Kolkata, the city of Joy, is the capital of the state of West Bengal in India and one of the largest cities in the country. It is a cosmopolitan city and is well known for its cultural excellence.
Kolkata is the birthplace of Indian literary, artistic and revolutionary movements. Indian culture and civilization in a way started its renaissance from Kolkata. The city of Kolkata is spread along the banks of River Hooghly in a north-south direction. Much of the city was originally a vast wetland, reclaimed over the centuries to accommodate the city's growing population. Presently the city is expanding in all directions.
Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, was India's capital under the British Rule from the year 1773 to 1911. Presently it is the capital of the state of West Bengal. During the British rule, Kolkata used to be the trading post of East India Company. British East India Company arrived here in 1690, made Calcutta it's capital in 1772. The Portuguese settled in Bandel in 1535 next to the Dutch who arrived in the suburb of Kolkata called Chinsura (Chuchura) in 1655, the French in Chandernagore in 1697 and the Danes in Serampore in 1755. West Bengal as a state has Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh as neighbours hence Kolkata is the hub of major tourism and trading activities.
Kolkata is an example of its unity in diversity. Most of the peoples speak Bengali though Hindi and English are also commonly used. Majority of the populations are Hindus though there is a substantial number of Muslims apart from Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs who live here. Durga Puja is one the biggest festival here. Holi or Dol Purnima, Deewali or Kali Puja, Bengali New Year or Nabo Barsho are other festivals. Kolkata Book Fair, Kolkata International Film Festival and Dover Lane Music Festival are major annual cultural events of the city.
Kolkata offers richness in Culture, Theatre, Cinema, Food, Books and its Heritage. After being ruled by the Mughals and then by the British, Kolkata was turned into a brilliant cosmopolitan culture. It is India's melting pot of cultures and cuisines, be it be English, Chinese, Portuguese or Armenian.
The city produced many scholars, freedom fighters, administrators, Industrialists, Businessmen, legendary writers, statesmen, sports personality and creative minds of International Status. Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi, Shri Aurobindo, Mother Teresa, Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Dr B.C.Roy, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Mithun Chakraborty, Aparna Sen, Ravi Shankar, Pankaj Roy, Gostho pal, Saurav Ganguly, Satyajit Ray, Sharmila Tagore, Manna Dey, Amartya Sen, Amla Uday Shankar, P.C.Sarkar, M.F Husain are some of the famous sons of this soil. One can visit places linked with most of them.
Places of interest in Kolkata include the Victoria Memorial, Fort William, Belur Math, Howrah Bridge, Birla Planetarium, Indian Museum, Marble Palace, Mother House, Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Eco-Tourism Park, Victoria Memorial Hall, Howrah Bridge, Pareshnath Jain Temple, South Park Street Cemetery, Dakhineshwar Temple, Belur Math, Botanical Garden, Eco-Tourism Park, Shobhabazar Rajbari, Prinsep Ghat, Aquatica, South Park Street Cemetery, Barrackpore and many other places.
There are a large number of tourist destinations that can be reached within 2 to 4 hours drive from Kolkata including Digha, Mondarmoni, Diamond Harbour, Sundarbans, Nabadwip, Bakkhali, Shankarpur, Tajpur, Mython, Shantiniketan, Tarkeshwar Temple, Bishnupur, Henry Island among others.
Calcutta is also famous as the city of the foodies. Food Joints worth visiting include the Flurys, Mocambo, Buddha Bites, Café Mezzuna Fire and Ice Pizzeria, Mrs. Magpie, Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick Sweets, Oh! Calcutta, Kewpie’s Kitchen, 8th Day Café & Bakery, Indian Coffee House, Suruchi, Banana Leaf, Paris Café, Kusum Rolls, Nahoum & Sons, Russel Punjabi Dhaba, Azad Hind Dhaba, 6 Ballygunge Place, Amenia, Peter Cat, Bombay Brasserie, Mirch Masala, Bohemian, Flame & Grill, Bar-B-Q, and many others.
The climate here is tropical. During winter it is generally pleasantly warm between December to February. March end things get warmer with heavy humidity, temperate is quite hot during the summer months of April and May. Monsoon starts from June till mid-September. Cyclones also change weather drastically during monsoon with rainfall. Mid October to mid-November is Autumn and again pleasant. Best time to visit Kolkata is from mid-October to mid-March when the temperature is under control. Humidity during summer and monsoon months is quite high.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU) is the major airport at DumDum on the outskirts of the city. Kolkata Railway Station (KOAA), Sealdah Railway Station (SDH) and Howrah Railway Station (HWH) are the main railway terminal at Kolkata. There are three major bus terminuses in Kolkata namely International Bus Terminus, Esplanade Bus Terminus and ST-6 W-3 Bus Terminus at Salt Lake serving the city. There are regular Flights, Trains & Buses plying from all over India to Kolkata and back. Local Taxi is available for internal movement. Public transport includes Suburban Railway, the Kolkata Metro, trams, rickshaws, and buses. The suburban railway is one of the best networks and reaches distant suburbs. App-based taxi like Uber & Ola is also available. Kolkata Port Trust in Kolkata hosts passenger services to Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands & Ferry services connect Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah across River Hooghly.
The journey started more than a decade ago when a financial consultant, a social activist and a biology researcher came together to start a business in tourism that none of them knew about. But travel is something they loved and enjoyed, and so they decided to change the paradigms in their own way. And they remarked “travel is more than a profession, it’s a passion”. Read More [+]
