A big guide for Kolkata Travellers
Oldest history of Kolkata
Kolkata’s the past is closely connected to the British East India Company, which first indoors in 1690, and to British India, of which Calcutta became the assets in 1772. Job Charnock was extensively identified as the founder of Calcutta (Sutanuti, Govindapur & Calcutta) but in fresh years a numeral of Indian historians have doubtful this assert, in conflict that Calcutta occupies the site of a big Indian city, centered approximately the very old Kali temple at Kalighat. This assert has been conventional by the Kolkata High Court. The Court has dismissed the name of Job Charnock as the creator of the metropolis and 24 th August as its date of birth. The historic ruling was based winning high level Expert Committee findings. It has been proved that Kolkata had a highly cultured civilization for centuries before the Europeans first came here.
Whatever its genesis, Calcutta flowered as the assets of British India throughout the 1900th century, the prime of the Raj. Calcutta University, the first up to date Indian university was founded here in 1857. Calcutta became the center of Indian arts and writing, and the national movement for self-government got it’s create here. However, with the move of the capital to Delhi in 1911, the caution of the divider of Bengal in 1947, and a aggressive and gory Maoist movement in the 1970s, Calcutta has become identical with urban decompose and scarcity.
Now ‘The Kolkata’
Kolkata is the main trade, profitable and economic hub of eastern India. Kolkata witnessed an economic refuse from the late sixties till the late nineties. The city’s economic fortunes twisted the tide as the economic liberalization in India throughout the early nineties reached Kolkata throughout late nineties. Kolkata is a multicultural, multi-ethnic city. Separately from the diversity of India, the cultures represented are that of the Europeans, and other Asian.
Since 1977, a “Left Front” alliance of collective and Marxist parties has incessantly lined the circumstances. This is reflected in street names and memorials in the metropolis. For case in point there are streets like Lenin Sarani, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, etc. The Left Front regained organize of the Municipal Corporation of Kolkata from the TMC in the 2005 public elections.
Districts
- Southern fringes — the rapidly growing localities to the south of the metropolis. Includes Behala, Jadavpur, Garia and Narendrapur. There are a number of learning institutes and liberal shopping malls in this region. This is a comparatively newer element of the metropolis where a group of growth is going on.
- South Kolkata — the posher part of the metropolis. Covers Ballygunge, Bhawanipur, Alipore, New Alipore, Rash Behari,and Tollygunge.
- Esplanade — the regal district is still the middle business spot and is measured the heart of Kolkata. Made up of Park Street, Mirza Ghalib Street, Dalhousie Square, Chandni Chowk, Barra Bazaar and Sudder Street.
- Maidan — the area consisting of the vast park and its nearby neighborhoods. Includes Fort William, Strand Road, Khidirpur, Dufferin Road, Hooghly Bank and Chowringhee.
- North Kolkata — the older region of the metropolis, a charming district subjugated by narrows little lanes and hundreds of century-old buildings. Includes Chitpur, Bagbazar, Belgachhia, Shyam Bazaar, Shobha Bazaar, Maniktala, Jora Sanko and the well-known College Street area. Also positioned here are the Sealdah station, one of the biggest train hubs in India, and the recently built Kolkata station. Dum Dum being the major communiqué hub of Kolkata having International Airport, Metro Rail, Circular Rail, Ground Rail.
- Northern fringes — the large modern area to the north of the city. Includes Kashipur, Dumdum, Belghoria, Khardah, Panihati, Titagarh etc. where there are a figure of factories, including jute, paper, cotton, ordnance and chemicals.
- East Kolkata — quickly rising, specially IT sector and home to India‘s prime mall. Encompasses Salt Lake City, Rajar Hat, Lake Town and the E.M. Bypass. a lot of five star hotels, theme parks, posh housing estates and techno parks are life form built in this region.
- Howrah — as technically its own metropolis, Howrah is very much a element of the Kolkata metro area, and Howrah train station is where you’ll arrive/depart from if linking with everyplace north or west of Kolkata.
The famous places of kolkata
- Kalighat : According to the fable, when Lord Shiva’s wife Parvati’s body was slash up, one of her fingers fell here. Rebuilt in 1809, this is an major place of pilgrimage of Hindu Shakti worship. The temple is in the southern element of the metropolis.
- Dakshineswar Kali Temple and Belur Math : Built in 1847, on the banks of the Hooghly, north of Calcutta, the holy position is linked with Shri Ramakrishna , the assorted 19th century saint who invigorated Hinduism during the British Raj. Across the river stands Belur Math, head office of Ramakrishna Mission. The monastery is a safe place of peace and spiritual agreement.
- Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture : Commemorates the birth centenary of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. spiritual discourses and educational connections are held here among global scholars. The organization is situated at Golpark.
- Nakhoda Mosque : Modeled on Akbar’s crypt in Sikandra, the red stonework mosque has two minarets 46 mts far above the ground, a brilliantly tinted onion shaped dome and can accommodate 10,000 people. Built in 1926 and positioned on Chitpur Road.
- St John’s Church : Built in 1787 with Grecian columns. The interment ground has the crypt of Job Charnock, creator of Calcutta. On the north-west side of Raj Bhavan.
- St Paul’s Cathedral : Constructed between 1839 and 1847 in Gothic method with discolored glass windows and two Florentine frescoes, the church is the chief in the city and next to the Birla Planetarium. St Paul’s was holy in 1874.
- Armenian Church : The oldest position of Christian worship in Calcutta. The church of Holy Nazareth was built in 1764.In the middle of the additional churches to visit are St Andrew’s Church. The Old Mission Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.
- Jewish Synagogues : The Maghen David Synagogue on Jewish Synagogue road and the BETHEL on Pollock road are very old adoration houses and a prompt to the multi-ethnic nature of the metropolis.
