Calcutta - The Charming City Forever. Review on Kolkata

History of Calcutta:---

Although the name Kalikata had been mentioned in the rent-roll of the Great Mughal emperor Akbar and also in Manasa-Mangal, to explore the history of Calcutta, we have to go back to the 17 th. century. It was in 1690....Job Charnock came to the bank of the river Hooghly (it's the part of the Ganges) and took the lease of the three villages- Sutanuti, Govindapur and Kolikata(Calcutta) as a trading post of British East India Company. The city became famous in 1756, when Siraj-Ud-Dawlah, the last independent nawab of Bengal, captured the city . But the British regained their power in 1757 and the city was recaptured under Robert Clive. Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, made it the seat of the supreme courts of justice and the supreme revenue administration, and Calcutta became the capital of British India in 1772. By 1800 Calcutta had become a busy and flourishing town, the center of the cultural as well as the political and economic life of Bengal.

The Character of The City:---

Fashioned by the colonial British in the manner of a grand European capital--yet now set in one of the poorest and most overpopulated regions of India--Calcutta has grown into a city of sharp contrasts and contradictions. Calcutta has had to assimilate strong European influences and overcome the limitations of its colonial legacy in order to find its own unique identity. In the process it created an amalgam of East and West that found its expression in the life and works of the 19th-century Bengali elite and its most noteworthy figure, the poet and mystic Rabindranath Tagore. This largest and most vibrant of Indian cities thrives amidst seemingly insurmountable economic, social, and political problems. Its citizens exhibit a great joie de vivre that is demonstrated in a penchant for art and culture and a level of intellectual vitality and political awareness unsurpassed in the rest of the country. No other Indian city can draw the kinds of crowds that throng to Calcutta's book fairs, art exhibitions, and concerts. There is a lively trading of polemics on walls, which has led to Calcutta being dubbed the ''city of posters.'' Yet for all of Calcutta's vitality, many of the city's residents live in some of the worst conditions, far removed from the cultural milieu. The city's energy, however, penetrates even to the meanest of slums, as a large number of Calcuttans sincerely support the efforts of those who minister to the poor and suffering. In short, Calcutta remains an enigma to many Indians as well as to foreigners. It continues to puzzle newcomers and to arouse an abiding nostalgia in the minds of those who have lived there.

Climate :---

Calcutta has a tropical savanna climate. The annual mean temperature is 26.8'C, although monthly mean temperatures range from 20'C to 31.'C and maximum temperatures in Calcutta often exceed 40'C. The main seasonal influence upon the climate is the monsoon. Maximum rainfall occurs during the monsoon in August (306 mm) and the average annual total is 1,582 mm (WMO, 1971). Moderate north-westerly to north-easterly winds prevail for most of the year with a high frequency of calms. Early morning mists are common. Evening ´smog' often occurs due to nighttime temperature inversions and mixing heights are generally restricted to below 500 m during the night. Summer is dominated by strong south-westerly monsoon winds. Mean ventilation coefficients are greatest in the pre-monsoon (8,118 m2s-1) and monsoon (7,410 m2s-1) periods. Total duration of sunshine is 2,528 hours per annum with maximum insolation occurring in March

People:---

Calcutta is home of the Bengali - Volatile in politics, sports lover, intellectual, romantic with a unique sensibility. To whom every activity is a commitment of passionate intensity - be it a religious festival, soccer matches, political demonstrations, music, art, poetry reading, eating or adda (chat sessions).

Calcutta breeds culture. Rabindranath Tagore gave Bengal new composite music, dance drama and literature. Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar internationalized Indian Classical music. Jamini Roy revived folk painting. Uday Shankar created a new dance form. Indian People's Theater Association (IPTA) introduced a new genre of performing arts. Ustad Allauddin Khan created a new orchestra and famous film maker Satyajit Ray's home and canvas was Calcutta.

Calcutta - Landmarks, Memorials and Places of Interest:---

1. Shahid Minar : Previously known as Ochterlony Monument, located in the heart of Esplanade. The panoramic view of the city from the top of the monument is really captivating. With 218 steps, this 52 meters high monument consists of a combination of Egyptian base, Syrian column and Turkish copula.

   
   




2. Birla Planetarium : Located at the top end of Chowringhee, the only planetarium in the country, whose dome houses a collection of projectors and optical equipments expensively imported from East Germany. It is the largest planetarium in South-East Asia and the 2nd. largest planetarium in the world.

   
   




3. Victoria Memorial

   
   




4. Rabindra Sadan

   
   




5. Nandan

   
   




6. Academy of Fine Arts

   
   




7. Jorasa(n)ko Tagore House (Thakurbari) : The world famous poet Rabindranath Tagore was born and died in this house. Located at the junction of the Chitpur Road and the Vivekananda Road, it is the headquarter of Rabindrabharati University, a famous center for the study of the Indian Arts. There is a museum too in memory of the great Tagore family.

   
   




8. Marble Palace

   
   




9. National Library : India's the largest library; contains huge collection of rare books and manuscripts.

   
   




10. Fort William: citadel of Calcutta . With the permission of the Nawab of Bengal, this fort was built between 1696 and 1702 by the British East India Company and named after King William III of England. In 1756 the fort was taken by the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-dullah. In 1757 East India Company regained their power and demolished this fort and they started reconstruction of the fort. The new fort was completed in 1773 and it is still there.

    
    




11. Rajbhavan

    
    




12. Rabindra Sarovar

    
    

Calcutta - Parks and Stadia :---

1. Eden Garden

   
   




2. Botanical Garden : The garden was founded in 1787 by the East India

   
   

Company and formerly known as Royal Botanic Garden. It is famous for its

huge collection of bamboos, orchids, palms and the plants of screw pine

genus. The area of the garden is more than 270 acres and more than 1700

plant species can be found.

1. Rabindra Sarovar Stadium

   
   




2. Race Course

   
   




3. Golf Course

   
   

Calcutta – Museums:---

1. Indian Museum : the oldest museum in India and one of the most comprehensive museums in Asia; the archaeology and numismatic sections contain the most valueable collections.

   
   




2. Nehru Children's Museum :It's a great entertaining place for the children, named after the first prime minister of India,Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It's located at Jawaharlal Nehru Road (formerly Chowringhee Road). The stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have been depicted nicely with the help of the animated dolls.

   
   




3. Victoria Memorial Museum

   
   

Calcutta - Places of Worship and Meditation:---

1. Belur Math : headquarter of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, founded by Swami Vivekananda

   
   




2. Dakshineshwar Kali temple

   
   




3. Kali Temple, Kalighat

   
   




4. Nakhoda Mosque : the largest mosque in Calcutta which can accomodate 10000 worshippers at a time; built in Indo-Saracenic architecture style.

   
   




5. St. Paul's Cathedral Church : the most important church of the city; located in between Birla planetarium and Rabindra Sadan.It was constructed by Bishop Willson in 1847 . It is the first Episcopal Church of the East. The Indo-Gothic style architecture of this church is really impressive.