Maghen David Synagogue, Kolkata

The Archaeological Survey of India’s Kolkata Circle lists Maghen David Synagogue as a specific monument site. That provides an institutional reference for the building’s identity and its place in Kolkata’s heritage.

Maghen David, Beth El and other synagogues are separate institutions. A design using one building’s image and another’s name would obscure the very history the object is meant to honour. Begin with the exact site.

Sources: Archaeological Survey of India, Kolkata Circle: Maghen David Synagogue

ASI’s description dates the opening of Maghen David to 1884 and identifies a Victorian architectural scheme with a central nave, side aisles and a central tebah, or reading platform. These details help us read a place arranged for a congregation, rather than reduce it to a skyline silhouette.

A drawing of the exterior and a description of the interior tell different parts of that story. The first can help someone recognise the building in Kolkata; the second explains that the architecture accommodates worship and gathering. Neither turns a souvenir into a ritual object or implies that the congregation commissioned it.

If a family memory is the starting point, let the caption name Maghen David and the occasion being remembered. Keep the original photographer’s or artist’s credit with any reference you supply. A fresh composition can use an accurate understanding of the building without copying an unlicensed photograph.

Sources: Archaeological Survey of India, Kolkata Circle: Maghen David Synagogue

Choose a view of the synagogue that preserves its distinctive proportions and major features. Ask which details will survive at the proposed finished size. A simplified but accurate composition is more useful than an invented building made to look generally historic.

A photograph is a reference with its own maker and rights. It can help explain the intended view, but commercial reproduction should not be assumed. An original architectural drawing can be considered separately from copying an image directly.

If Hebrew wording is requested, provide the exact text and have its order, spelling and placement checked by someone competent to do so. Do not add sacred text merely as decoration. A plain place name may communicate the intended subject more clearly.

A recipient may value the building through Jewish community history, family memory or a connection with Kolkata. Ask which reason matters. A presentation card can tell that story without claiming that every Indian Jewish community shares the same local history.

Include the site name, chosen reference, inscription, preferred format, quantity and purpose. Distinguish an architectural souvenir from an object intended for religious use, since the latter raises additional questions that a visual resemblance cannot settle.

Ask for actual specifications and availability before placing an order. This profile does not represent the synagogue or claim that a product is community-issued, ritually suitable or officially endorsed.