Kolkata- capital city of state of West Bengal. It is the most laid-back city in the world. It’s a commercial capital and situated on Hoogly River. It’s the home of a mind-boggling array of sweets and dishes.

Culture of Kolkata begins with the first sip of early-morning tea, poured out into a saucer and sipped noisily, with raucous exclamations of delight. Kolkata is a wonderful mirror of the Bengalis who call it home – volatile poets, sensitive artists and romantic men and women. It’s the city of the artsy, the quaint, the intellectual – indeed, of anyone with an enormous zest for life.

For the traveler in Calcutta, the best way to enjoy the culture of the city is to find a friend there and sit down for an adda – local parlance for a chat session. This chat is conducted, not on dinky online messengers, but in the comfort of someone’s living room, in the smoky confines of a coffee house,Flower Market kolkata on the steps of a college, at the bus stop, at the corner of the daily market just about anywhere two or more people can get together. And what do they talk about? Politics, sports, religion, books, art, films, music, the news, food just about everything under the sun is worth talking about for the Calcuttan. Don’t be stunned by arguments – though Calcuttans are passionate about most things, addas never end on an ugly note.

If you’re traveling to Calcutta for the first time and want to experience the music here, you might find an aspiring singer in every home. A good evening of culture should see you soak in the spirit of Rabindranath Tagore, Uday Shankar, Jamini Roy and Satyajit Ray.

This church is over 200 years old, about 175 feet high, and stands proud amid the bustle of BBD Bag. The architecture is mainly Greek. You can drop by at this church after a visit to the nearby Raj Bhavan. Do remember to visit the mausoleum of Job Charnock, the founder of Calcutta, in the […]

Situated on Muktaram Babu Street, the Marble Palace houses a collection of Oriental and Western artifacts. It was built in 1835 by Raja Rajendra Mullick Bahadur. The palace has gone down in legend as the place where urchins and destitutes used to queue up every day as the guards handed out food and money, till […]

Built on the banks of the river Hooghly, the Fort derives its name from King William III. A military area till this day, Fort William is easier to visit if you know someone in the Armed Forces. Prior permission from the Commanding Officer can get you access to a tour of the Arsenal.

For that rare book, that manuscript you’ve only read about, or the document you’ve been dying to check out, National Library is the place to go to in Calcutta. Located within the Belvedere House compound, the institution is the largest of its kind in India. It is home to nearly 1,800,000 books and documents. Timings: […]

Conceived by Lord Curzon in 1905, the marble monument blends the best of British and Mughal architecture. A tour through the Memorial is a great way of reliving the grandeur of imperial-era Britain. The Victoria Memorial is a favorite not just with tourists in Calcutta – its sprawling grounds are synonymous with love nests for […]

No visit to Calcutta is complete without experiencing the Durga Puja at the Shovabazar Rajbari. The Rajbari’s tradition of publicly celebrating the festival goes back to 1757, to the time of Raja Nobokishan Deb. The first puja was held to celebrate the victory of Lord Robert Clive in the Battle of Plassey.

The rambling Thakurbari was built in the 18th century by Dwarkanath Tagore, the grandfather of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. This is also the place where Rabindranath was born and passed away. The Thakurbari has mostly been converted into a museum now. The Rabindra Bharati University is also situated inside this complex.

This was home to the first modern museum in Asia, set up as far back as 1814. However, most of those exhibits have now been moved to the Indian Museum. A small collection remains – do check out the rare Tibetan thangkas, and the Ashokan Rock Edict, dating back to the ages of King Ashoka! […]

One of the oldest museums in Asia, the Indian Museum was founded in 1814. You’ll need an entire day, or more, to fully enjoy the fossils, coins, stones, Gandhara art, meteors and much more that go to make up this museum. Don’t miss the 4,000-year-old mummy here, whatever else you do! Also on display is […]

If the name Ranji Cricket Stadium evokes no response, just ask any Calcuttan for the Eden Gardens. It’s synonymous with good Eden Gardens , Kolkatacricket and with a capacity of 90,000, is among the top cricketing stadiums in the world. The Eden Gardens complex is also home to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor stadium.

Built in 1828 in honor of Sir David Ochterlony who led the British forces to victory in the Nepalese wars, the Shahid Minar – literally meaning Martyrs’ Monument – is situated in the northern part of the green belt of Calcutta called the Maidan. The base of the monument is Egyptian, the column Syrian and […]

During the early days of British rule, when Calcutta was the capital of British India, Raj Bhavan was the official residence of the Viceroys. The sprawling estate surrounding the building, like the Bhavan itself, are well over 200 years old and now house the Governor of West Bengal. It’s a must-see if you’re in the […]

If you’re a history buff, and go hunting for the site of the Black Hole incident, your search will lead you to the General Post Office in BBD Bag. Built in 1868, GPO, as it is known to every Calcuttan, stands on part of the original Fort William, and provides no hint of its murky […]

It was first built in 1770 and served as the headquarters of the “writers” or junior servants of the East India Company. Today, the refurbished Writers’ Building is the seat of the West Bengal government secretariat. It’s situated in BBD Bag – a city square named after three martyrs of the freedom movement.