The Hate Factory- Kala Pani

The Cellular Jail, which is also known as The Kala Pani. Kal means time or death and pani means water. It served as a colonial prison made by the Britishers, where they keep all the exiled political prisioners. There were many Indian revolutionarists, who were imprissioned in this hell and one can't even think in their wild imagination that how they were treated and what they were asked to do in the name of work.

The architechural design of this jail is some what like a 7 Spokes and in the centre there is a tower from where the guards used to keep an eye on the prisoners. There were total 693 cells and the cells were made in such a way that the inmates cant look or communicate to each other as all the cells faced the back of the cells in another spoke. In this way it was impossible for the prisoners to communicate.

The prision is totally issolated from the mainland, which made it almost impossible for the prisoners to escape, as it is situated on an island. The cellular jail served the most atrocious punishments imposed on the inmates. The prisoners were chainned and punished and made them work in the construction of the prison. This island became apt place for the Britishers to punish the freedom fighters.

The architechural design of this jail is some what like a 7 Spokes and in the centre there is a tower from where the guards used to keep an eye on the prisoners. There were total 693 cells and the cells were made in such a way that the inmates cant look or communicate to each other as all the cells faced the back of the cells in another spoke. In this way it was impossible for the prisoners to communicate.

The prision is totally issolated from the mainland, which made it almost impossible for the prisoners to escape, as it is situated on an island. The cellular jail served the most atrocious punishments imposed on the inmates. The prisoners were chainned and punished and made them work in the construction of the prison. This island became apt place for the Britishers to punish the freedom fighters.

Life inside the prison

Many notable Freedom Fighters were imprissoned in that jail like Batukeshwer Dutt, The Savarkar brothers, Devansigh Kalepani, etc. Being a solitary confinements The Savarkar Brothers were unaware of each other's presence for 2 years. The punishments that were imposed on the Freedom Fighters were so inhuman and unimaginable that bring chills down the spine. The jail drew attention when the freedom fighters went on hunger strike in 1930s. Mahavir Singh went on a hunger strike in protest of the cruel treatment of the Britishers but died, as the authorities tried to feed him milk forcefully which went directly to his lungs. To hide this incident from the other inmates, the authority decided to throw his body in the sea. With the intervention of Mahatma Gandhi and Ravindranath Tagore, the Government decided to repatriate the freedom fighters. There were many deaths that happened in the cell some due to different deadly diseases which caused serious health issues, some by suicides and many due to the torturous punishment imposed on the inmates by the authorities. The food which they were given to eat and water to drink was beyond imagination. Actually the inmates cant even think of wholesome food in that situation. The promised food which contains certain quantity for each prisoners didn't even reach to them, which caused starvation and death.

Visiting The Cellular Jail.

As the year passes out of 7 wings only 3 wings left as the other 4 were damaged and now the 3 wings along with the tower is open for public view. Apart from the scenic beauty of the Island, people all around the globe visit The Cellular Jail. There is National Museaum inside the jail campus which contains the paintings depicting the life inside the jail along with the stories, the belongings of the inmates ( the bowl in which they were given food, the chain in which they were tied to), their uniforms, etc.

Light Shows

During evening hours, one can see the light shows in which they narrate the life inside the jail along with the lighting effects. It is actually a must see show. They run the show 3 times a day only during evening hours. Tickets are very cheap, and during the show you can't record or use the cellphone, as we were asked to do the same.