The Multiracial and Multilingual amalgamation of cultures can be felt at hotspots like Kolkata, the prime city in the state of West Bengal. Once the capital of British India, Kolkata is a blend of Western and Indian culture. Home to a plethora of historical sites, it houses Hindu temples, mosques, churches, as well as British monuments like the Victoria Memorial. The people of different caste, race and colour all live in perfect harmony, celebrating festivals like Id, Christmas and the Pujas in equal fervour and enjoying cuisines of different kinds.
Kolkata, or Calcutta as it was formerly called, is the present capital of the eastern state of West Bengal and one of the most densely populated cities in India. Kolkata became a British trading post in the last part of the 17th Century. The city that once served as the showpiece capital of the British power in India is noted for its colonial buildings including the grand Victoria Memorial. Other important sights include the Howrah Bridge, an engineering marvel that links the city and Howrah Station, and the Indian Museum. Gateway to eastern India and home to prominent intellectuals, the city is known for its easy pace and intellectual prowess.
Some tourist attracts near Kolkata are as follows:
VICTORIA MEMORIAL: Today the Victoria Memorial Hall is a museum having an assortment of Victoria memorabilia, British Raj paintings and other displays. As night descends on Kolkata, the Victoria Memorial Hall is illuminated, giving it a fairy tale look. It is interesting to note that the Victoria Memorial was built without British government funds. The money required for the construction of the stately building, surrounded by beautiful gardens over 64 acres and costing more than 10 million was contributed by British Indian states and individuals who wanted favours with the British government. At the top of the Victoria Memorial is a sixteen foot tall bronze statue of victory, mounted on ball bearings. It rotates with wind.
At present, the Victoria Memorial has notable collection of weapons, sculptors, paintings, maps, coins, stamps, artifacts, textiles etc. The Royal gallery in Victoria Memorial has portraits of the Queen and Prince Albert. There are numerous paintings, illustrating events from Victoria’s life. Another remarkable peice of art in Victoria Memorial is a painting by the Russian artist Vasseli Verestchagin, portraying the state entry of the Prince of Wales in Jaipur in the year 1876. In the post independence period a new addition was made to the Victoria Memorial. It was the addition of the national leader’s gallery with the portraits and relics of the freedom fighters.
Nearest Eden Gardens / Rabindra Sadan / Maidan / Birla Planetarium.
How to Reach: Howrah is the nearest major Railway station. Rabindra Sadan is nearest Metro Railway station. Exide More is nearest bus stop to reach this place. Many buses are available from several part of Kolkata to reach this place.
THE HOWRAH BRIDGE – The Howrah Bridge is a bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal. It was originally named the New Howrah Bridge because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965, it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after Rabindranath Tagore a great poet and the first Indian Nobel laureate. However it is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge.
The bridge is one of the four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu and the newly built engineering marvel Nivedita Setu. Apart from bearing the stormy weather of the Bay of Bengal region, it successfully bears the weight of a daily traffic of approximately 80,000 vehicles and, possibly, more than 1,000,000 pedestrians. It is the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.
Vidyasagar Setu, also known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, is a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. It links the city of Howrah to its twin city of Kolkata. The bridge is a toll bridge for all vehicles. At a total length of 822.96 mtrs, it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in India and one of the longest in Asia. It was built at a cost of Rs 388 crores and commissioned on October 10, 1992. Its construction was a joint effort of the Public Sector Undertakings and private firms, under the control of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners.
It was the second bridge to be built across the Hooghly River, after the Howrah 12 kms (7.5 mi) to its south was built in 1943. The bridge is named after the 19th century Bengali educationist reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
How to Reach:
Nearest Boro Bazar / Phool Market.
Nearest Railways Station Howrah.
INDIAN MUSEUM– The Indian Museum is the largest and oldest museum in India and has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies, and Mughal paintings. It was founded by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, in 1814. The founder curator was Dr Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist. It has six sections comprising thirty five galleries of cultural and scientific artifacts namely Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology and Economic Botany. This multipurpose Institution with multidisciplinary activities is being included as an Institute of national importance in the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India. It is one of oldest museums in the world. This is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The present Director of the Indian Museum is Dr. B. Venugopal. The museum was closed to the Visitors due to massive restoration and upgrades from 1 September 2013 to 3 February 2014.
Nearest Lindsay Street / Maidan.
Nearest Metro Station Park Street.
VIDYASAGAR SETU– Vidyasagar Setu, which is famously called Second Hooghly Bridge is located over the River Hooghly in Kolkata. Vidyasagar Setu is reckoned as one of the longest bridges of its type across India. It is also acknowledged as one of the longest bridges of Asia. This cable-stayed bridge covers a little over 457 m and has a deck of 35 m width. The building of the bridge was initiated in 1978 and it was eventually opened to the public on the 10th of October, 1992. A whopping amount of Rs.3.88 billion was invested for constructing the Vidyasagar Setu. The bridge carries the NH 117, also known as the Kona Expressway. With six lanes of traffic, the bridge can carry more than 85,000 vehicles every day.
Vidyasagar Setu, popularly called Second Hooghly Bridge is located over the Hooghly River (Ganges) in Kolkata, West Bengal. It bridges the gap between the two pulsating cities of Howrah and Kolkata.
