India Travel Guide

Calcutta Travel Guide

Kolkata is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — consider printing them all.
Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is the capital of West Bengal and the second largest city in India (after Mumbai). If Bangalore is the Seattle of India, then Kolkata is the sub-contintent's New York. It is an 'in your face' city that shocks and charms the unsuspecting visitor. Abject poverty and filth mix inexplicably with crumbling British Raj-era gems, sprawling gardens and historical colleges. Long known as the cultural capital of India, Kolkata continues to spawn generations of poets, writers, film producers and Nobel Prize winners. If your trip only allows for a visit of one or two of India's metropolitan cities, then definitely consider placing Kolkata on your itinerary. Love it or hate it, you definitely won't forget the city on the Hooghly.

Districts
Southern fringes — the rapidly mushrooming localities to the south of the city. Includes Behala, Jadavpur, Garia and Narendrapur. There are a number of educational institutes and lavish shopping malls in this area. This is a relatively newer part of the city where a lot of expansion is going on.

South Kolkata — the posher part of the city. Covers Ballygunge,Bhawanipur, Alipore, New Alipore, Rash Behari,and Tollygunge .
Esplanade — the colonial district is still the central business area and is considered the heart of Kolkata. Made up of Park Street, Mirza Ghalib Street (Free School Street), Dalhousie Square, Chandni Chowk, Barra Bazaar and Sudder Street.
Maidan — the lungs of Kolkata. The area consisting of the huge park and its surrounding neighborhoods. Includes Fort William, Strand Road, Khidirpur, Dufferin Road, Hooghly Bank and Chowringhee.
North Kolkata — the older area of the city, a fascinating district dominated by narrow little lanes and hundreds of century-old bulidings. Includes Dum Dum, Belgachhia, Shyam Bazaar, Shobha Bazaar, Maniktala, Jora Sanko and the famous College Street area. Also situated here are the Sealdah station, one of the largest train hubs in India, and the newly built Kolkata station. Dum Dum being the prime communication hub of Kolkata having International Airport, Metro Rail, Circular Rail, Ground Rail.
Northern fringes — the large industrial area to the north of the city. Includes Kashipur, Dumdum, Belghoria, Khardah, Panihati, Titagarh etc. where there are a number of factories, including jute, paper, cotton, ordnance and chemicals.

East Kolkata — Rapidly developing, specially IT sector and home to India's largest mall. Encompasses Salt Lake City (Bidhan Nagar), Rajar Hat, Lake Town and the E.M. Bypass. Many five star hotels, theme parks, posh housing estates and techno parks are being built in this area.
Howrah — while technically its own city, Howrah is very much a part of the Kolkata metro area, and Howrah train station is where you'll arrive/depart from if connecting with anywhere north or west of Kolkata.

History
Kolkata's history is intimately related to the British East India Company, which first arrived in 1690, and to British India, of which Calcutta became the capital of in 1772. Job Charnock was widely known as the founder of Calcutta (Sutanuti, Govindapur & Calcutta) but in recent years a number of Indian historians have disputed this claim, arguing that Calcutta occupies the site of an older Indian city, centered around the ancient Kali temple at Kalighat. This claim has been accepted by the Kolkata High Court. The Court has dismissed the name of Job Charnock as the founder of the city and 24 th August as its date of birth. The historic Judgement was based upon an high level Expert Commitee findings. It has been proved that Kolkata had an highly civilized society for centuries before the Europeans first came here.

Whatever its origins, Calcutta flowered as the capital of British India during the nineteenth century, the heyday of the Raj. Calcutta University, the first modern Indian university was founded here in 1857. Calcutta became the center of Indian arts and literature, and the national movement for independence got its start here. However, with the transfer of the capital to Delhi in 1911, the pains of the partition of Bengal in 1947, and a violent and bloody Maoist movement (the Naxalite movement) in the 1970s, Calcutta has become synonymous with urban decay and poverty ("New York is deteriorating into New Calcutta," opined an editorial in The New York Times on Dec. 25th, 1988).

Modern Kolkata
Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of eastern India. Kolkata witnessed an economic decline from the late sixties till the late nineties. The city's economic fortunes turned the tide as the economic liberalization in India during the early nineties reached Kolkata during late nineties. Kolkata is a multicultural, cosmopolitan city. Apart from the diversity of India, the cultures represented are that of the Europeans (Including Germans, Armenians, and others), and other Asians (Including Chinese, Sinhalese, and Tibetans).

