Zakaria and Teritti Bazar Walk - Calcutta

Long Post Alert !!! 

After a long ​​wait and planning for years we made out a food walk as well as heritage walk across the city of joy, Calcutta (now known as Kolkata). I would prefer the name Calcutta as it carries the weight of history that's a mix of cultures. Calcutta, being the first capital of British India is a perfect landscape if you're looking for the colonial India, though it's not very perfectly maintained for somewhat reasons. 

Our walk begins with food, and why not? Bengalees love food. While winter starts its steps across the city, mughlai breakfast starts at sharp 4 o'clock at Sufia, Zakaria street, just opposite to Nakhoda Masjid. 

My friend Sagnik and his wife Ayindreela booked their Ola from Khardah (north suburb) at 4:40 am, and I took a local train from Barrackpore at 5:15 am to reach the city. I boarded off at Bidhannagar station and took a Uber ride to reach Sufia at approx 6:10am, while my friend directly reached there earlier. However Sufia is full of crowd, and men of Sufia are very busy in packing Nihari and Paya in the tiffin carriers as well as serving hot breakfast at the tables. All tables are full and remained full till we completed our Mughlai breakfast. 

I was told and read through the blogs that Sufia is out stock after 6:30 am, and yes that's true. You may miss any item if you're late enough. 

Busy (early) Morning at Sufia

Well for these stuffs, Nihari and Paya at Sufia you can be an early riser for a few days even in this chilling winter (November to February). For late risers, Sabir's, Beeru's and Shiraz Golden Restaurant is there. Shiraz is costliest of all with better sitting arrangements and ambience wise. Others serving Mughlai breakfast: Nafeel, UP Bihar, Saiqa, Nawaab Eating House. But the legend is Sufia. Find out Kolkata's top beef joints - here.

Zakaria Street, known as Kolkata's Kebab gully during Ramzan has its own crowd who sleep late or early riser. During Ramzan days Dilli 6 is opened up til 3:30 am approximately. 

Mughlai Breakfast at Sufia

Now coming to the food, Nihari is a beef item, and Paya is a mutton item. As the dishes are served on your table, you can feel the aroma and can see the oil. But don't go by the oily look, as you eat it you can say it's not extra oil, rather oil coming from the meat. They serve tandoori rooti and Puri, though I think puri goes best with Nihari and Paya. To cut down the oiliness one must squeeze the lemon served alongwith. But we had them all out of greed and didn't feel even a little discomfort afterwards! This certainly speaks for the quality. As these dishes are slow cooked from previous evening, the meat is so tender. You can end your meat craving with a glass of milk tea, which we avoided. 

As we are out of Sufia it's nearly 7am, and a never-watched the morning of Calcutta came out to us. We had next plan to enjoy Chinese breakfast at Tiretta Bazar which is a walkable distance from Zakaria street. 

As we were full now, we walked across the Phears lane, met the closed shops like Al Baik, Adams and Zaiqa-e-dilli. Famous sweet shop Haji Allauddin is also on the same way. 

Before I start narrating our next phase of walk, let me be clear. Chinese breakfast at Tiretta has lost its charm. I first time went there in 2013 and now in 2019 many Chinese stalls are now not existing and few Bihari/local people runs the stall, as a result authenticity is lost. Also the market/bazaar is now more expanded. However weekends get more visit and authentic Chinese stalls come to serve. 

How did the name Tiretta Bazaar get its?   

Tiretta Bazaar is another old place of Calcutta, which finds its name back in 1790 in Upjohn's map. The name was done after Edward Tiretta, an Italian living in Calcutta. He was an Italian refugee, came to Calcutta near about 1780. It's been known that Tiretta was an assistant of Giacomo Girolamo Casanova of Venice, who was once considered as an epitome of womanizing and the term “Casanova” got coined after his name. 

He was appointed as first registrar of memorials of deed affecting landed property in Bengal. Later he probably left the job, become property owner and lottery promoter. He owned the bazaar, and other several plots in the city. As per city records, he sold (or transferred) the ownership to Charles Weston in 1791.  

