Location: North of B.B.D. Bag
Time to Visit: During office hours (9A.M. to 6 P.M.)
Admission Fee: Nil
How to Reach: Any bus to BBD Bag can bring you here. One can also avail of the tram services to Esplanade.
Photography / Video charges: Photography is strictly prohibited
Nearest Railway Station: Sealdah
Nearest Metro Station: Esplanade.
Nearest International Airport: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
Time required for sightseeing: 1 hour.

The Writers Building, or the Mahakaran, is the central office of the government of West Bengal. It spreads over a magnificent decade of acres and consists of a total of thirteen four storeyed building having about 6000 employees.

The building came to be so called as it originally housed the junior writers of the East India Company who lived inside the premises of the old fort. It was an assemblage of mud hovels and it was destroyed in a storm on 25th June, 1695. Following this, the second Writers' Building was constructed inside the old fort. In 1706, a new one-storeyed brick building was built. The other Writers' Building stood at the place where the G.P.O. or Fairly Place stands today.

The Writers Building as we see it today was given by the collector of Calcutta to one Thomas Linas for constructing a residential place for the writers of the Company. The initial works of the present Writers' Building terminated in 1780. It came to be owned by a friend of Hastings called Barwell. His children, handed it over to a trustee board which in turn was again rented to the Company. Gradually, the building came to be used for questionable activities. To stop such activities, the Company decided to vacate the house and began to use it for government uses.

Interestingly, the Fort William College was first established here in 1800. The College was however shifted in 1830 and in 1836; Lord Bentinck prohibited the indiscriminate use of the house for private affairs. It was from the period of 1877 – 1882 that Lt. Governor Ashley Eden made the building the alma mater of governmental activities.

For the last 28 years the Writers Building has seen the rise of the Left Front Government in West Bengal. It not only is a grand relic of the British legacy but is also a fine example of the opulence of the British Gothic architecture. Today, all the ministers of the West Bengal Government have their official departments allocated in this house. There is also a record office Building which is an almanac of all the governmental records and important documents of the Government of West Bengal from 1834 onwards.

Originally, there used to be an effigy of Britannia in front of the main entrance. Nowadays, it is replaced by an iron pillar. One can also find a quartet of idols on top of the entrance symbolising the annals of science, cultivation, commerce and justice.

The famous art critic Mr. Morris rightly remarks that the - "Writers Building is a reflection of the East India Company's intention to create diagrams of supremacy or grand structures with the message of hegemony or supremacy over the natives.” It was a symbol for power and it continues to be so with its amazing grandeur and magnificence.

Grub Joints

Near to the Writers Building lies the Chowringhee-Park Street-Esplanade stretch which is a Grubbers delight in Kolkata. There are numerous restaurants which offer a range of mouth watering delights: blends of home- feel Bengali cuisines, to the spicy Mughlai, to the sizzling Chinese, to Italian and Continental spreads.

If one wants to try on the flavours of Bengal one should visit the Peerless Inn. For Mughlai freaks, there is the Aminia and Rahmania. Marco Polo In China, Chung Wah and Golden Dragon offer delicious Chinese cuisine whereas Domino's at Russel Street and Pizza Hut at Camac Street excel in Italian delicacies. Indian Cricket icon Saurav Ganguly's signature restaurant-Saurav's- The Food Pavilion is a grubbers delight whereas the British legacy is still exemplarily followed by the Flury's. One could drop in at One Step up for Continental spreads whereas people looking for some cool beverages can drop in at the Barista or the CCD and Pizza Hut at excel in Italian delicacies.