The Cellular Jail also known as Kalapani Jail or mostly famous as “Sazaye-Kalapaani” is a colonial prison built by Britisher in the year between 1896 to 1906. The colonial prison was built by them to exile Indian freedom fighters and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location. As the cellular name suggests the jail is a built to keep each prisoner in a separate cell and hence the name Cellular Jail. The famous Kalapani name came from the fact that the jail is located in a remote Island far from mainland across the sea whose water is so deep that it looks black and hence the name “Kalapani i.e black water”. Many famous freedom fighters including Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Yogendra Shukla, Batukeshwar Dutt, Diwan Singh Kalapani, Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, Bhai Parmanand, Shadan Chandra Chatterjee, Maulana Ahmadullah, Abdul Rahim Sadiqpuri, Maulvi Liaquat Ali, Babarao Savarkar, Vaman Rao Joshi, Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Upendra Nath Banerjee, and Ullaskar Dutta were imprisoned here during the struggle for India's independence. Today the place is a pilgrimage destination for Indians due to the fact that Cellular jail witnessed the most cruel and inhuman torture on freedom fighters by Britisher. Cellular Jail was declared a National Memorial on 11th February’ 1979 by the then Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai.
Cellular jail is located at G.B Pant road in north east direction of capital city Port Blair and is hardly 03 KMS from city center and about 05 KMS from Airport. To get there, one could hire a taxi, auto rickshaw or a local bus. It is important to note that the location is on a one-way road, so if you do not have a cab waiting for you, you may have to walk a few steps to catch a bus or an auto rickshaw. If you have booked a package tour then the cab driver will drop you on the main entrance of Cellular Jail, they also arrange your tickets and the cab driver will again pick you up when done. The place is so well arranged that you don’t need a guide to see the place. Every artifact in here is so well documented that it is self-explanatory. It’s one way in and one way out, so there is no chance of a person getting lost or you missed a spot.
The entry fee for the Cellular Jail is Rs 30 per person for Indians and Rs 100 per person for foreigners.
Following are the fees for cameras at the Cellular Jail:
Photo camera: Rs 25
Video camera: Rs 100
Non-professional video or handy camera: Rs 200
Still camera: Rs 200
Video camera: Rs 1000
Film shooting per day with prior permission: Rs 10,000
Cellular Jail is open from 09 AM to 12.30 PM and 01.30 PM to 05 PM. Ticket counter is on the left side of entrance gate. Last tickets are issued by 03.15 PM. It is closed on Government holidays.
Your journey to the historic Cellular Jail is incomplete without watching the light and sound show held in the jail premises every evening on all days except government holidays from 05:50 PM onwards. The shows runs for about one hour and three shows run back to back from 05:50 PM to 06:50 PM to 07:50 PM to 08:50 PM. Earlier there were shows in English language but now all the three shows are in Hindi language only. Recent up gradation of the show by Tricolor India Schauspiel Pvt Ltd by choosing projector from Barco a world leader in projector mapping and visualization technology has elevated viewers experience many folds. The show is perfectly crafted with the help of live pictures projected on the walls of Cellular Jail complemented by the music, dialog and sounds all from the modern technology by world class leaders. The show is so well crafted that your soul will be filled with pride and sense of patriotism after watching the show. It will take you back in time and bring alive the dark history of British rule and cruelty over heroes of Indian freedom struggle. A nominal fee of Rs. 300/- need to be paid for adults and Rs. 150/- for children’s from 05 to 11 yrs, no fee for child upto 05 years.