Writers' Building

Writers' Building is a long red-brick complex on the north side of Dalhousie Square, now BBD Bagh, in central Kolkata, West Bengal. It was built in 1780 to a design by Thomas Lyon as offices and lodgings for the junior clerks, called writers, of the East India Company. The building takes its name from these clerks. In the 19th century it was reconstructed and extended, and the present Neoclassical facade with its long colonnaded verandas, balustrades and decorative statues on the pediment dates from the later renovations of the 1880s. The sculpted pediment figures represent Minerva, Justice, Commerce, Science and Agriculture, among other symbolic subjects. The complex grew into the administrative centre of the Bengal Presidency and later housed the secretariat of the Government of West Bengal. Historic events linked to the building include the 1930 attack in which three young revolutionaries, Benoy, Badal and Dinesh, entered and shot Inspector General of Prisons N. S. Simpson in an act of resistance to British rule. The three are commemorated today by the name of the nearby square, renamed Benoy Badal Dinesh Bagh. The building has a facade of about 150 metres, with a central block and wings, and interior corridors typical of colonial offices. In 2013 the state government moved its secretariat to Nabanna in Howrah, leaving the heritage building for conservation and a planned reuse. Restoration work has been carried out by the state public works department. Visitors can only view the exterior from the square, and the interior is closed to the public.