For the discerning Kolkata (aka Calcutta) remains a city with a glorious imperial past which retains its old-world flavour and Marxist coffee house culture

It’s rare to encounter an informed individual who is neutral about Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), described as the ‘city of dreadful night’ by Rudyard Kipling, even before an estimated 3 million refugees from East Pakistan flooded into the city after partition in 1947.

With an officially estimated population of 14 million, Kolkata is India’s second most populous city (after Mumbai). Despite pervasive poverty and deprivation, its people are friendly and Bengali wit and intellect are globally renowned. Don’t let the first impression of squalor put you off. There is a lot to be discovered in this city, and quite painlessly.

The history of this justly famous metropolis stretches back to the 17th century — to the time when the Mughal empire was in disarray and Europeans had arrived in the fabled east. In 1686, Job Charnock, chief of the East India Company’s factory in Hooghly, looking for new sites, selected a group of three villages, Kalikata, Govindapur and Sutanuti — where Armenian and Portuguese settlements were already established. A factory was constructed in Kalikata on August 24, 1690, and thus Calcutta was born.

In 1698 a makeshift fort was built, which was easily stormed by Siraj ud Daula, the Nawab of Bengal in 1756. Most British inhabitants managed to escape but those captured were crammed into an underground cellar. Overnight, 113 of the 146 prisoners died of suffocation, and the tragedy went down in the history books as the infamous cruelty of the Black Hole of Calcutta. Early in 1757, the British recaptured Calcutta and made peace with the Nawab. A much stronger fort was built and the small factory site morphed into the capital of British India. By that time, the European population had swelled from a few hundred to 100,000 through the arrival of new ‘writers’, as East India Company employees were designated, traders, soldiers, and what the administration termed “cargoes of females”.

Things changed when Bengal became an important centre in the struggle for Indian independence, and in 1911 the wary British moved the national capital to Delhi. With the partition of the Indian subcontinent, Calcutta was affected more than any other Indian city with significantly mixed Hindu and Muslim populations, and when the dividing line was drawn through them, the area was thrown into anarchy with thousands of refugees fleeing across newly drawn borders. Calcutta, the centre of the jute-manufacturing and export industry became an apex without a base, whereas across the border in East Pakistan, jute grew in abundance, but without the infrastructure to process or export it.

Seventy four years after partition, Kolkata is still suffering, confronted with challenges that rival some of the world’s most impoverished cities. Up to 40 percent of the city’s residents live in slums. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi declared Calcutta a lost cause in the 1970s, but he was wrong. Calcutta was down, but not out. Since the mid-1980s this fascinating city has resurrected itself. Today, even cynical and long-suffering residents of Calcutta admit that things are improving, though there is still a long way to go.

The unshakable Marxist government of West Bengal, which ruled the state uninterruptedly for 34 years (1977- 2011), was dislodged by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party led by firebrand chief minister Mamata Banerjee in 2011. Since then TMC has been re-elected in the legislative elections of 2016 and most recently of May 2021.

The city of Calcutta sprawls north to south along the east bank of the Hooghly river. For those arriving by train, the busy Howrah station is a fantastically telling entry point into the city. The only other comparison is probably the New York City Subway, two places where one can see almost anything, from plumed roosters to suited entrepreneurs. The Government of India tourist office (tel: 033 22823521/ 22821402) at 4, Shakespeare Sarani is a good resource base for particulars on transport, accommodation and general sights of interest. Similarly, the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (tel: 033 22487032/ 22488271), is excellent with travel and accommodation information about remote parts of West Bengal. Both the state and national tourist offices have staffed counters at Dum Dum Airport.

Maidan & Fort William

After 1756, the British decided to replace the old and primitive Fort William with an impressive and impregnable new fortified edifice. It took 13 years to build at a (then) staggering £2 million (Rs.1.6 crore). They cleared out the inhabitants from the neighbouring Govindapur and Sutanuti villages and shaved down acres of jungle to provide a free field of fire in all directions. The irony of course is that never has a shot been fired from the fort. It’s a pleasant walk around the fort’s colossal walls that have deep trenches fronting them, but as a visitor you need special permission to be allowed inside as the fort is still occupied by the army and used as a private library.

The area cleared around Fort William became the Maidan, a huge, open park that stretches 3 km north to south and is 1 km wide. In the 19th century, nationalists organised a mela and it was here that Rabindranath Tagore, aged 15 made his first public appearance. Nowadays, the Maidan mela is a 24-hour show. At sunrise, joggers are doing their thing; the West Bengal Mounted Police hack their horses; army units do their morning drills; goats and sheep graze on the greens of the Calcutta Golf Course before being led to slaughter. Later, tramways start plying bringing people to work. Football and cricket matches then take over even as sadhus and bards gather audiences under the trees near the Gandhi statute.

