Park Street Cemetery

South Park Street Cemetery

The Park Street Cemetery was one of the earliest non-church cemeteries in the world, and probably the largest Christian cemetery outside Europe and America in the 19th century. Opened in 1767 on what was previously a marshy area and is now a heritage site, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The cemetery was opened to relieve the pressure on the old burial ground in the heart of the city. The road leading to the cemetery came to be known as the Burying Ground Road but was subsequently renamed Park Street after the park around Vansittart's garden house. By the year 1785 the burial ground had been extended on the northern side of Park Street and by 1840 a vast new cemetery was opened to the east of the Lower Circular Road. The Europeans started to disuse it in the year 1790. It has been confirmed by a marble plaque at the gate which reads "South Park Street, Opened:1767, Closed:1790".
Tollywood's Bengali film, Gorosthaney Sabdhan (literal translation: Beware in the cemetery) was shot here. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Satyajit Ray.