Dark Secret Of Cellular Jail

Cellular Jail located at Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, it stands as a dark story of the British rule in the Indian subcontinent. The jail was built in the year 1906 got the name ‘Cellular’ because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement.  The cellular jail also mentioned as Kala Pani (Where Kala means death or time and Pani means water in Sanskrit) witnessed the several cruel punishments imposed on culprits. The foundation of cellular jail was laid in 1896. 238 prisoners who attempted to escape the jail in March 1868 were caught in April of whom 87 were hanged. The prisoners dreaded the waters of Andamans and being isolated from the mainland there was no way out for them to escape. The island became a proper place for the British to punish the freedom fighters.

The design of Cellular Jail basically had seven straight sections each connected to a tower in the center giving the entire construction a look of something like a bicycle wheel with each wing attached to the center tower like a spoke of the wheel. The tower in the center that formed the point of intersection of all the seven sections served as a watchpoint for the guards of the jail to keep watch on prisoners.

Well-known freedom fighters confined in the jail included Batukeshwar Dutt, Diwan Singh Kalepani, Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, and the Savarkar brothers - Babarao Savarkar and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar among others. Many freedom fighters in the jail went through cruel and unthinkable tortures. Bhagat Singh’s associate in the freedom movement, Mahavir Singh went on a hunger strike in protest of such inhuman treatment.

Visit timing is remained open on all days excepting national holidays. Entrance fee per person is Rs. 30/-. Additional charges include Rs. 200/- for still camera, Rs. 1000/- for the video camera and Rs. 10,000/- for movie shooting per day with prior permission.