How to Reach:
Nearest Princep Ghat /Outram Ghat / Babu Ghat / Armenian Ghat.
Nearest Railways Station Princep Ghat.
SCIENCE CITY– Science City, Kolkata, a unit of the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and the largest science centre in India, was developed with a onetime capital grant by the administrative ministry.
How to Reach :
It is situated at the junction of eastern Metropolitan bypass and the park circus and is opposite to Energy Education Park. One can board the local train from Sealdah to Bidhan Nagar and from there can hire an auto rickshaw or a cab. Local buses from anywhere to anywhere in Kolkata makes this place easily accessible.
BIRLA PLANETORIUM– Popularly known as Taramandal, the planetarium was inaugurated on 2 July 1963 by the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It has an electronics laboratory for design and fabrication of science equipment. It has an astronomy gallery that maintains a huge collection of fine paintings and celestial models of renowned astronomers. The Planetarium also has an astronomical observatory equipped with a Celestron C-14 Telescope with accessories such as ST6 CCD camera and solar filter. It offers to the public and students more than 100 astronomical projects dealing with various facts of astronomy, astro-physics, Space Science as well as myths concerning stars and planets.
Nearest St. Paul’s Cathedral / Victoria Memorial Hall / Maidan.
How to Reach:
By Road: From St. Paul Cathedral via Cathedral Rd it will take nearly 9 minute (700 m) to reach at Birla Planetarium.
Nearest Metro Station Maidan.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN, ALIPORE
Zoological Garden or Zoo in Kolkata is one of the prime tourist spots in the city. The Alipore Zoological Garden first opened its gate on the 1st of May, 1876 and since then has remained an absolute favorite of children. The history of Alipore Zoo Garden dates back to as early as 1842, when the curator of Bengal Asiatic Society, Dr John McCleland came up with a plan for the establishment of a zoological garden in Calcutta. However, this did not materialize and was followed by the plan of Dr. Joseph Bart Fayrer (the president of Asiatic Society of Bengal) in 1867. This plan drew great public attention but failed due to a lack of space. For the same reason the plan of Carl Louise Schwendler, the postmaster to the Govt. of India failed in 1873. At last, in 1875 the Lt.Govt. of Bengal Sir Richard Temple took the initiative. The land on Alipore Road was chosen and approved leading to opening gates to the public on 1st May, 1876.
How to reach:
Howrah is the nearest major Railway station. Rabindra Sadan is nearest Metro Railway station. Alipore Zoo is nearest bus stop to reach this place. Many buses are available from several part of Kolkata to reach this place.
ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS – Academy of Fine Arts is a non-government cultural institution on which was established in 1933. The first president of the academy was Maharaja Prodyot Kumar Tagore from his early childhood he was familier with the vast and variegated art collection of his family. The academy was under the stewardship of this keen art connoisseur for long ten years. The academy then had no building of its own. Its annual exhibition were held in the Indian Museum building on chowringhee road. The activities of the academy was limited to holding annual exhibition and occasionally organizing exhibitions of guest artists or old masters till its own building went up on no.2, cathedral road. The academy’s own building on cathedral road was completed in 1960.
By Rail: Nearest Metro Railway station is Rabindra Sadan. Sealdah and Howrah both are nearest major railway stations.
By Road: Academy of Fine Arts has own bus stop. Many buses are available from several part of Kolkata to reach this place.
ECO PARK, KOLKATA – Eco Park (or Prakriti Tirtha) is an urban park in New Town, Greater Kolkata and the biggest park so far in India.The park is situated on a 480 acres (190 ha) plot and is surrounded by a 104 acres (42 ha) waterbody with an island in the middle.The park was conceptualised by Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee in July 2011.West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is the overarching body coordinating the construction of the park, along with different other government bodies responsible for implementation of different works inside the park
How to reach- take a train from Bandel towards Howrah or a train from Howrah to Bandel, reach Bally station, then take a bus to the park.
DAKSHINESHWAR KALI TEMPLE– Dakshineshwar Kali Temple is a Hindu temple located on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River in a small town in the north of Kolkata named Dakshineshwar. The beauty and charm of Dakshineswar Kali Temple is known to be such that a trip to Kolkata is often said to be incomplete without a visit to this temple.
While the spiritual history of this temple has the mystic sage and reformer Ramakrishna Paramahansa and his wife Sarada Devi associated with it, the socio-political history associated with the temple is quite interesting too.
How to reach – Nearest Railway Station is Bally station, then take a bus to the temple.
BELUR MATH– Situated on the west bank of the Hooghly River in north Kolkata, lies Belur Math, the headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Mission, a representation of one universal faith. The Math celebrates all faiths equally and is visited by people from all over the world to seek spiritual fulfilment. Even the architecture of the temple speaks volumes about its non-sectarian and spiritual approach. Our erstwhile President, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam had mentioned Belur Math as the place of heritage and national importance.
Conceptualized and founded by sage Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda at the turn of the twentieth century, the Math exercises the principal ideology of ‘selfless service of God in man.’ The Math is spread across an area of 40 acres, surrounded by manicured gardens and palm trees. The campus includes individual temples dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, the wife of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda with their respective relics enshrined and the central monastery of the Ramakrishna order.
How to reach: Nearest Railway station is Belur,then take a bus to the temple.