The Cellular Jail

The construction of the Cellular Jail commenced around the 1980s and was put on spikes and metal all until its completion around 3 decades later. It was built to contain the dissident prisoners from our nation, likely freedom fighters who invested in their rebellion against our colonial subjugation. It was built in different blocks and there was barely any communication until a hospital was housed on the left side near the entrance. On the plinth of this building now stands the Martyr's Column. Near the compound wall at right of the main entrance is the gallows where three persons could be executed simultaneously with a separate door in the outer compound wall to carry corpses. Many charismatic freedom fighters were imprisoned in this Jail. Savarkar brothers, Hotilal Verma, Babu Ram Hari, Pandit Parmanand, Ladha Ram, Ullaskar Dutt, Barin Kumaar Ghosh, Bhai Parmanand, Indu Bhushan Roy, Prithvi Singh Azad, Pulin Das, Trailokyanath Chakravarthy, Gurumukh Singh, etc. were incarcerated here among others. Revolutionaries involved in the Alipore Bomb case, Nasik Conspiracy Case, Lahore Conspiracy Case, Chittagong Armoury Raid Case, Inter-Provincial Conspiracy Case, Gaya Conspiracy Case were also brought to the Cellular Jail under long terms of imprisonment.

Today, the entrance block of the National Memorial houses Freedom Fighters Photos and Exhibition Gallery on the ground floor. The first floor of the building has an Art Gallery, Netaji Gallery and a Library on freedom movement. A gallery on the First War of Independence and another gallery with a rare collection of old photographs has also been set up in the premises. An eternal flame "Freedom-Swatantrya Jyot" has been erected in the vicinity of the Cellular Jail in memory of all freedom fighters and martyrs. An added attraction in the National Memorial is the programme of Sound and Light Show (Son-et-Lumiere).