The youth wing of the Communist Party (Marxist) converges around the War Memorial, throwing political jargon at each other, oblivious to Jersey cows nibbling the grass. A special tourist attraction in Calcutta is the resident rat population of the Maidan near the corner of the West Council House street and Esplanade East and West. Literally thousands of these huge rodents have made the park their home. It’s quite a sight, especially the reaction of out-of-towners at lunch!

Victoria Memorial

Calcutta’s most famous landmark, the Victoria Memorial is also the most vivid reminder of the British Raj in contemporary India. Modelled on London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, the marble monument is a unique example of classical European architecture with distinct Moghul influences. It is cheekily known by locals as a despondent British attempt to build a better Taj Mahal. Lord Curzon conceived the grandiose idea and the money for its construction was raised by “voluntary contributions by the princes and people of India”.

It houses a collection of Victorian memorabilia and historical antiquities of Bengal. Portraits and busts of the leading figures of British India history and spectacular watercolours of Indian landscapes painted by travelling Victorian artists.

Queen Victoria is featured inside as well, much younger and slimmer than her bulky statue outside the building. To take in a slice of history, join a heritage walk around the memorial and its splendid gardens and terraces.

Kali Temple & Home for the Destitute & Dying

The present Kali temple in Kalighat was built in 1809 although there has been one here since early times. Adherents of the cult of thugee were known to come here to pray before setting out in search of victims. Human sacrifices are known to have taken place but today only goats, and on occasion buffaloes, are sacrificed while devout pilgrims make offerings of milk mixed with Ganges water and bhang (cannabis) to Kali. Next door, Mother Teresa’s Home for the Destitute and Dying is the first of several missions run by the Sisters of Charity in the city. Volunteers should check directly with the Mother House (Tel: 2224 7115) and arrive early for morning mass. The nuns in white saris will dispatch you to where your services are most needed.

Chinatown & College Street

Chinatown is in Tiretta where the Chinese settled in the 18th century. A whole area in Calcutta was once a Cantonese town and although it is now greatly reduced there are still some 30,000 Chinese residents in the city. Most of the distinctively Chinese buildings have disappeared except for the Nanking Restaurant and Sea Ip Temple. The incredible and authentic Szechwan and Cantonese food available in Chinatown surpasses Chinese fare in any metropolis including New York and London and even gives Shanghai restauranteurs a run for their money.

Calcutta University on College Square was founded in 1873. It has in the past witnessed landmark events and demonstrations and most walls are still covered with political graffiti. The Albert Hall Coffee Shop (Calcutta’s very own St. James Coffee house) on Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Street is a hub for all those who matter in the city’s intellectual and student circles. College Square and chicken patties at Albert Hall are part and parcel of true Calcuttan flavour. In spite of the noisy chatter and complaints about the Rs.2 hike on the cup of cha, you are sure to catch murmurs of how Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was stolen from fellow Calcuttan, J.C. Bose.

Accommodation. Top-end: Oberoi Grand (Rs.7,150- 8,000 per night), Taj Bengal (Rs.8,025-8,400), Park Hotel (Rs.5,677-6,272), ITC Sonar Bangla (Rs.8,093-8,316). Mid-range: Astor Hotel (Rs.4,456-6,804), Hotel Lindsay (Rs.2,461-3,000), Hotel Shalimar (Rs.5,366). Budget: The Modern Lodge (Rs.2,576), Sunflower Guest House (Rs.1,289), Treebo Trend Hotel (Rs.2,529).

Excursions:

Anand Nagar. Ever since Dominique Lapierre wrote City of Joy in 1986 about these Howrah slums, he has become a popular cult figure and the slums themselves are well on their way to becoming a tourist attraction.

Dakhineswar & Belur Math. Less than 60 km from Calcutta, along the Grand Trunk Road are sleepy little towns with palaces, old churches, riverfront promenades and colonial houses and cemeteries — remains of ancient Dutch and French settlements. The Grand Trunk Road is reached by the Bally Bridge, where, on the left bank stands Dakhineswar. Its Central Kali Temple is where Sri Ramakrishna is believed to have received his spiritual vision of the unity of all religions. His room is now a museum.

Downstream across the river is Belur Math, headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, founded in 1938 by Swami Vivekananda. Reflecting Sri Ramakrishna’s call for harmony between religions, the gate is Buddhist, the structure above the entrance, South Indian, the windows and balconies Mughal and Rajput, and the floor plan is that of a Christian cross.