Since 1977, a "Left Front" coalition of communist and Marxist parties has continuously ruled the state. This is reflected in street names and memorials in the city. For example there are streets like Lenin Sarani, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, etc.. The Left Front regained control of the Municipal Corporation of Kolkata from the Trinamul Congress in the 2005 civic elections.

Economy
Although the Govt claims that Kolkata is fast developing into a modern infotech city with various private sector companies setting up shop here, it seems the city is stuck somewhere in the 70's. The landscape of the city is also fast changing with flyovers, gardens and several new commercial establishments. Kolkata city itself has expanded into its suburbs, with the Greater Kolkata stretching from Kalyani (in Nadia District) in North to Diamond Harbour in South (in the South 24 Parganas District).

The city's fortunes have looked up since the early nineties, coinciding with the liberalization of the Indian economy. Its economy has been amongst the fastest growing in the country. The New Metro city is characterised by popular spots like Inox Multiplexes, Nandan, Tantra, Barista Coffee Shops, Sourav's Pavilion and Science City.

Kolkata is home to many industrial units, of large Indian corporations, whose product range is varied and includes - engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, frigates, automobiles, railway coaches and wagons.

Several industrial estates like Taratolla, Kalyani, Uluberia, Dankuni, Kasba, Howrah are spread throughout the urban agglomeration. A huge leather complex has come up at Bantolla. An export processing zone has been set up in Falta. Specialized setups like the country's first Toy Park, and a Gem and Jewellery Park have also been established.

Kolkata is also starting to become a major hub for the IT (Information Technology) industry. With the formation of New Town at Rajarhat and extension of Salt Lake's Sector-V, Kolkata is rapidly turning into a pro-IT town. More and more businesses are coming to Kolkata to set up their offices.

Geography
Kolkata is located in the eastern part of India at 22°82′ N 88°20′ E. It has spread linearly along the banks of the river Hooghly.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has an area of 185 square kilometres. The city proper today can be roughly divided into two sections along Mother Teresa Sarani (Park Street). North of Park Street is the more congested part of the city. South of Park Street is the slightly better planned section of the city.

The old Central Business District (CBD) is where the seat of the West Bengal Government is located, along with many other government offices. Several banks have their corporate (Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India, UCO Bank) or regional headquarters (Reserve Bank of India, State Bank of India, Bank of India, Central Bank of India amongst many others) around the B. B. D. Bagh area. Many of Kolkata's older business groups have their main offices here. The area is a mix of multi-storeyed office blocks and colonial buildings.

The newer CBD is around the south of Park Street, Camac Street and AJC Bose Road. Several high-rise office blocks including some of Kolkata's tallest commercial buildings - like the Chatterjee International Centre, Tata Centre, Everest House, Industry House, CGO Building - are located here.

Maidan (open field) is situated between the river Ganges and J.L.Nehru Road (or Chowringhee). It is said to be the lungs of Kolkata. The lush green meadow also houses Victoria Memorial, Eden Gardens, and several sporting clubs. Kolkatans simply love to stroll in the Maidan.

In an effort to relieve congestion in the main city, many government offices have shifted to high-rise office buildings lining Bidhan Nagar's (Salt Lake) Central Park.

The residential buildings are mainly lowrise and comprise of older colonial buildings and numerous new four storied apartment blocks. Ten to twelve storied apartment blocks have come up in large numbers in south Kolkata. The city has relaxed its rules on high-rise construction recently and twenty storied buildings are becoming more common. The tallest residential towers of eastern India - the four thirty-five-storey towers of South City are under construction on Prince Anwar Shah Road.

Heavy construction activity along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass is changing the face of the city. Luxury hotels, a convention centre, speciality hospitals, condominium complexes, malls and multiplexes are coming up at a rapid pace.

The city's expansion in the eastern side is spearheaded by the construction of a large new city called New Town adjacent to the well planned Bidhan Nagar. Located in Rajarhat, it is one of the largest planned urban developments in India.

The neglected western side of the urban agglomeration has got a boost recently with the signing of an agreement with Chiputra, an Indonesian company to build the Kolkata West International City (KWIC). Another huge new township is in the proposal state in Dankuni.

Slums and dilapidated structures exist in many pockets of the city proper and house over 25% of the city's population (Census 2001). Slum redevelopment schemes have helped improve living conditions by a small extent but there is huge scope for improvement in this area. Efforts to shift slum dwellers to newer developments have often met with resistance and failure because many of the slums are in prime areas of the city and the slum dwellers who are integrated in the social structure of the neighbourhood do not want to shift.

Opposition to the setting up of the Nano factory at Shingur, 50 Kms. away from Kolkata, where the Tata's plan to build the cheapest car in the world, threatens to take away a lot of the investments due to come to the state.