He was married to Angelique de Carrion of Serampore, an orphan of a French officer, the Count de Carrion. She died at age of 18, and initially buried near Sealdah, Baithak-khana. However Edward wanted to create their own resting place, and purchased the land for Tiretta Cemetery (which is now abolished and now stands a highrise, and located just diagonally opposite to North Park St. Cemetery). Probably he died in 1797 and buried at this cemetery. Tiretta Cemetery was later known as French Cemetery, as many French people was buried there. 

So Tiretta Bazar, named after an Italian man, built during the British period, is located at Kolkata, West Bengal where we go to have Chinese Breakfast!

As we were filled, we opted for a walk a bit more through Blackburn Lane and Damzen Lane for looking out the Chinese temples or churches. Around Tiretta bazar, there are 6 Chinese churches are there: 

Toong on Church, 

Sea Ip church, 

Gee Hing church, 

Sea Voi church, 

Choonghee Dhonc Church and 

Naam Soon church

(There is another one - Choong Ye Thong Church at Chandni Chawk.) 

Most of them were closed that time, but we were able to enter into Naam Soon church and Sea Ip church. 

Naam Soon church is an experience - a very peaceful place located deep inside the city, and though the outer part may not attract you, you must enter inside to feel the serenity. It is located at 13, Damzen Lane, Kolkata-700073. It was built during 1820's and was in a bad shape, till a Chinese family sponsored to rebuild it. There is a communal school for Chinese medium is located at the back. 

Sea Ip church is located in a two-storey building, which includes a meeting hall at ground floor and the temple at the first floor. The shrine is here Kwan Yin. Once you are on the first floor climbing up the old lonely staircase you will be disconnected from the outer world unless you go to the balcony and look into the streets. 

Now little bit of history, Chinese people has history of coming to India since the time of Fa Hien and Hiuen Tsang. But in India Yang Daijang (British called him Tong Achew) was the first Chinese man to settle in Calcutta near Budge Budge. The place Achipur*, near Budge Budge is named after him (Achew). He started a sugar mill there in 650 bighas of land when Warren Hastings was the Governor General (1774-1785). From there Chinese people came to more North and Tiretta bazar was their first settlement in Calcutta town. There are many men from different Chinese communities who came here and they created their own respective club with own temples. These Tao temples are very different compared to Buddhist temples. 

Tiretta Bazaar is the old China town of Calcutta, while Tangra is the new China town. Chinese people migrated to Tangra, outside the city during early 1900's. 

Chinese Temple at Achipur, visited few months back

*Achipur is famous for the Chinese temple worshipping Ti To , and attracts interested tourists and the Chinese community through out the year, though major crowd gathering occurs during Chinese new year. 

Toong On Church

Toong On Church, in the midst of garbage and surrounded by highrises, is in a bad shape. This two storey building is the temple for wargod Kwan Ti. The ground floor of this building was the floor of famous Nanking Restaurant - that was probably India's first Chinese eatery since 1925. It was a very high end restaurant that time, and many celebrities visited here. After Indo-China war in 1960, Chinese people were under Indian government's radar on suspicion of being spy, and since then Nanking started loosing its charm, and shut down in 1980s. 

Returning to our trip, after a glimpse of Calcutta's Chinese temple, we headed over to the spot where the Chinese breakfast runs. We were pretty disappointed to see the lackluster show. Only 3 stalls are running, 2 by local people. We skipped it, and found that D'Ley's who started breakfast offerings since 20th December was also closed. So we kept walking to Brabourne Road, where we would see few things: 3 Synagogues (Jewish temples), 2 churches. 

Brief history of Synagogues in Calcutta:

Joseph Semah is the first known Baghdadi Jewish immigrant to India, arrived in the port city of Surat in 1730. First of Jewish settlers came to Calcutta from Syria in 1790s. They purchased a house for prayer, and built Neveh Shalome Synagogue in 1826. But Neveh Shalome was demolished in 1884 to offer places to build magnificent Magen David Synagogue. 

