In the heart of north Calcutta (now Kolkata), the Magen David Synagogue stands as the grandest architectural expression of Baghdadi Jewish life in India. Built in 1884, this towering brick building with its distinctive clock tower and ornate interior represents the peak of Baghdadi Jewish prosperity in Bengal, and it remains one of the most impressive synagogue buildings in Asia.
The Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta
Calcutta was the capital of British India from 1772 to 1912, and under British rule it became one of the great commercial cities of Asia. Baghdadi Jewish merchants — arriving from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen from the late eighteenth century onward — quickly established themselves in the city’s trading networks, importing goods from the Persian Gulf and exporting textiles, opium, and commodities across Asia. By the late nineteenth century, the Baghdadi Jewish community in Calcutta numbered several thousand and had built a full set of communal institutions: synagogues, schools, a hospital, a cemetery, and clubs.
The Architecture of the Magen David
The Magen David Synagogue was the second and largest of Calcutta’s three major synagogues (the others being Beth El, built in 1856, and Neveh Shalome, built in 1884 as well). Its name means “Shield of David” in Hebrew. The building is constructed in a colonial-era Indo-Saracenic style, with arched windows, a tall clock tower, and a spacious interior that could accommodate hundreds of worshippers. The synagogue faces east toward Jerusalem, as required by Jewish law, and its bimah (central reading platform) and ark for the Torah scrolls are elaborately carved. Belgian glass chandeliers and ornate lamps complete an interior of considerable beauty.
Decline and Preservation
After Indian independence, most Baghdadi Jews emigrated to Britain, Australia, and Israel, and Calcutta’s Jewish community shrank to a tiny fraction of its former size. The Magen David Synagogue, which once held weekly Shabbat services attended by hundreds, today holds services only on high holidays, maintained by a caretaker community of a few dozen elderly Jews. The Government of West Bengal and Jewish heritage organizations have worked to preserve the building, which is recognized as an important piece of Calcutta’s architectural and cultural heritage. Visitors come from around the world to see it.
Source: Magen David Synagogue, Kolkata – Wikipedia