Old Chinatown, Tiretta Bazar, Kolkata加尔各答老唐人街（迪雷塔集市）

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

India · West Bengal · Kolkata · Around the Tiretta Bazar area of central Kolkata, including Blackburn Lane, Damzen Lane and Chattawala Lane.

First built

From the late eighteenth century · Chinese began arriving from the end of the eighteenth century to work at the port of Kolkata; the quarter contains at least eight Chinese temples.

Overview

Old Chinatown in Kolkata is located around the Tiretta Bazar area of central Kolkata, the oldest and most temple-dense Chinese quarter in South Asia. Chinese began settling here from the end of the eighteenth century to work at the port of Kolkata, drawn mainly from the Siyi (Four Counties), Nanshun and Huining areas of Guangdong, as well as from the Hakka; occupations were sharply divided by native place — Hakka in tanning, Hubei natives in dentistry, Shandong natives in the silk trade, and Cantonese in carpentry and shoemaking. The quarter contains at least eight Chinese temples, scattered through the narrow lanes of Blackburn Lane, Damzen Lane and Chattawala Lane, most located on an upper floor or rooftop, indistinguishable in appearance from ordinary residences — one must climb a stairway before the shrine within comes into view. It must be specially noted that these places are commonly called 'Church' in English (as in Sea Ip Church and Toong On Church); they are in fact clan-association temples of Chinese popular religion and Daoism, having nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity — this designation stems from colonial-era registration practice and is highly liable to mislead. After the Sino-Indian conflict of the 1960s, large numbers of Chinese emigrated, and worship at most of the temples subsequently declined.

Highlights

• The oldest and most temple-dense Chinese quarter in South Asia
• At least eight Chinese temples
• Mostly located on an upper floor or rooftop, indistinguishable from residences
• The English designation 'Church' has nothing to do with Christianity
• Large-scale emigration followed the Sino-Indian conflict of the 1960s