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Kolkata (Calcutta) Sights

The Maidan

1 reviews | Write a review

  • Address
    • Maidan Area N of Victoria Memorial

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Lonely Planet review for The Maidan

After the 'Black Hole' fiasco, a moated 'second' Fort William (closed to public) was constructed in octagonal, Vaubanesque form (1758). The whole village of Gobindapur was flattened to give the new fort's cannons a clear line of fire. Though sad for then-residents, this created the Maidan pronounced 'moi-dan') a vast 3km-long park that is today as fundamental to Kolkata as Central Park is to New York City.

Fort William remains hidden within a walled military zone but for an amusingly far-fetched tale of someone who managed to get in, read Simon Winchester's Calcutta.

 

Traveller reviews for The Maidan (1)

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    The lungs of Calcutta

    king_sett recommends this,

    Named "The Esplanade" by the british but it has stuck with the local name "maidan" meaning open field. It has quite a few Athletic clubs and the famous Ochterlony Monument (now called Shahid Minar).

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