Magen David Synagogue

Sir David Ezra built the Magen David in 1884 in memory of his father David Joseph Ezra. Neveh Shalome was rebuilt in 1911. 

Neveh Shalome Synagogue

Beth El was built by Joseph Ezra and Ezekiel Judah in 1855-56, so it is older than Magen David Synagogue. Beth El literally means the House of God. After glorious Magen David was built, Elias Shalom Gubbay spent more than one lakh for Beth El's beautification. Located at Pollock street and hidden by surrounded small shops, it is often missed by people who walk across that.

Beth El Synagogue

These synagogues were closed since 2015 to 2017 and was in a bad shape. However in 2017 they were reopened after restoration. 

Portuguese Church/ The Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary

Portuguese people came to Calcutta in and around 1660. Many of them had Indian wives and their offspring were known as Kintals. Mainly these Kintals came to Calcutta for business, and East India Company allowed them to do business near the church, though the Church was built in 1690 but not in this form today. This church is hence known as Portuguese Church too. The Kintals were only people who were breeding and selling fowl, as the area was known as Murgighata. Therefore for many, this church is also known as Murgighata Church. 

It was a chapel back then. It was first enlarged in 1720. During 1756 Siraj ud Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal attacked Calcutta but this church was spared. British started conducting services as their church (St. Anne's) was destroyed. Lord Clive drove away Portuguese people and Catholic Portuguese Chapel was converted into an Anglican Protestant Chapel.

In 1796 the Church was given back to the Portuguese and heavily rebuilt that we see today, as planned by James Driver. The restoration was completed in 1799. 

It is the final resting place for one Mrs. Mary Carey, a survivor of the so called Black Hole Tragedy.

The two giant magnificent towers of the church create their own beauty as we go across the Brabourne Road. Though it is closed most of the time, a Sunday mass is conducted regularly. 

Armenian Church 

This church is hard to find out, hidden among the shops around it. Even the main gate has been hidden by a small shop. The theme is white, and tons of white marbles used to build it. 

Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth (Սուրբ Նազարեթ հայկական եկեղեցի) was built in 1688, which was destroyed in fire. The church was rebuilt in 1724 by Agha Jakob Nazar. The present church building was built in 1764 by Aga Mamed Hazar Maliyar.

Thus it becomes the oldest church of Calcutta. It was built over an Armenian graveyard and grave stones of the Calcutta Armenians surround the Church on all sides. 

Brief History of the Armenians in Calcutta

Historical records note that the Armenians came to the Indian subcontinent early in 8th century and they came to Calcutta in August of 1690. Before East India Company came to Bengal and Job Charnock establish city of Calcutta, the Armenians had started commerical activity in Benaras and Patna. Mesrovb Jacob Seth's 1895 book 'History of the Armenians in India from the Earliest Times to the Present Day’, reads that the Armenians was settled in Syedabad, a commercial suburb of Murshidabad. The British had good rapport with the Armenians, like the Jews, famous for their mercantile zeal who are already running great commercial body. 

In most probable fact, the East India Company invited the Armanians to come and settle in the newly founded city of Calcutta. After the first arrival in Calcutta the community settled in the area, now addressed as 'Armenian Street’, a narrow street in central Kolkata. The Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth was built in 1688 at one end of the street. In 1958 Calcutta Municipal Corporation wanted to change the name of the street as Akshay Kumar Mullick Street, but it did not materialize. 

Soon after their settlement, the community began to increase and they had spread across the city and the instrumental in reshaping city's architectural landscape in some of the city most iconic neighbourhoods like Park Street. 

St Andrew's Kirk

It is located at the heart of the city, i.e. Dalhousie square, beside the Lalbazar. Kirk means Scottish Church. Scotsmen always think they are different than the British, and when Scotsmen came to Calcutta during the British Raj, a Scotsman Dr. James Bryce took the initiative to build a church of their own community. It's a Scottish Church whose foundation stone laid by Governor General, Marquis of Hastings in 1815. That's why St Andrew's Kirk (or Church) is also known as Laat Saheber Girja. 