Get in
By plane
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (IATA: CCU) connects Kolkata with South East Asia and receives some flights from Europe but is surprisingly small for a city of this size and hasn't been refurbished since the 1950s, although it is expected to be updated by 2011. The domestic terminal, on the other hand, is among the best in India. It is undergoing a major face-lift and expansion to cope with the expanding bulk of air traffic and new airline companies popping up almost every month.

Take a prepaid taxi from the airport to the city. It is about 20 km from the city. Expect to pay about Rs. 150-250 depending on your destination. There is a new rail link connecting the airport to the Circular Rail station in Dum Dum, however very few trains actually operate on the line at present.

By train
There are two major railway stations in Kolkata - Howrah (not in Kolkata actually, it's in the adjoining city Howrah) and Sealdah. A new terminus station called 'Kolkata' has also started functioning since 2005, but presently it accommodates very few trains. Directly facing Howrah are ferries (Rs. 4) that can get you to the other side of the river either Babu Ghat or Fairlie Place from where you can arrange onward transportation with anything from taxis to public buses to human rickshaws. With the traffic situation this might actually save you time as well as money.

The Foreign Ticket Office is on Fairlie Place (with the main GPO on your left, take the next left - the office is a few minutes walk on the left) - very helpful and efficient service.

Kolkata is well connected by rail to almost all the big stations in India and also serves as the gateway to the North Eastern India. If you are coming to Kolkata by trains using Sealdah station, you may prefer taking a pre-paid taxi to enter the city. The pre-paid taxi stand is just outside the station's main entrance. The counter is under a tin shade. Pre-paid taxis are reliable and will save you money and also the bargaining hassle. However beware of touts who would claim themselves to be running pre-paid taxis. Always collect the receipt from the counter first. The receipt has two parts - one part is for your reference and the other part you will need to handover to the taxi driver only after you reach your desired destination. The Taxi driver will get his payment by submitting or producing this other part to the Pre-paid Taxi counter.

By car
You can find many cabs on the roads or you can always hire one from the numerous taxi stands strewn across the major cities. There are pre paid taxis also available at major railway stations and airports. You can also hire luxury vehicles from certain travel agencies.

By bus
To/from Bangladesh There are numerous bus options between Kolkata and Bangladesh. The most common way is the regular comfortable a/c buses from Dhaka to Kolkata via the Haridaspur / Benapole border post. Private bus companies Shohagh , Green Line Shyamoli  and others operate daily bus services on this route. Govt. buses run under the label of the state owned West Bengal Surface Transport Service Corporation (WBSTSC) and the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC). WBSTSC and BRTC both operate buses from Kolkata every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 5:30AM and 8:30AM, and 12:30PM while from Dhaka they leave on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:00AM and 7:30AM. The normal journey time is around 12 hours with a one-way fare of Rs550 or BDT600-800, roughly $8-12. If you're only headed to Haridaspur the fare is Rs86 (2.5 hours). The Shyamoli Paribahan ticket office is at 6/1 Marquis St (parallel to and one block south of Sudder Street, and just west of Mirza Ghalib St, next door to DHL), 2252 0693. Beware that several travel agencies around this area also sell tickets for these buses, but at very inflated prices. At the border it's best to change money on the Indian side, but count it carefully and double-check the math on their calculator. On the Bangladesh side you can catch a flat-bed cycle-rickshaw for Tk5 for the 2km trip to the bus stand for onward travel - or you can walk, but expect the hopeful rickshaw-wallahs to follow you at least half way.

To/from Eastern India via Bangladesh Bus travel to some points in Eastern India are faster via Bangladesh (please note that visas may be required for entry into Bangladesh as well as for re-entry into India). If you're heading to points in Eastern India (Tripura for example) beyond Bangladesh -- then there is a regular bus service between Dhaka and Agartala, capital of India's Tripura state. Two BRTC buses leave daily from Dhaka and connect with the Tripura Road Transport Corporation vehicles, running six days a week with a roundtrip fare of BDT600 ($10). There is only one halt at Ashuganj in Bangladesh during the journey. Call +880 2 8360241 for schedule. Other entry points to North-Eastern India through Bangladesh are Hili, Chilahati / Haldibari and Banglaband border posts through Northern Bangladesh and Tamabil / Dawki border post for a route between Shillong (Meghalaya) and Sylhet in North-Eastern Bangladesh, and some others with lesser known routes from north-eastern Indian regions. Although scheduled bus-services to Shillong/Meghalaya from Kolkata through Dhaka may not be offered at present -- it is still possible to get to those points via land routes going through Sylhet and then on to Tamabil/Dawki border outposts. Enquire at the Bus Service Counters for details.

