Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital city of West Bengal and was India’s capital during the British rule. It is one of India’s largest cities and a major port. It is also a dominant urban centre in the Eastern India.
The city has a rich legacy of poets, authors, artists, film-makers, intellectuals and freedom fighters. The city is well known for its Durga puja. Eden Garden in Kolkata is the Mecca of Indian cricket. Football is also a popular sport in the city. Although the staple food is fish and rice, its more popular for its rasgulla and mishti doi.
The city’s marvellous architecture is awe inspiring. Let us take a look at some of these historical structures.
The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building in Kolkata which was built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated in the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination under the Ministry of Culture. The memorial lies by the bank of the Hooghly River near Chowringhee Road.
Birla Mandir in Kolkata, is a temple on Asutosh Chowdhury Avenue, Ballygunge, built by the industrialist Birla family. The construction of the temple began in 1970. It took 26 years to complete the entire structure.
Belur Math, is located near the Hooghly River and spread across forty acres of land. It is a fusion of Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist and Christian styles of architecture, the Math stands proud as a symbol of secularism. A visit to the Belur Math fills ones soul with contentment and peace.
Dakshineswar Kali Temple is located in Dakshineswar near Kolkata. Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River. The temple was built in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni, a philanthropist and a devotee of Kali. The temple is famous for its association with Ramakrishna, a mystic of 19th Century Bengal.
Howrah Bridge is suspended over the Hooghly River. On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu after the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate.
The Indian Museum in Kolkata, also referred to as the Imperial 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 1814. The founder curator was Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist.
(IMAGE COURTESY : SWAPNEEL SONDKAR)
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