Chandernagore. On the banks of the Hooghly, 39 km north of Calcutta is Chandernagore. The gate to Chandernagore, a French establissement from 1673 to 1952, bears the motto of the French Republic Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Today, hardly anyone speaks French here but Gallic influence is still discernible along the shaded Quai Dupleix, now Strand Road, with its public park benches replicating those in Paris. The Eglise du Sacré Coeur could well be a French village church with its statue of Joan of Arc and Lourdes grotto.

Shantiniketan

Further out, 200 km west of Calcutta is Shantiniketan, built by Nobel laureate and poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1902. At Shantiniketan’s Visvabharati University, Tagore revived the traditional Indian pedagogy of teaching in open air, under peepal trees, in close communion with nature. Shantiniketan is one of the hubs of intellectual life in India and is a renowned centre for art and crafts. Every change of season, festivals are held here with dances, songs and plays by Tagore, performed by students of the university. An annual attraction is a cultural fest near Shantiniketan, at Kendubilwa, the birthplace of Jaidev, another great Bengali poet. In mid-January, Bengali bards known as bauls, gather here for a four-day non-stop recital of the poet’s compositions.

Accommodation. Top end: Hotel Royal Bengal (Rs.2,167-4,234); The Cristallo Resort (Rs.2,240-3,360). Mid-range: Panchabon Art Resort (Rs.1,800-2,016). Budget: Park Guest House (Rs.250-1,100).

Digha

On the west coast of the Bay of Bengal, 185 km south, on the Orissa border, is Digha, the only seaside resort with contemporary hotel accommodation in West Bengal. Rich merchants had built villas here, though the town has decayed considerably. But the beach is 6 km long and well worth a weekend visit. Buses operated by Calcutta State Tourism Corporation ply daily between Calcutta and Digha departing at 7 a.m with the trip taking about six hours.

Accommodation: Top-end: Abhyagama Hotel (Rs.2,799- 7,699 per night). Mid-range: Dolphin Hotel Digha (Rs.999- 1,604). Budget: Prateek Residency Digha (Rs.405-1,341).

Nabadwip & Mayapur

Nabadwip, 125 km north of Calcutta is built on nine formerly distinct islands of the Ganges. It was the capital of Bengal in the 11th and 12th centuries and is among the holiest sites of the state. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, believed to be an incarnation of Vishnu, taught the ancient Vaishnava philosophy here. Every year in March, 500,000 pilgrims come here for padikrama, a pilgrimage on foot which takes them along a 50 km loop around places and temples associated with Chaitanya.

Nearby is Sri Mayapur, the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The main attraction is the Temple of Vedic Planetarium — the world’s largest temple. Also worth a visit is the Srila Prabhupada’s Pushpa Samadhi Mandir, a memorial to ISKCON’s founder. From its Calcutta centre, (Tel: 247 6025) ISKCON organises bus trips to Mayapur at least twice a week with a video programme on the Hare Krishna Movement and a movie on Rama and Sita screened en route.

Accommodation. ISKCON Mayapur has five guest houses offering a variety of rooms to accommodate pilgrims and visitors. For bookings, log on to www.VisitMayapur.com or call +91 3472245219.

Sunderbans

South of Calcutta start the Sunderbans, formed by the deltas of the Ganga and Brahmaputra extending across the entire northern shore of the Bay of Bengal. This is marshy mangrove jungle, the largest estuarine forest worldwide. The land is saturated with salt, sustaining a poor single crop per year. The Royal Bengal tiger can still be spotted in the marshes, particularly on Lothian Island and Chamta Block. This 2,500 sq. km area is a protected tiger sanctuary although there is varied wildlife including deer, snakes, wild boar and the estuarine crocodile, the largest in the world, in this marshland forest. Despite popular folklore that the Royal Bengal tiger swims stealthily through the water to attack unsuspecting tourists with cameras in their boats, a visit to the Sunderbans is an exhilarating adventure.

Accommodation. Top-end: Sunderban Tiger Camp (Rs.11,850-12,900 per night); Sundarban Gateway Resort (Rs.4,220-4,811). Mid-range: Solitary Nook Resort (Rs.1,899-3,997).

Contemporary Kolkata is a crowded, traffic-choked city. But it’s also a city with a glorious imperial past and still retains its old-world flavour and soul which its denizens are in love with. Its distinctive aspect is the sheer magic of the smoked hilsa, the corner chai shop and adda, book fairs with rare and out-of-print manuscripts and the neighbourhood rock band.

Some run away from Calcutta; others keep returning.

Also read: Rediscovery of Odisha