Kolkata
(previously Calcutta) is one of the important metropolitan cities of
India and is also the capital of the state of West Bengal. To many,
it is 'the city of joy' which
grows on you as you know it better.
The people here are proud of their culture having been blessed by
Mother Teresa who spent a long period of her life in Kolkata , and
Rabindranath Tagore who lived and formed a university at
Shantiniketan 136 kms from Kolkata.
A city just about ready to burst at the seams, Calcutta is home to
more than 10 million people. The Ganges (called the Hooghly in
Calcutta) is still the inspiration, as it was to Job Charnok, East
India Company agent, who reached the shores in August 1690, to found
the city. Calcutta, after London, was the British Empire’s second
city.
Calcutta, on-the-Hooghly, retains the aura of days long gone,
weaving the past and the present, the intense and the funloving into
a charming fabric.
Home to four Nobel laureates
- Ronald Ross, Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa and Amartya Sen,
Calcutta is the nerve centre of intellect and human values, where many
modern movements began in art, cinema and theatre, science and industry.
India’s quest for freedom began here.
State:
Area :
Sq M
Altitude :
Temperature:
Summer :
Winter :
Max.:'C
Max.:'C
Rainfall
cms annual
Places
of interest:
Victoria
Memorial (a white marble building),
Fort William,
Indian Musuem,
Birla Planitarium,
Eden Gardens(a Biblical - style Garden of Eden
in India), Howrah Bridge
How
to reach
By
air: Calcutta airport is 17 km from the centre of the city and is
also called Dum Dum airport. By rail: two rail head are Howrah
station and Sealdah station. By road: it is 1441 kms from Delhi, from
Varanasi it is 670 kms away and 1960 kms from Mumbai.
From October to March, Calcutta wears a radiant look. Sunshine, mild winter, lights, colours, fairs, festivals, galas and excursions, the mood is infectious and spirit sweeping.
It is the commercial nerve-centre of the East, with major industrial plants, textile mills and corporate units. Regal edifices, grubby alleys, bustling bazaars, elegant hotels, people from all walks of life - Calcutta has it all.
The city is a hub of fervent activity in the realms of music, theatre, arts, and sports. Calcutta has always prided itself on the many luminaries it has sent forth, be it Tagore, Satyajit Ray, or Mrinal Sen. The intense dedication to the arts manifests itself in a plethora of festivals, dance, music performances and other cultural events. The Calcuttans are also famous for their all-consuming passion for sports, especially, football and cricket.
Calcutta is a city of baffling paradoxes, a city that leaves its stamp on one's mind forever.
