5) that stood perpendicular to the main block were added between 1877 and 1882.

Two further blocks (classified as Blocks 3 and 4) were added. These blocks are approached by iron staircases.

On 8 December 1930 Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Gupta, members of the underground revolutionary group Bengal Volunteers, headed for the Writers' Building, dressed in European attire, and carrying loaded revolvers. Upon entering the building, they shot dead the Inspector General of Police, Colonel N .S. Simpson

Further additions and enhancements have been made to the building from time to time, resulting in 13 inter-connected blocks with a total office space of over 125,000 sq ft.