Kolkata’s National Library and Metcalfe Hall have deeper connections than their heritage status

If you love art and culture and have often found your way to the Metcalfe Hall and the National Library, have you counted them only as separate heritage spaces that you ticked off from your bucket list?  Then here’s a trivia which you cannot miss. Did you know that the Metcalfe Hall which today houses a cultural Museum on Kolkata once housed the National Library? And the National Library campus today was once the residence of the British officials? Here’s what you may have missed.

A brief history of the institution known as the National Library today

Long before the National Library existed in its current nomenclature, status or construct, there existed the Calcutta Public Library in 1836. Deemed to be one of the earliest public libraries it was supported by the then locals and British administrators alike. However, the library moved from one place to another like a nomad. It was initially operating out of Fort William College and then shifted to Esplanade Row before finally settling down inside the Metcalfe Hall in 1844. For almost the next six decades, the library operated out of the Metcalfe Hall and became one of the distinguished centres of reading and knowledge exchange.

However, in the year 1903, Lord Curzon, took another initiative of merging the Calcutta Public Library with the Official Library and renamed it as the Imperial Library. It was moved out of the Hall in 1923, due to larger space requirements and shifted to the Belvedere Estate, where it stayed for the next two decades. Post independence, in 1948, the Imperial Library, like most things was renamed into the National Library and finally opened to the public in 1953. However it continued to expand within the Belvedere Estate only. This National Library is what people today recognise immediately.

Who was Lord Metcalfe and the evolution of Metcalfe Hall?

Once this has been established that the National Library was once, in whatever formed housed within the Metcalfe Hall, there is a clear connect between the two historical buildings. But, it is also important to know why Metcalfe Hall became the seat of this erstwhile library in the first place. The Hall is named after Charles Metcalfe, who is widely noted for his works of press freedom in the country. Thus, it was apt that the space built in his memory became the seat of freedom of knowledge.

After the Calcutta Public Library was shifted from the Metcalfe Hall, it became a space to house the manuscripts and journals of the Asiatic Society. Then it fell under the Archaeological Survey of India. It was recently restored around 2018-19 and opened to the public at a nominal entrance fee. Today, it houses galleries exhibiting the essence of Kolkata. From its heritage weaves, to art forms, from music, to iconic legends, from the history of its own restoration to the little nuances that define Kolkata find a home here. 

The Belvedere Estate today

The Belvedere Estate actually predates the National Library by almost two centuries. Built across 30-acres in Alipore, it was built in the 18^th century. It came under spotlight due to Warren Hastings, his famous duel and stories of the other world, but those are trivia for another day. It also served as the official residence of the Lieutenant- Governor of Bengal from 1854 till the 1911. From 1923 it started housing the Imperial Library and then the National Library post the name change.

The magnificent Belvedere House is an example of colonial architecture. The long staircase, the high ceilings, the lush gardens and the beautiful statues all keep the grandeur of the bygone era intact. Taking a walk around the campus one would reach the House first. Reportedly, it is being renovated to house a Word Museum, which is slated to open for the public soon. A modern section of buildings house the reading room and library. The lush gardens are perfect for a walk amidst the freshly pruned shrubs, colourful blooms, and sculptures strewn across.

Thus, next time you visit Metcalfe Hall or the National Library, take a moment to connect the dots!

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