- Parsi Fire Temples : They cater to the spiritual wants of the famous Parsi group of people of Calcutta. Positioned on Metcalf Street and Beliaghata.
- Japanese Buddhist Temple : Located on the banks of Rabindra Sarovar.
- Pareshnath Jain Temple : The temple is an elaborate accumulation of mirrors, tinted stones and glass mosaic, and overlooks a good-looking garden. It is in Shyambazar.
- Fort William: This well-known structure was erected throughout British rule in 1696. It was named after King William III of England. This fort was attacked by Siraj Ud Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal for the period of the war of Plassey in 1757 and British army was beaten. Then Robert Clive constructed a new fort in 1780. Fort William was built to put off attacks from Muslim invaders. The base of the old fort is motionless whole. At near it is a military area with arsenal. It can be visited with previous permission from establishment. It is be obliged to appointment tourist magnetism of Kolkata.
- Victoria Memorial: Victoria memorial is an outstanding museum that was reputable in 1921. Sir William Emerson, President of the British Institute of Architects, intended and designed this tombstone. It is a 184 ft high structure constructed on 64 acres of land. In this museum you can see photos and effigies of famous personalities. Victoria memorial is one of the finest art museums of Kolkata.
- Eden Gardens: Eden garden is a chronological cricket stadium of India. It is one of the significant traveler attractions of the metropolis. It is the oldest and premium cricket playing field of India. It was constructed in 1864. The first test match was played in 1934 and first ODI match was played in 1987. At near it has a capability of around 120,000 people
- Birla Planetarium: It is one of the major museums in Asia. Birla Education Trust founded this middle of science, communication & environment in 1962. It is located at the Eastern metropolitan bypass of Kolkata. It provides useful in sequence about our solar scheme, galaxies, life span of stars, space, planets and other wonderful bodies in the nearly everybody interactive way via audio video aids. Birla planetarium is a single storied round building of Indian style. The astronomy gallery has a great compilation of paintings and celestial models of famous astronomers.
- Howrah Bridge: Howrah Bridge that stands on two 270 feet high pillars is situated across Hooghly River in Kolkata. It was constructed in 1874. It is the busiest bridge of the world. This bridge connects the metropolis of Howrah to Kolkata. It is known as ‘Rabindra Setu’ as well. It serves as a Road Bridge at there. It has 2 sister bridges named as Vidyasagar Setu and Vivekananda Setu, located over the Hooghly River at poles apart points. This bridge is a icon of Kolkata.
- Marble Palace: The Marble Palace was constructed in 1835. It is an beautiful art gallery that houses the fine pieces of art, sculptures, pictures & oil paintings. The highlight of this fortress is the Reuben’s masterpieces. You can too discover the unique paintings famous painters such as Rembrandt, Reynolds and Van Goyen etc. It has a zoo too where you can find uncommon birds.
- Writers Building: This Gothic arrangement was built beneath the auspices of Lt. Governor Ashley Eden in 1877. The Kolkata writers’ Building is positioned close to Dalhousie Square. At present it serves as the secretariat of government of west Bengal. It is also known as ‘Mahakaran’. It is named due to the detail that the junior writers of the East India Company utilize it. The new building is more important and dissimilar from the unique writers building. Both of these are erected on the same site.
- Nicco Park: This is an laughter park located at salt lake. It can be termed as the Disneyland of India. It is a roomy park top about 40-acre land. It is one of the major laughter parks in India inaugurated in 1991. Nicco Park is commonly called Jheel Meel. It is the amusing and activity destination for children and adults. It is packed on weekends. It has gorgeous rose garden and Food Park. Nicco Park has obtained ISO 9002 and it has documentation from a famous European certifying authority.
- Saheed Minar: This superb tombstone was recognized in 1848 to mark the Sir David Ochterlony’s conquest in the Nepal war in 1816. It is identified as Octerloney Monument at first after the name of its creator. Its support is based on the Egyptian style and its arena follows Syrian and Turkish designs. The Octerloney tombstone renamed ‘Sahid Minar’ in 1969 in the respect of freedom fighters of the state. At here it is the site of political meetings and convocations initiated by Rabindranath Tagore in 1931. You may observe the stunning view of Kolkata City from the apex of the Shaheed Minar.
- National Library: National Library in Kolkata is the major records of India supported by the Dept of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, and Government of India. It is constructed on 30 acres of land. National library has a enormous compilation of books and periodicals conventional from dissimilar parts of the nation. It was on the whole set up to collect, deal out and preserves native resources. You can find books in approximately all Indian languages. There is a separate partition for children in this library.
- Belur Math: It is on the western bank of the Hooghly, extend over 48 acres of land and situated in Howrah district, an hour’s drive from Kolkata. It is a place of pilgrimage for people from all over the globe. Swami Vivekananda founded Belur Math in 1898 in loving reminiscence of his adviser Ramakrishna Paramhansa who preached union of all religions. The Belur Math is well identified for its architecture stylishness, clean vicinity, sacred associations and holy atmosphere besides being the headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. It is a asylum of peace draws scores of people every day from all over the civilization. It is the worldwide head quarters of Ramakrishna Mission.
- Botanical Garden: It is located 8 Kms from the metropolis, at Shibpur vicinity of Howrah district on the west bank of the Ganga, covering an area of about 273 acres. Colonel Kyd founded it in 1786, containing about 12,000 living plants and over two and half million dehydrated plant specimens in the herbarium collect from all over the globe. It is one of the oldest and biggest botanical gardens of India. There are uncommon plants and trees composed from Nepal, Brazil, Java and Sumatra. It leftovers open from sunrise to sunset. There is a lake where boating can be enjoyed. The major magnetism of this garden is the 200 years old Banyan Tree.