If you're visiting Kolkata, the capital of Bengal and the erstwhile capital of British India, these are some places I would recommend you must visit. My selection - from the Lonely Planet Guide to Kolkata.
1. Victoria Memorial
The incredible Victoria Memorial is a vast, beautifully
proportioned festival of white marble: think US Capitol meets Taj Mahal. Had it
been built for a beautiful Indian princess rather than a dead colonial queen,
this would surely be considered one of India’s greatest buildings.
2. Belur
Math
Set very attractively amid palms and manicured lawns, this
large religious centre is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, inspired
by 19th-century Indian sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who preached the unity of
all religions.
3. Dakshineswar
The heart of this vibrant riverside complex is a
cream-and-red 1847 Kali Temple shaped like an Indian Sacré-Coeur. The site is
where Ramakrishna started his remarkable spiritual journey, and his small room
in the outer northwest corner of the temple precinct is now a place of special
meditative reverence.
Kolkata’s old-fashioned main museum fills a colonnaded
palace ranged around a central lawn. Extensive exhibits include fabulous
1000-year-old Hindu sculptures, lumpy minerals, a dangling whale skeleton and
an ancient Egyptian mummy.
Within Rabindra Bharati University, the comfortable 1784
family mansion of Rabindranath Tagore has become a shrine-like museum to
India’s greatest modern poet. Even if his personal effects don’t inspire you,
some of the well-chosen quotations might spark an interest in Tagore’s deeply
universalist philosophy.
If it weren’t such an awkward trek by public transport,
Kolkata’s lovely 109-hectare Botanical Gardens would make a great place to
escape from the city’s sounds and smells. Founded in 1786, the gardens played
an important role in cultivating tea long before the drink became a household
commodity.
This ancient Kali temple is Kolkata’s holiest spot for
Hindus and possibly the source of the city’s name. Today’s version, a 1809
rebuild, has floral- and peacock-motif tiles that look more Victorian than
Indian.
8. Kumartuli
Many of the giant god effigies that are immersed in the holy
Hooghly during Kolkata’s colourful pujas have been made by the kumar
(sculptors) of this enthralling district.
For nearly two centuries the area around Phears Lane was
home to a predominantly Christian Chinese community, many of whom fled or were
interned during a fit of anti-Chinese fervour during the 1962 war. These days
‘old’ Chinatown is pretty run down and predominantly Muslim – a fascinating
place to glimpse Kolkata’s contrasts.
10. Howrah
Bridge
Howrah Bridge is a 705m-long abstraction of steel
cantilevers and traffic fumes. Built during WWII, it’s one of the world’s
busiest bridges and one of Kokata’s greatest architectural icons. Photography
of the bridge is technically prohibited but you might sneak a discreet shot
from one of the various ferries that ply the Hooghly River to the vast 1906
Howrah train station.
11. Alipore
Zoo
Kolkata’s 16-hectare zoo first opened in 1875. The spacious
lawns and lakeside promenades are very popular with weekend picnickers (hence
all the rubbish). Grass is so high in the moated Bengal Tiger enclosure that
it’s hard to spot the animals but it’s better than several more confining cages
and the aviaries whose thick rusty-black wire-mesh rather obscures viewing.
12. Eden
Gardens
The vast Ranji Stadium hosting Kolkata cricket matches is
commonly nicknamed for the Eden Gardens that lie behind. Those gardens feature
a lake and picturesque Burmese pagoda . Entry to the staium is usually limited
to the south gate, but a small, more convenient north portal near Gate 12 of
Ranji Stadium is occasionally open. Bring ID.
With its central crenellated tower, St Paul’s would look
quite at home in Cambridgeshire. Built 1839–47, it has a remarkably wide nave
and features a stained-glass west window by pre-Raphaelite maestro Sir Edward
Burne-Jones.
14. Birla
Mandir
The 20th-century Birla Mandir is a large Lakshmi Narayan
temple complex in cream-coloured sandstone whose three corn-cob shaped towers
are more impressive for their size than their carvings.
15. The
Maidan
After the ‘Black Hole’ fiasco, a moated ‘second’ Fort
William was constructed in 1758 in octagonal, Vaubanesque form. The whole
village of Gobindapur was flattened to give the new fort’s cannons a clear line
of fire. Though sad for then-residents, this created the Maidan (moi-dan), a
3km-long park that is today as fundamental to Kolkata as Central Park is to New
York City. Fort William itself remains hidden within a walled military zone.
16. National
Library
Located directly south of the entrance to the zoo is the
(private) access road to the National Library , It is India’s biggest.
Loosely styled on Sarnath’s classic Buddhist stupa, this
1962 dome presents slow-moving, half-hour star shows.
18. Esplanade
Rising above chaotic Esplanade bus station, the 1828 Sahid
Minar is a 48m-tall round-topped obelisk originally celebrating an 1814 British
military victory over Nepal. Across one of Kolkata’s busiest junctions, the
striking Metropolitan Building was originally a colonial-era department store.
Left derelict for years, a long overdue 2009 restoration saw its corner domes
regilded. A block north, the fanciful Tippu Sultan’s Mosque hides almost
invisibly behind street stalls.
A regular flow of mostly Christian pilgrims visit the
Missionaries of Charity’s 'Motherhouse' to pay homage at Mother Teresa’s large,
sober tomb.
20. Rabindra
Sarovar
The parkland here is less beautiful than Kolkata’s Botanical
Gardens but the lake prettily reflects hazy sunrises while middle-class
Kolkatans jog, row and meditate.
(Courtesy: Lonely Planet; All links lead to LP)
(Courtesy: Lonely Planet; All links lead to LP)
Don't Miss:
- Buying old books at College Street,
- Visiting Birla Science Museum,
- Taking kids to Science City and Nicco Park,
- Go to Jubilee Park by the Hoogly and a short boat ride in the afternoon
- Pubbing at Park Street
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