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About Kolkata
Brief History of India
The name “India" is derived from the river Indus, along whose
banks the Aryans from Central Asia came down over the Himalayas and into
the Indo-Gangetic plain around 1500 BC.
 The social, economic and political change involved is depicted in the
two great epics of ancient India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The
old Vedic religion, naturalistic and sacrificial, gave way to the
pragmatism of the Upanishads, and this in turn stimulated the rise of
reformers like Vardhaman Mahavira and Gautama Buddha around the 5th
century BC. Both Mahavira and Buddha sought only to reform Hinduism, but
two religious faiths emerged known today as Jainism and Buddhism
respectively.
The political history of India is the history of the rise and fall of
many empires contributing to the diversity of Indian culture today.
With Vasco de Gama's arrival at Calicut on India's western coast in
1498, the latter half of India's medieval era saw the Portuguese, the
Dutch, the French and the British entering India from the sea, initially
as traders and later as colonisers.
The British overcame indigenous resistance (beginning with the Battle of
Plassey in 1757) and French competition (the first Anglo-French war was
fought in 1748), turning the Mughal Emperor into a puppet controlled by
the East India Company. After the end of the First War of Independence
in 1857, also termed the Great Indian Mutiny as many of the Company's
indigenous troops supported the attempt to restore the ower of the
Mughal Emperor, the British Crown took over the government of British
India from the East India Company and ruled till 1947.
The freedom fighter’s fought bravely against the British and India
attained independence on 15th August, 1947.
History of Kolkata
Job Charnock, agent of East India Company anchored on the
east bank of the Ganga in August 1690 to found the city. Kolkata is
situated in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. Three
large villages Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata along the east bank of
the river Ganges were bought by the British and the Mughal emperor
permitted the East India Company to trade in return for an annual
payment of Rs. 3,000/-.
Until 1912, Calcutta was the capital of India, later the capital city
was moved to Delhi by the British.
Kolkata is the “City Of Palaces” as it has been known since the 18th
century. The city is a standing museum of 3000 years of architecture,
with a great variety of styles: Bengali Ek bangla and Ratna, Palladian,
neo- Gothic, Serascenic, neo-Moghul, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Borocco,
neo- Renaissance, Romantic, Medieval, even Bauhaus. The buildings have
been well preserved.
After London, Kolkata was British Empire’s second city of pride. India’s
quest for freedom started here.
It has been home to luminaries such as Rabindranath Tagore, Ronald Ross,
Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray,
Satyendranath Bose and many others.
On August 24, 2001, the 309th anniversary of the founding of the Indian
city of Calcutta, the city changed its name to Kolkata.
Kolkata, the “City of Joy" remains the intellectual and cultural capital
of India. The city has shown enough resilience in the past to prove that
it can continue as it is, stabilized at its level of decay while other
cities of India are now experiencing.
Geography
Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, a metropolitan city is
situated in eastern India at 22°33'N 88°20'E. The River Hooghly, a
distributary of the River Ganga runs south through the state of West
Bengal and flows into the Bay of Bengal.
Religion
Kolkata is a very cosmopolitan city and thus people of all
religions reside together in harmony. The majority of the residents in
this city are Hindus while Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis;
Buddhists etc. make up the rest of the population.
Festivals
Life never stops in Kolkata. At any time of the year there is
something going on. India is a land of fairs and festivals that is
characterized by colour, enthusiasm, feasts, processions, prayers and
rituals. With so many communities, Kolkata has a core of public
holidays. Most religious festivals are determined on the basis of the
lunar or solar calendar and have religious associations. In Indian
society festivals promote unity in diversity giving much emphasis on
communal harmony. Festivals are celebrated with pomp and vigour.
People from all walks of life unite to celebrate various festivals of
India – Saraswati Puja, Holi, Durga Puja, Id, Dusshera, Diwali,
Christmas, New Year’s Day etc.
Weather
The city of Kolkata is situated where the river Hooghly
merges into the Bay of Bengal. Kolkata has a tropical climate and has
four seasons – spring, summer, monsoon and winter.
