Why Every Indian Must Visit The Cellular Jail in Andaman
Our freedom must not be taken lightly
It should not take us a visit to historical landmarks to handle our freedom with the respect it deserves. As a nation, we are rejoicing and leading our lives as we want based on the heroic struggles of our ancestors — thousands of nameless people who laid down their lives so we can live and breathe freely.
Sometimes we forget.
That’s when a trip down our history helps. No trip to Andaman is complete without a visit to the famous cellular jail or kala pani. Kala pani — dark waters or the end of life surrounded by water? Either way — dark and foreboding.
The cellular jail was built by the Britishers in Andaman between 1896 and 1906 to house convicts and political prisoners of the Indian freedom struggle. Andaman itself was used as a place to exile freedom fighters much before the jail was built.
The building with a central tower and seven arms stretching out is an architectural marvel. A single guard in the central tower could keep an eye on the entire jail that could house more than 700 prisoners at a time. We didn’t really need that architectural marvel to be built on the graves of so many Indians. But it is there. And it serves as a huge memory of their sacrifice.
