Archive · 15 Aug 2026
5 Kolkata Landmarks Linked to India's Freedom Struggle
India celebrates Independence Day every year to remember how the country became free.
In the city of Kolkata, there are special buildings and places that remind people of the brave men and women who fought for freedom.
Netaji Bhawan is the old home of a famous leader named Subhas Chandra Bose, and now it is a museum.
A special car kept there helped him escape from India in 1941 to continue his fight.
BBD Bagh is a big square named after three young revolutionaries who attacked a government building in 1930.
There is an auditorium called Mahajati Sadan, where poet Rabindranath Tagore laid the first stone in 1939.
The Anushilan Samiti was a secret group that trained people to fight for freedom.
Shaheed Minar is a tall monument built in 1828, later renamed to honour the martyrs of the freedom movement.
Visiting these places helps people learn the story of how India won its freedom.
Netaji Bhawan, Subhas Chandra Bose's ancestral home, is now a museum and was the starting point of his Great Escape from India in January 1941.
BBD Bagh, formerly Dalhousie Square, is named after revolutionaries Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta, and Dinesh Gupta, who led the attack on Writers' Buildings on December 8, 1930.
Rabindranath Tagore laid the foundation stone of Mahajati Sadan on August 19, 1939, an auditorium conceptualised by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
The Anushilan Samiti, established in Calcutta in 1902, trained members in armed resistance and raised funds through donations and political dacoities.
Shaheed Minar, built in 1828 as the Ochterlony Monument, was later renamed and rededicated to the martyrs of India's independence movement.
- Who
- Freedom fighters and leaders including Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, and revolutionaries Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta, and Dinesh Gupta.
- What
- A guide to five Kolkata landmarks connected to India's freedom struggle, published ahead of Independence Day.
- When
- Independence Day 2026; the landmarks commemorate events spanning from 1828 to 1941.
- Where
- Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India.
- Why
- To highlight Kolkata's deep and dramatic connection with India's freedom movement.
- Landmarks featured
- Netaji Bhawan, BBD Bagh, Mahajati Sadan, Anushilan Samiti, Shaheed Minar
- Netaji Bhawan address
- 38/2 Lala Lajpat Rai Sarani (formerly 38/2 Elgin Road), Kolkata
- Netaji Bhawan built
- 1909, by J.N. Bose (Janaki Nath Bose)
- Writers' Buildings attack
- December 8, 1930, by Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta, and Dinesh Gupta
- Lieutenant-Colonel killed
- N.S. Simpson, inspector-general of prisons
- Mahajati Sadan foundation stone
- Laid by Rabindranath Tagore on August 19, 1939
- Anushilan Samiti established
- 1902, in Calcutta
- Shaheed Minar built
- 1828, as the Ochterlony Monument, in memory of David Ochterlony