Major Cemeteries of Calcutta, India, to be Digitized

I spent some time in India about four years ago and was impressed by the lack of cemeteries. As a genealogist, I was very aware that cremation is prevalent manner of disposing of bodies. In my time there, I saw exactly one cemetery. In fact, my companions and I stopped to look at it and it seems that most of the headstones listed European names.

I was reminded of that experience tonight when I read the following announcement about some other cemeteries in the city of Calcutta (or Kolkata as the locals would spell it in English):

Soon, a click of the mouse will reveal the exact location of a grave in the major cemeteries of Kolkata. The process of digitizing records of more than 100,000 burials and 20,000 graves at the Lower Circular Road, Tollygunge, Kidderpore, South Park Street, North Park Street and Bhowanipore cemeteries has begun.

Once the process is completed, Europeans can easily find out where their ancestors who were part of the British East India Company are buried. Then, not only would Europeans love to visit the tombs of their ancestors, but even domestic tourists may like to see the last resting places of the likes of C F Andrews, David Drummond, J E Drinkwater Bethune, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Lal Behari Shah, Governor Hiren Mookherjee and Kamala Bose.

Over 2 million Europeans are buried in India. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission takes care of four cemeteries in the east, including the one in Kohima. There are many more cemeteries here like the old Scottish Cemetery at Park Circus which are in a bad shape.