KOLKATA: A 200-year-old mortuary in central Kolkata has been laid to rest. L Madeira on Bow Street wrapped up business earlier this month after owners of 13, Bow Street won a court case leading the members of the eighth generation of Madeira family looking after the undertakers move out of the premises.The dark blue door that leads to the room painted in similar colour and a cross on the wall where dead were embalmed and preserved till their relatives came to claim is shut. A picture of Christ is visible on the blue gate behind the collapsible gate. The white board which had the name and the address in black has given way to colourful banner with the name of the owners of the building and a line of caution: ‘Trespassers will be prosecuted’.Florence Madeira, a member from the seventh generation of the family which was running the affairs, has moved out with her family and workers. The five freezers where bodies were preserved, sometimes for weeks on end, have also been removed.“The place was set up by Henry Joseph and Joe Charles Madeira more than 200 years ago. It has witnessed both the World Wars. The coffin, which was used for the funeral of Mother Teresa — who was later declared a saint in 2016 — was made here. A tourist from Japan who died in Kolkata was kept here for over three weeks,” said Florence, who was married to Leon Madeira who passed away a few years ago. Since the death of her husband, she has been running the business. Before they moved out, Florence and the rest of the family would stay on the floor above the mortuary.L Madeira is one of the three mortuaries in Kolkata. The other two are Peace Haven on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road and Peace World in Topsia. Besides preserving bodies, L Madeira also makes coffins, embalms dead bodies, provides hearse services and arranges all other logistics in connection with funeral services.“We know of the chemicals that are used for embalmment to preserve the body for a longer period. We often do house calls to embalm dead bodies,” said Florence. The property belongs to Mohammed Hussain and Hakimuddin Bhilwarawalla.L Madeira is situated on Bow Street only a few metres away from Bow Barracks and Maneckjee Rustomjee Dharamshala for Parsi travellers. “This pocket of the city has several historical landmarks which point out to the cosmopolitan place that it was once. People from across the world have left their imprints in this neighbourhood. Shutting down of L Madeira is parting with a slice of history,” said Luke Biswas, a resident of B B Ganguly Street.One of the owners of the building told ToI that L Madeira — the tenants — had to vacate the place after the court order. “They had to vacate the place after the court order. There are no longer any tenants in the building. We are yet to decide what we will do with the building.”An employee said business had dipped in the past few years. “Earlier, we had to turn down requests due to lack of space. But from the past few years the business has not been very good. There would hardly be a couple of dead bodies a day. Even house calls reduced,” said a former employee.

Stay updated with all the Kolkata Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.