Religious, Spiritual sights in Kolkata (Calcutta)
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Kumartuli
This fascinating district is named for the kumar (sculptors) who fashion giant puja effigies of the gods, eventually to be ritually immersed in the holy Hooghly. Different workshops in lanes off Rabindra Sarani specialise in certain body parts, creating the straw frames, adding clay coatings or painting the divine features with brilliant colours. Kumar workshops are busiest for the two months before the October/November Durga Puja festival.
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Dakshineswar Kali Temple
The heart of this vibrant complex of 14 temples is a red-and-yellow 1847 Kali Temple shaped like an Indian Sacré-Coeur. This was where Ramakrishna started his remarkable spiritual journey and his small room in the outer northwest corner of the temple precinct is now a place of special meditative reverence. On Sundays the extensive complex is thronged with devotees.
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St Paul’s Cathedral
With its central crenellated tower, the 1847 St Paul’s Cathedral would look quite at home in Cambridgeshire. Inside, its extraordinarily broad, unbutressed nave twitters with birdsong and retains the original hardwood pews. Don’t miss the stained-glass west window by pre-Raphaelite maestro Sir Edward Burne-Jones.
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Mother Teresa's Mission & Motherhouse
Many visitors pay respects at Mother Teresa's large, sober tomb within the Sisters of Charity's Motherhouse. There's a small museum displaying Teresa's worn sandals and battered enamel dinner-bowl. Upstairs, 'Mother's room' is preserved in all its simplicity with a crown-of-thorns above her modest camp-bed.
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Nakhoda Mosque
Located to the east, the 1926 red-sandstone Nakhoda Mosque rises impressively above the bustling shop fronts of ever-fascinating Rabindra Sarani. Its roof, which is bristling with domes and minarets, was loosely modelled on Akbar’s Mausoleum at Sikandra.
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Armenian Church
Hidden away amid the bustle of Old China Bazaar St, the 1707 Armenian Church is claimed to be Kolkata’s oldest place of Christian worship. It has a low but finely proportioned, whitewashed spire that can be best spied from Bonfield Lane.
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Dadaji Jain Mandir
Directly opposite the Sheetalnathji Jain Mandir, the more sedate 1810 Dadaji Jain Mandir has a central marble tomb-temple patterned with silver studs. The temple is 1.6km from Shyam Bazar metro, two blocks south of Aurobindo Sarani via Raja Dinendra Rd.
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Birla Mandir
The 20th-century Birla Mandir is a large Lakshmi Narayan temple complex in cream-coloured sandstone whose three corn-cob shaped towers are more impressive for their size than their carvings.
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Sheetalnathji Jain Mandir
The most eye catching Jain temple on Badridas Temple St is the 1867 Sheetalnathji Jain Mandir, a dazzling pastiche of colourful mosaics, spires, columns and slivered figurines.
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Swami Vivekananda Temple
The 1924 Swami Vivekananda Temple marks the cremation spot of the mission's founder and Ramakrishna's most famous disciple. Swami Vivekananda's room is also preserved.
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Nirmal Hriday
Nirmal Hriday is Mother Teresa’s world famous, if surprisingly small, home for the dying, its roof-corners are pimpled with neo-Mughal minidomes.
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Sri Sarada Devi Temple
Within the Ramakrishna Mission compound on the Hooghly riverbank, several smaller shrines include the Sri Sarada Devi Temple entombing the guru's wife.
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St Andrews Church
There are many more imposing colonial edifices around the BBD Bagh. St Andrews Church has a fine Wren-style spire.
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BethEl Synagogue
Looking like a tall-spired church, Moghan David Synagogue is somewhat more impressive than BethEl Synagogue.
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Moghan David Synagogue
Looking like a tall-spired church, Moghan David Synagogue is impressive.
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Tippu Sultan's Mosque
Curiosities around New Market include the fanciful Tippu Sultan's Mosque.
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