#Kids' Dentist in New Town Kolkata

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At Lumina Dental Clinic, we offer a wide range of services tailored specifically for children, including routine check-ups, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, and cavity fillings. We also provide guidance on proper oral hygiene practices and nutritional counseling to promote healthy habits from an early age.

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Calcutta has always been a city of confluence. It’s a river city flanked by settlements buried in the treasuries of the past. Much like the river it trails, Calcutta too has witnessed many different habitats – the Jewish, the Parsis, the Christians, the Armenians, the Chinese, the Mughals, the Bengalis, the Marwaris, the Sindhis – all form a part of the Calcutta Chromosome. Being the erstwhile capital of the British Empire and famous trade point at that time, Calcutta harbors a rich heritage much of it is intrinsic to its people and found in the city even today. The Calcutta syndrome is symbolic of these intrinsic identities of the place.

A Chinese Carpentry Shop at Tiretti

As you go about the city, you will witness this unity in diversity. Each part is endemic to a certain type of people and gradually as the demography changes so do the food, heritage and the outlook of the people. While the north boasts of the exquisite Bengali culture, the central region has been home to Chinese, the Jewish, the Parsis etc.

The caretaker of Toong On Church

The caretaker of Nam Soon Church

The Lion Dance

Here, in the central region of the city one can find the oldest China town in the country. The settlements started in the 18th century when Tom Achew came in search of trade land for his sugar business. The then Governor General of India Warren Hastings gave him a land near Budge-Budge which is now famously known as Achipur. Despite the failure in business, the Chinese community survived in Calcutta and several of them still reside in the bylanes of Tiretti, the old china town. Many of them have shifted to the east of the city, called Tangra but still, this old block retains the old world charm. this has made Calcutta, the only city with 2 China Towns.

The bylanes of Old China Town

Now coming to the place and it’s culture, Tiretti, our own little china town has survived through ages of the onslaught and it still does despite the difficulties in retaining it. The ethnic temples of the locality bear testimonial to that. There are 6 Chinese temples or churches in this area, of which the oldest one Nam Soon dates back to 1821. Much of these churches retain their old world charm dignified by old customs and rituals.

Inside the Nam Soon Church

The Buddha Statue at Toog On church

Decorations at the Church

Utensils used at the church

  The 6 churches (with their adresses) are :

Toong On: 22 Black burn lane (in the alley of Garbage Dump of the municipality just before the Telephone Exchange)

Toong On Church, 22 Black burn lane

Inside the Toong On Church, 22 Black burn lane

a portrait inside the church

some more photographs

KWAN TI, the warrior god

KWAN TI, the warrior

the wooden frame inside the church

Sea-Ip: 22/1 Chhatawala Gulee, Kol -73 (Behind the Telephone Exchange beside Tung Nam restaurant)

Sea Ip Church, 22/1 Chhatawala Gulee, Kolkata-73

Tung Nam Restaurant (beside Sea Ip)

The idol inside the church

The wooden hanging inside the church

Prayers inside the church

Choonghee Ohong Thien Haue: Take the alley left of Sei Vui restaurant(17 Black burn lane, in an alley opposite Telephone exchange)

Choonghee Haue Church. RJ Deepanjan Ghosh in action

The Makers of the church

inside the cchurch inscriptions

inscriptions inside the church

a blossoming inside the church

Nam Soon: (turn right after Choonghee, pas by the tanners, turn left walk straight to an old house with 1905-1982 inscription, it’s beside that.

Nam Soon Church

Kids with their lion dance on premises of the church

The Chinese Calendar

The Wooden Wall Hanging at the church

A young lady praying at the church

Inside the Nam Soon Church

Nameless Church beside Chen’s Carpentry at 13 Black Burn Lane. it’s an old tattered building with a side gate. Here you will get to see the Mah Jong set.

The Nameless Church Beside Zen’s Carpentry 

Chen’s Carpentry

Inside the church

Dr. Jong with his local version of Mah Jong set

Dr. Jong arranging the set.

Nameless Church below the Hupeh Association signboard beside Sei Vui restaurant at 17 Black Burn Lane. It borders the restaurant and remains closed only visible from the gate.

