Shakespeare Sarani (earlier Theatre Road) is a street running in the
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the " cit ...
of
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, from
Park Circus
Park Circus is a neighbourhood of Central-South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India.
Geography Police district
Karaya police station is in the South-east division of Kolkata Police.
Karaya Women police station, at the sam ...
to
Chowringhee Road
Chowringhee Road (also spelt ''Chourangi Road''), located in the Chowringhee neighbourhood of Kolkata, is the arterial road running from the eastern fringes of Esplanade southwards up to the crossing with Lower Circular Road (AJC Bose Road) ...
(
Birla Planetarium). It was renamed on 24 April 1964 after
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, to mark the fourth birth centenary of the legendary playwright.
It is considered to be a
high street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym ...
of Kolkata with many commercial establishments, offices, shops and restaurants situated by the road.
It intersects with other important roads in the CBD like
Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road
Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (earlier known as Lower Circular Road) and its continuation northwards called Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road (earlier known as Upper Circular Road), are together the longest and the most important north-south ...
,
Camac Street
Abanindranath Thakur Sarani (renamed from ''Camac Street'') is a street running in the central business district of Kolkata, India, from Park Street (Allen Park) to Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road ( Nizam Palace). The road was named after ...
, Loudon Street and Rawdon Street. Few other roads like, Little Russel Street, Wood Street, Picasso Bithi & Lord Sinha Road criss-crosses or merge into Shakespeare Sarani from North or South. West of
Birla Planetarium crossing, Shakespeare Sarani becomes Queen's Way.
History
At the corner of
Chowringhee Road
Chowringhee Road (also spelt ''Chourangi Road''), located in the Chowringhee neighbourhood of Kolkata, is the arterial road running from the eastern fringes of Esplanade southwards up to the crossing with Lower Circular Road (AJC Bose Road) ...
and Theatre Road was the Theatre of Calcutta from 1813 to 1839. It was burnt down by fire and never rebuilt.
[Cotton, H.E.A., ''Calcutta Old and New'', first published 1909/reprint 1980, page 224, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.]
Geography
Landmarks

* Astor Hotel
* AC Market (The first air-conditioned shopping mall in Kolkata)
*
Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad (Indian Language Council)
* Consulate of Philippines
* Duckback House
* Express Tower (houses number of food outlets and offices)
* International Club (earlier Swiss Club)
* Jasmine Tower
* Kala Mandir
* L&T House (at Little Russell Street crossing)
* Marda Plaza (A retail cum commercial complex)
* Nagaland House
* New B K Market
* New Kenilworth Hotel (at Little Russell Street crossing)
* Premlata building
*
Rani Birla Girls' College
* Shakespeare Court (at Camac Street crossing)
* Sri Aurobindo Bhavan
* State Archive
* The Legacy
* Unilever House
Police district
Shakespere Sarani police station is part of the
South division of
Kolkata Police
The Kolkata Police Force (KPF) is one of the two presidency police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. Kolkata Police has the task of policing the metropolitan area (apart from Bidhannagar and New Town, which are served by the Bidhannag ...
. Located at 34A, Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata-700017, it has jurisdiction over the police district which is bordered on the ''north'' from the south-west corner of the junction of
Park Street, Outram Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road (old
Chowringhee Road
Chowringhee Road (also spelt ''Chourangi Road''), located in the Chowringhee neighbourhood of Kolkata, is the arterial road running from the eastern fringes of Esplanade southwards up to the crossing with Lower Circular Road (AJC Bose Road) ...
), then crossing Jawaharlal Nehru Road to the south east corner of the junction of the Park Street and Jawaharlal Nehru Road and thence eastward by the southern limits of Park Street to
Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road
Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (earlier known as Lower Circular Road) and its continuation northwards called Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road (earlier known as Upper Circular Road), are together the longest and the most important north-south ...
, then crossing Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road up to the south-east corner of the junction of Park Street and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road.
It is bordered on the ''east'' from the south-east corner of the junction of Park Street and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (old Lower Circular Road), then southward by the eastern limits of the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road up to the south-east corner of the junction of Beck Bagan Row, Circus Avenue and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road.
It is bordered on the ''south'' from the south-east corner of the junction of Beck Bagan Row, Circus Avenue and Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (old Lower Circular Road), thence westward by the southern limits of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road to Jawaharlal Nehru Road (old Chowringhee Road), then crossing Jawaharlal Nehru Road up to the south-west corner of the junction of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road.
It is bordered on the ''west'' from the south-west corner of the junction of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road (old Lower Circular Road) and Jawaharlal Nehru Road (old Chowringhee Road). Thence north-ward by the western limits of Jawaharlal Nehru Road up to the south-west corner of the junction of Park Street, Outram Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road.
See also
Shakespeare Sarani police district map
Tollygunge Women's police station has jurisdiction over all the police districts in the South Division, i.e. Park Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Alipore, Hastings, Maidan, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Tollygunge, Charu Market, New Alipur and Chetla.
References
{{coord missing, West Bengal
Streets in Kolkata