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Eden Hindu Hostel

Government Eden Hindu Hostel - 1886 CE - 3 Peary Charan Sarkar Street - Kolkata 2014-10-30 0171-0176
Government Eden Hindu Hostel - 1886 CE - 3 Peary Charan Sarkar Street - Kolkata 2014-10-30 0171-0176 Image: Wikimedia Commons. gangulybiswarup / CC BY 3.0

Eden Hindu Hostel is a residential hostel for students of Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly Presidency College). Located in the College Street area of central Kolkata, it is one of the oldest student hostels in India and has historically housed students of Presidency College, the University of Calcutta, and other affiliated institutions.

Type Student hostel
Affiliation Presidency University, Kolkata
Location College Street, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Country India

Overview

The Eden Hindu Hostel functions as a residential facility for male undergraduate and postgraduate students. The hostel is organised into multiple wards, each headed by a superintendent, and is administered under the residential framework of Presidency University. It takes its name from the older Hindu College, the precursor of Presidency College, and from Sir Ashley Eden, who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal in the late nineteenth century.

Background

The hostel traces its origins to the residential arrangements made for students of Hindu College, which was established in 1817 and reconstituted as Presidency College in 1855. Over the colonial period, formal hostel buildings were developed near the college campus on College Street to accommodate students drawn from across Bengal and other parts of British India.

Significance

Eden Hindu Hostel has occupied a significant place in the academic and cultural life of Bengal. As the residence attached to one of the leading colleges of colonial and post-independence India, it has housed generations of students who later became prominent in literature, science, public administration, politics, and the arts. The hostel features in literary and biographical accounts associated with Presidency College alumni and is frequently mentioned in histories of student life in Calcutta.

Administration

The hostel is run by Presidency University with resident superintendents responsible for individual wards. Allotment of seats is generally restricted to enrolled students of the university, and admission to the hostel is administered alongside admission to academic programmes.

References