The Hupeh Association signboard

The church below it

Inside the church

Sei Vui Restaurant

The churches are an intimate affair and generally ruled by a specific community and different community have different clubs represented by different churches. Similar to the Indian society, they too have profession based class division. Hence, each community represents a different profession. For example, the Hupehs are dentists. In Calcutta, most of the chinese communities are either tanners or dentists. The need of the hour has diversified the profession and heriditary lineage is broken but much of the genealogy dates back to these 2 professions. Despite the odds, these people are thriving with their amicable nature, the prowess of business ( many of them have become connoisseurs of Chinese Cuisine) and quintessential Indian-ness.

A brushmaker in the locality

Here you will find a different China quite unlike the actual Chinese people of China.  It’s an Indian China or Calcutta China if one can call it that way.  Here, the common folk still regard Sun Yan as the Chinese Premiere, at a time when Xin Ping has gained a lifetime Chinese Presidentship in China. Mahatma Gandhi and Sun Yan decorate the wall and below a group of elderly gentleman reads a Chinese Newspaper- their very own self-published daily newspaper, the oldest surviving Chinese newspaper of Calcutta. Perhaps of India as well.

Mahatma Gandhi and Sun Yan portraits inside Sea-Ip church

The oldest surviving Chinese newspaper of Calcutta (of India perhaps)

look at the date, it’s just before the new year (16th Feb)

Much like the Bengali tradition of remembering one’s forefather at the onset of the Durga Puja, these people have a similar tradition of sending good wishes in the form of burning scrolls at the onset of the Chinese New Year.

The paper scroll used for burning

The ritual of burning scrolls

Place where the burnt scrolls are kept

Their worshipping nature is quite similar to us with different lords serving a different purpose, such as Kwan Ti – the warrior king who later became the warrior god. Similarly, there are other gods signifying wealth, health, death etc.

A portrait of KWAN TI, inside Sea-Ip Church

The Chinese New Year holds a special significance as it is during this time, this world comes alive – with jubilant lion dances, intricate personal prayers and a community that opens its gates to the public.

A lion dance march

Kids with their lion dance preparations

It is on one such Chinese new year I embarked on a heritage walk through these known-unknown myriad alleys of tiretti. The Chinese New Year follows a lunar cycle and generally, the year begins somewhere in the middle of February. In the Chinese system, each year represents a special animal which is a particular zodiac sign. 2018 is the year of the dog which stands for loyalty, faithfulness, honesty and other such qualities. There are 12 such zodiac signs each representing an animal and its qualities. Unlike other zodiac signs, the Chinese zodiac signs are determined by your birth year alone and not by the birth month.

  The Chinese Zodiac Signs, Image : Devian Art 

  Now, coming back to the heritage walk, this unique venture was part of India Heritage Festival Walk done in association with Sahapedia and the Cha Project. It comprised of 25 heritage enthusiasts trailing the city in the early with their group leader RJ Deepanjan Ghosh and heritage blogger Ranjan Dutta along with Cha Project’s Rinkoo Bhowmick. We trailed through the bylanes of Tiretti Bazaar, in Central Avenue, Central Calcutta to find 6 beautiful churches with a beautiful craftsmanship on display. Many of them remain remote and hidden from plain sight due to civic problems like garbage dumping ground. The churches lie on either side of Blackburn Lane in and around The BSNL Telephone Exchange Bhavan.

So, if you want to witness the Calcutta Chromosome then visit these isolated hamlets in the early morning or during the time of the festival – that is the new year. While you are at it gorge on some authentic Chinese delicacies and maybe go on a shopping spree as well. The area is home to the iconic Pou Chong Sauces, an indigenous Chinese store selling Chinese cooking products at a handful of the price.

Note: Don’t miss the early morning Tiretti Breakfast of home cooked Chinese delicacies. It happens in Tiretti Bazaar every Sunday morning from 5:00am -8:00am. 

The Chinese game of Mah Jong or a local variant of it will add eons to your life. Witness this wonder here and match the blocks to sharpen your memory and concentration power. The old does reside in us and it is these roadside tanneries, brushmakers, handmade shoemakers, drum-makers who bring them alive.

The drum-makers

The shoemakers

The shoemakers of the locality

Much like our prayers, our livelihood is also the same. It’s the business of belonging – of being relevant- of keeping our head above the running waters that keep us alive.

We pray alike

  It is this which we look forward to our small little sojourns. 

The Calcutta Syndrome : Tiretti Calcutta has always been a city of confluence. It's a river city flanked by settlements buried in the treasuries of the past.