St. Andrew's Church - Kolkata    Share

The Calcutta of 1815 was the seat of authority of The Honourable The East India Company and the most important of its settlements. The Governor General of India at this time was the Earl of Moira (afterwards the Marquis of' Hastings), and the Scottish community in Calcutta, including the military, was an important segment of the European population. In the early days The East India Company had no set ecclesiastical establishment but apparently each ship carried a chaplain and latterly some ministers were brought out to the various settlements who were of the Episcopal Church of England. As the number of Presbyterians grew, the demand for their own ministers became more clamant. The Company were under no obligation to appoint chaplains but they were God fearing men and one cannot read the old records without seeing how great a value they placed on the observance of religious duty both amongst themselves and amongst those they employed. The earliest record of an appoint­ment of a chaplain is in 1607 and the number of churches gradually grew with the growth of the establishment. For years, men like Claudius Buchanan in India and William Wilberforce in England had been protesting against the Company's restrictive attitude towards Christian missionary work, and in 1813 Parliament insisted that the Company grant facilities for missionaries to work freely in India.

One of the most iconic structures in kolkata. People visiting Kolkata should definitely visit this place to appreciate the colonial architecture. Near to laldighi area. I liked it very much.

Watch this church daily on commute. Centrally located with old western architecture. Lighting during christmas will be a watch as a icing on the cake. Well maintained.

When had get into the church and felt something peaceful to me. It was a very good atmosphere. The construction of this church is very good and the outside is also clean.This church situated near barabazar market . You can divert the road from the Dalhousie square while you are approaching towards Howrah railway station . Just cross the lalbazar police station and you can see the church. Photography is not allowed inside .

One of the very few surviving Scottish church, situated at the iconic location of dalhousie