St. Andrew's Kirk

Construction work started therefore and it was made open to public in 1818. The clock, made by M/S Burn, Currie and Co. was fitted to the tall massive spire in 1935. 

The white colored, beautiful-looking kirk has 6 pillars of Tuscan order adorning the front. The kirk bears a tall steeple crown with a weather cock on top of it. True to Scottish spirit, the steeple was made taller than the St. John’s church, (diagonally opposite to Raj Bhawan) the Anglican Cathedral of Kolkata.

If you are faced to the Kirk, to the front-left is red colored Mahakaran, or the Writers' Building - built in 1777 with design of Thomas Lyon, it was meant for the lower bureaucracy of East India Company. Since the independence of 1947 this Greco-Roman masterpiece housed the office of Chief Minister of West Bengal. However from October, 2013 the office has been shifted to Nabanna, Howrah during TMC in the chair as major restoration of the building was announced. 

Then we were quite tired, opted for a yellow taxi ride to reach St. John's Church (2/2 Council House Street). Located at the North – Western corner of Raj Bhawan, it is the third oldest church in Kolkata, after Armenian and Old Mission Church. Built in the similar design of St. Martin's Church in London, St. John's was planned by James Agg and work was completed in 1787. Inside you can find a painting of Last Supper by Zoffany.

St. John's Church

The land was donated by Maharaja Nabo Kishen Bahadur the founder of the Shovabazar Raj Family in 1783 to Warren Hastings and the Church Committee. The first stone of this sacred building was laid in 1784 in presence of the-then Governor General of British India, Warren Hastings. 

In my personal opinion, St. John's is an underrated tourist spot in the city, while St. Paul's turns to be the major Christian attraction. But let it be underrated, and let it be a peaceful place in the midst of crowd of the city.

There are lots of stuffs inside its quite large premises -

• Job Charnock’s Mausoleum
• Black Hole Monument
• Rohila War Memorial
• Lady Canning Memorial
• Francis (Begum) Johnson’s grave

To experience St John's you need nearly 1 hour, as you might want to sit inside silently for a bit of rest. 

Then we walked towards the river Ganga/Hooghly and planned for a visit to the newly renovated Metcafe Hall. But somewhere deep inside our chinese-breakfast-craving was still haunting us and that's when we gave a last try by calling D'Ley again to check if it had opened by then. It was around 10.40 a.m. when they confirmed and soon we rushed into it.

D'Ley is a small joint, and excels in pork stuffs. Run by a Chinese family this small eatery gives you a very homely atmosphere. They recently started their own breakfast serving. 

Breakfast at D'Ley

Breakfast Menu at D'Ley

They have a good collection of sauce. You can ask them for it, taste it before buying. 

After the cherished breakfast, we took a launch-journey (ferry service) across the river to Howrah. The breeze was chilling cold as we were in middle of the river. But the view of the Howrah Bridge from other side mesmerised us.

We took a return journey from Howrah jetty to Fairly place jetty and by that time we were exhausted, so took a rest at Millenium Park, but the weather was cloudy and chilling wintery breeze made us too uncomfortable to spend much time there.

Then we packed up for our last stop of the day - lunch at Zam Zam at around 3pm with beef biriyani, beef malai and burhani. 

Beef Biriyani and Beef Malai at Zam Zam

On the way we had to wait as rally for protest of NRC and CAA, led by CM was running by. Anyway we reached at Zam Zam in 10 minutes and service is so fast that we got our hands on biriyani in less than 2 minutes. 

That's the end of our trip. 

What we cover in a single day: 

• Mughlai Breakfast at Sufia 
• Chinese Churches at Tiretti Bazar
• St. Andrew's Church
• Synagogues (Magen David, Neveh Shalom, Beth El)
• Armenian Church
• Cathedral of Most Holy Rosary
• Chinese Breakfast at D'Ley 
• St. John's Church
• Ferry ride across the river Hooghly 
• Lunch at Zam Zam

 Thanks to Sagnik, for edits

Thanks to Ayindreela for tolerating our khai khai batik!