Spring is short between mid- February to mid April with temperatures
ranging between 30- 35°C. Summers from mid- April to mid- June, are hot
and the humidity nears saturation with the maximum temperature exceeding
40 °C. This is the most unpleasant period of the year. The monsoons are
timely and heavy with the rains lashing the city between June and
September and temperatures drop to the range of 25 °C - 35°C. It rains
virtually every day. Winters are the best time to visit Kolkata,
starting late October to early January. The temperature around New
Year’s Eve can drop to 8°C at night but never below 15°C in the daytime.
Places of Interest
Kolkata, the gateway to Eastern India, is a vast
juxtaposition of places of historical and cultural importance which you
must visit while on your trip to the city. Here’s a list of places that
deserve a look in.
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The
Kalighat Temple situated at Kalighat, is considered especially holy
and Goddess Kali is worshipped here.
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The
Pareshnath Temple is a Jain Temple, situated on Badridas Temple
Street.
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The Shahi
Imambara is a famous mosque situated on Garden Reach Road.
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Academy of
Fine Arts exhibits works of contemporary artists, group theatre and
dance performances are held here and this is situated on Rabindra
Sadan.
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Belur Math
a shrine is situated about 6 kms from the Howrah Station on the banks
of the River Hooghly.
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Birla
Industrial and Technological Museum – exhibits industrial and
technological models and is situated on Gurusaday Road.
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Birla
Planetarium is the largest planetarium in the world and provides a
view of the stars and the solar system, situated at the junction of
Chowringhee Road and Harish Mukherjee Road.
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The Indian
Museum is one of the biggest and oldest museums situated on
Chowringhee Road.
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Nicco Park
is a theme park situated on Salt Lake.
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Science
City is a marvel of science, communication and environment the first
and only institution of its kind in India situated on the Eastern
Metropolitan Bypass.
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Zoological
Gardens is a zoo with a large collection of animals, situated on
Alipur.
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The
Victoria Memorial is a memorial situated on the Maidan.
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Aquatica
the only water theme park is situated quite close to Nicco Park.
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Swabhumi a
heritage park situated on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.
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Dakshineswar Temple has the idol of Kali, situated near Dunlop.
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Eden
Gardens the finest cricket stadium in the world is situated on
Esplanade.
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Nehru
Children’s Museum depicts the story of the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata in clay models are the most fascinating archives and has a
huge collection of dolls , situated on Chowringhee.
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The Howrah
Bridge a cantilever bridge on the river Hooghly connects the cities of
Howrah and Kolkata.
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Vidyasagar
Setu a feat of architecture situated on the River Hooghly.
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The Maidan,
Kolkata’s largest urban park is bordered by Chowringhee Avenue and
B.B.D. Bagh.
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Nandan is a
cultural centre for theatre enthusiasts on the south east corner of
the Maidan.
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Nalban is a
boating complex situated in Salt Lake.
Markets and Shops
Kolkata is a shopper’s delight, with a mind boggling number and variety
of places to shop. An amazing array of merchandise – gold jewellery,
electronics, kitchen-ware, leather, dry fruits, meat, pastries, Tibetan
stones and copperware, made- to- order leather shoes and bags, carefully
crafted silverware, costume jewellery and a wide range of traditional
sarees and textiles can be bought here at affordable prices.
The New Market is one of the first and finest shopping plazas of its
time. The market is flanked by a fresh foods market and grocery strip.
Plenty of shops sell branded sarees, handloom material and readymade
garments.
Interesting places to shop are the Vardaan Market, Pantaloons, West Side
on Camac Street, the Air-conditioned Market on Shakespeare Sarani, the
Vaibhav Shopping Complex on Lee Road, Metro Shopping Plaza on Ho Chi
Minh Sarani and Sree Ram Arcade near Light House. If you are looking
around for traditional and ethnic stuff you can check out Dakshinapan
off Dhakuria Bridge.
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