Why long-dead English sahibs and memsahibs come alive at midnight in Kolkata

It was around 11.30 pm. The ever-bustling New Market had emptied long back, giving the semi-lit Victorian Gothic-styled giant shopping arcade on Kolkata’s Lindsay Street an eerie look.

Seven to eight shadowy figures appeared at the main entrance of the deserted market. They were there for an unusual mission—to explore some of the haunted places in Kolkata.

Like most old cities, Kolkata has a rich heritage of ghostly tales and places associated with it, blending legend and fantasy with history.

From Howrah bridge in its northern fringe to Hastings House at Alipore in the south; from an administrative building to a graveyard and a race course to a metro station, ghosts are believed to have creepy presence in several important landmarks of Kolkata.

Over two centuries after his death in 1818, the colonial Bengal’s first governor general Warren Hastings continues to spook many, making him the city’s most talked-about ghost.

Since the late 19th century many claim to have seen a horse-drawn carriage entering the sprawling green campus of the milk-white Hastings House on Judges Court Road in Alipore.

An impeccably-dressed man believed to be ghost of Hastings himself emerges from the carriage and hurriedly enters the building, ostensibly looking for some papers that could have prevented him from being impeached in London on corruption charges.

None of the students of the Institute of Education for Women housed in the building now dares to stay in the campus after evening. They hurriedly leave the place right after their afternoon lectures.

“We never dared to stay in the college late in the afternoon because of the weird stories associated with the place,” says Moumita Chakraborty who did her BEd from the institute in early 2000s.

She, however, was never spooked by Hastings, nor came across anyone who personally encountered the ghost.

Hastings’ is not the only ghost occupying the impressive campus. The ghost of the governor general is said to be sharing the place with the spirit of a boy, who died on the field when a ball hit him in the chest while playing football.

The rumour is that the ghost of a young body is occasionally seen on the ground.

Not very far from Hastings House is located another British-era haunted building that now houses the National Library, the largest library in India.

According to some accounts, ghost of Lady Metcalfe, wife of Charles Metcalfe, the governor general of India from1835-36, frequents the corridors and halls of the library.

Deaths of 12 labourers in an accident during some renovation works at the building years ago and the discovery of a hidden chamber that lay untraced for centuries by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2010 added to the mystery of the place.

It’s not only ghosts of sahibs and memsahibs that haunt Kolkata.  A snowy white horse of William sahib is believed to be seen galloping on the tracks of Royal Calcutta Turf Club, commonly known as Race Course on moonlit Saturday night.

In the 1930s, a white horse named Pride belonging to an Englishman George Williams used to be the queen of the tracks. However, with time as Pride grew older, she lost her speed and agility.

Finally, in one of the Annual Calcutta Derbies, the inevitable happened. Pride lost the race and Williams lost a fortune.

Next day, Pride was found lying dead on the tracks, never to race again. Or so is it?

The over 200-year-old Writers’ Building—once the principal seat of administration of the Bengal government and now undergoing renovation—is another Raj-era building believed to be haunted.

Built in 1777 to accommodate junior servants or ‘writers’ as they were called, of the East India Company, the building witnessed one of the most daring attacks on British empire by the Indian revolutionaries during the freedom struggle.

Three Indian revolutionaries Benoy Basu (22), Badal Gupta (22) and Dinesh Gupta (19) stormed into the well-guarded building on December 8, 1930 to kill Colonel NS Simpson, who at that time was serving as inspector general of prisons.

Simpson was notorious for his brutal torture and oppression of the prisoners in the jails.

What ensued was a long gun battle between the trio and the British police in which Simpson was killed and several other officers of the police force were injured.

After being overpowered by the British police, Badal killed himself on the spot consuming potassium cyanide. Benoy and Dinesh too shot themselves with their own revolvers to commit suicide. Benoy later died in a hospital while Dinesh was tried in court and hanged on July 7, 1931.

It is believed that the building has been haunted by the spirit of Simpson ever since he was killed by the three young revolutionaries.

Many employees at the Writers claimed to have heard the sounds of abnormal footsteps and outcries at the fifth block of the building, where Simpson was shot dead.

The building is now under renovation. The state secretariat has been functioning from Nabanna in Howrah since 2013.

Maybe the ghost of Simpson will find a resting place once the Writers Building gets a new lease of life after renovation.

Graves of generation of British families who lived during the British era rest in South Park Street Cemetery, one of the oldest Christian graveyards in the entire country build in 1767.

Graves and tombs of about 16,000 European men, women and children lie amidst tall vegetation on eight acres of land in the heart of the city.

Shadowy figures reportedly often drift in and out of tombs at this burial ground, which is no longer in use.

Strange and eerie sounds emanating from the place and some photographers capturing weird shadows in their photographs are some other ghostly tales associated with the cemetery, making it one of the most ethereal places in the city.

Strange shadows can also be sighted jumping on the tracks at Rabindra Sarobar Metro Station at late hours, according to popular ghost tales of the cities.

Many passengers who use the station in the North- South metro route of Kolkata at late night claimed to have encountered the eerie shadows.

“I was waiting to catch a metro at the platform around 9.30 pm on a winter night two years ago. The platform was almost empty as it’s generally at those hours of night, particularly in winter.  Suddenly, I saw someone jump on the track. I immediately rushed there, but could not see anyone,” said Supradip Bhattacharjee, a resident of Shobhabazar, who often boards a metro from the platform.

Bhattacharjee said when he narrated what he had just seen to another passenger, the gentleman told him to ignore it as such sighting was not unusual in the platform.

Rabindra Sarovar metro station is notorious for registering the highest number of suicides committed on the metro tracks in the city. Souls of those who had abruptly ended their life still roam in the platform, according to some city lores.

Another most spooky place in the city is the Howrah Bridge, the most iconic landmark of Kolkata. Locals say ghost sighting is common from numerous ghats (bathing places) dotted along the river banks just below the bridge.

Early morning is said to be most suitable time for a rendezvous with a ghost. Locals recall seeing arms merging from the river frantically waving for help.

This ghostly heritage of the city has now been turned into a tourist attraction by philanthropist and historian Anthony Khatchaturian with his midnight ghost walk, a spooky trail of haunted places in the city.

It’s a surreal experience to explore the city’s ghostly past in the dead of night, he says.