College Street (Kolkata)


College Street is a 900 metre long street in Central Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. It stretches from B.B. Ganguly Street crossing to MG Road crossing via Dr. Lalit Banerjee Sarani crossing and Colootola Street/Surya Sen Street crossing. South of Bowbazar, College Street becomes Nirmal Chandra Street and north of Barna Parichay Market, College Street becomes Bidhan Sarani. Its name derives from the presence of many colleges. The road houses many centres of intellectual activity especially the Indian Coffee House, a café that has attracted the city's intelligentsia for decades. Kolkata’s historic College Street is India’s largest book market, lending it the endearing nickname Boi Para.

Book stores

The College Street is most famous for its small and big book stores, which gives it the nickname Boi Para. People from the whole city and different parts of the state gathers here for their books. Many bigwigs of the Bengali publication industry are situated here. The street is also dotted with countless very small book kiosks which sell new and old books. An article in the journal Smithsonian described College Street as ...a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement, carrying first editions, pamphlets, paperbacks in every Indian language, with more than a fair smattering of books in and out of print from France, Germany, Russia and England.
One can buy rare books at throw-away prices and extensive bargaining take place.

Recognition

In 2007, College Street featured among the famous landmarks of India which have made it to 6pm to 9pm Magazine’s "Best of Asia" list.

Educational institutes

Well-known academic institutions situated on this street include