The city sprawls along the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, a tributary of the Ganges, which divides it from Howrah on the western bank. For travelers, the most relevant parts of Kolkata are south of the Howrah Bridge in the areas around BBD Bagh and Chowringhee.

Central Kolkata
South of BBD Bagh is the huge, lush, green, open parkland known as Maidan. Continuing south from here you will find

Eden Gardens (one of the most famous cricket stadiums in the world),
Akashwani Bhavan, All India Radio building

Indoor Stadium
Fort William, the massive and impregnable British Citadel built in 1773. The fort is still in use and retains its well-guarded grandeur. Visitors are allowed in with special permission only.
Victoria Memorial Along St. George’s Gate Road, on the southern fringe of the Maidan, you will find Kolkata's most famous landmark , a splendid white marble monument.

Calcutta Racecourse
Chowringee, is the Market place of Kolkata. You will find shops ranging from Computer Periferals to cloth merchants. Even tailors and a few famous Movie theaters too. This place is a favourite pass time for local people. 

Northern Kolkata
The Northern part of Kolkata houses the old buildings belonging to the Zamindars (Landlords), other rich Bengalis who used to trade with the British. It preserves the cultural heritage of Kolkata. The building structures give an impression of the royal people who stayed there. River Ganga is the hot spot for the development of the North along with Kolkata. It is generally crowded and has some interesting markets including the famous Posta, Burrabazar whole sale markets, College Street Book market where you can trace many out of print books with a little patience. While in College Street a visit to the College St Coffee House is a must. Also around the area are the Calcutta Medical College, the Presidency college and Calcutta University.

North of BBD Bagh you will find the

Nakhoda Mosque (the largest mosque in Kolkata) and the
Shobhabajar Rajbari the ancestral house of Rja Naba Krishna, one of the rich locals to side with Clive during his war with Nabab Siraj-Ud-Daula.
Further along you will find

Jorasanko Thakur Bari (Tagore Family residence).
Parashnath Jain Temple, near the Belgachia metro station.
Parashnath Jain Temple, at Gouribari, less visited, reachable from the Sovabazar Metro station (take an auto rickshaw).

Marble Palace, The marble palace was the private mansion of Zamindar (Land owner) Raja Rajendro Mullick, who had built this palace in 1835. It is situated on the Muktaram Babu Street in a congested part of the city. A real garden, of may be an acre with a Palladian Mansion set square in the centre. Today this place has an incongruous collection of statues and paintings. There is also a private zoo housing a collection of birds from different corners of the world.
The Howrah Bridge spans the Hooghly River linking Howrah to Kolkata. It is said to be the busiest bridge in the world. No photos allowed.
Kali temple of Dakshineswar is to the north of the city on the banks of the Ganges, across from Belur Math.

Southern Kolkata
Southern Kolkata is less congested and more modern. You will find more apartment blocks, more green spaces and more affluent homes.

The Tollygunge Club is one of the oldest clubs and a famous colonial relic housing a golf course, horse riding facilities, swimming pools, accommodation, etc. Its located in Tollygunge area.
Rabindra Sarovar is a large open lake and park area housing boating clubs, an open air theatre and eateries and comes under the Ballygunge area.
Birla Industrial & Technological Museum on Gurusaday Road in Ballygunge.
Royal Calcutta Golf Club is the oldest golf club in the world after St. Andrews in Scotland,located in Tollygunge.

Tollywood (the home of Bengali Films) and Television centre are also found in Tollygunge.
Ramakrishna Mission Institute in Golpark,at Ballygunge.
The Birla Temple is the largest in Kolkata and worth a visit.Its located on Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue(Old Ballygunge Road) in Ballygunge.
National Library of India at Alipore.
The Kalighat Kali Temple, very famous to Hindus, it houses Kolkata's patron deity.
Mother Teresa's Hospital for the destitute is next door to the Kalighat temple.
China Town near Park circus houses some of the finest Chinese eateries.
Inox-Forum at Elgin Road near Rabindra Sadan -- multiplex movie hall along with a big shopping mall

Big Bazar on E. M. Bypass at Highland Park (Baghajatin)- here you can buy almost everything under the sun at reasonable price
Gariahat which comes under Ballygunge area.It is the biggest shopping district of Kolkata,where one can find shops ranging from branded showrooms and malls like Pantaloons,westside,Raymonds to numerous smaller shops.

West of the Hooghly
Howrah Station
The Botanical Gardens at Sibpur.
Belur Math, a huge complex and the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission.