Things to do in Kolkata (Calcutta)
-
A
Indian Coffee House
The mythic Indian Coffee House was once a meeting place of freedom fighters, bohemians and revolutionaries. Today its crusty high ceilings and grimy walls ring with deafening student conversation but despite the dishwater coffee, it’s perversely fascinating. One block south of MG Rd, walk 20m east off College St and it’s upstairs on the left.
reviewed
-
B
Peter Cat
Opposite KFC, this phenomenally popular Kolkata institution offers fizzing sizzlers, great chelo -kebabs (barbequed fingers of spiced, ground-lamb) and beers quaffed from pewter tankards. Waiters wear Rajasthani costumes in an atmosphere redolent of a mood-lit 1970s steakhouse.
reviewed
-
C
Nizams
Bengal's trademark fast-food is the kati roll. No, that's nothing like a bread-roll. Take a paratha-roti, fry it with a one-sided coating of egg then fill with sliced onions, chilli and your choice of stuffing - typically curried chicken, grilled meat or paneer (unfermented cheese). Roll it up in a twist of paper and it's ready to eat. The classic, recently relaunched, 1932 roll house is Nizams, with faintly Tin-Tin-esque cartoon décor.
reviewed
-
D
Bar-B-Q
Three interconnected dining rooms offer different but similar menus in this enduring family favourite. Decor is comfortably unpretentious.
reviewed
-
E
Kali Temple
Kalighat’s ancient Kali Temple is Kolkata’s holiest spot for Hindus and possibly the source of its name. Today’s version, a 1809 rebuild, has floral- and peacock-motif tiles that look more Victorian than Hindu. The double-stage roof is painted silver-grey with rainbow highlights. More interesting than the architecture are the jostling pilgrim queues that snake into the main hall to fling hibiscus flowers at a crowned, three-eyed Kali image. Priests loitering around the temple might whisk you to the front of the queue for an obligatory ‘donation’ (significant money). Behind the bell pavilion but still within the mandir complex, goats are ritually beheaded to honour the e…
reviewed
-
The Maidan
After the 'Black Hole' fiasco, a moated 'second' Fort William (closed to public) was constructed in octagonal, Vaubanesque form (1758). The whole village of Gobindapur was flattened to give the new fort's cannons a clear line of fire. Though sad for then-residents, this created the Maidan pronounced 'moi-dan') a vast 3km-long park that is today as fundamental to Kolkata as Central Park is to New York City.
Fort William remains hidden within a walled military zone but for an amusingly far-fetched tale of someone who managed to get in, read Simon Winchester's Calcutta.
reviewed
-
F
South Park Street Cemetery
Today Park St is one of Kolkata’s top commercial avenues. But when it was constructed in the 1760s, it was a simple causeway across uninhabited marshlands built to allow mourners to access the then-new South Park Street Cemetery. These days that cemetery remains a wonderful oasis of calm with mossy Raj-era graves – from rotundas to soaring pyramids – jostling for space in a lightly manicured jungle. To support the cemetery’s maintenance, a Rs30 donation is appropriate, or buy the guidebook (Rs100) from the gatekeeper.
reviewed
-
G
Marble Palace
This grand 1853 mansion is indulgently overstuffed with statues, Victoriana, Belgian glassware and fine paintings – there’s even a reputedly original Rubens. The music room is lavishly floored with marble inlay but much of the antique furniture remains haphazardly draped in torn old dust-sheets. It’s an odd place where admission is technically free, but guards, guides and even the toilet monitor all expect tips. Before visiting you need to get a permission note from either West Bengal Tourism or India Tourism.
reviewed
-
H
Belur Math
This attractively landscaped riverside religious centre is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission. Amid the palms and manicured lawns, its centrepiece is the unique 1938 Ramakrishna Mandir, which somehow manages to look like a cathedral, Indian palace and Istanbul’s Aya Sofya all at the same time. That’s deliberate and perfectly in keeping with the message of 19th-century Indian sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who preached the unity of all religions.
reviewed
-
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.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
I
Mocambo
Despite somewhat old-fashioned red leather scoop-seats and benches, Mocambo has a very loyal following for its mixed grills (Rs189), fish Wellington (Rs192), chicken Kiev (Rs181) and bhekti meuniere (well they don’t have trout).
reviewed
-
J
St John’s Church
More colonnades buttress the stone-spired 1787 St John’s Church. The small, portrait-draped room on the right as you enter was once used as an office by Warren Hastings, Bengal’s first British governor-general.
reviewed
-
K
Dustarkhwan
Reliable curries, piled-high biriyanis (Rs100) and vampire-repelling garlic chicken-balls served inexpensively in a well air-conditioned if none-too stylish local restaurant. Cheaper options next door.
reviewed
-
L
Tantra
Considered Kolkata’s top club, contemporary sounds throb through the single dance floor and not-so-chilled chill-out zone around a central-island bar with an overhead observation bridge.
reviewed
-
M
Railway Museum
Some 500m south, the open-air Railway Museum has a two-storey model of Howrah train station, several 19th-century steam locos and a toy-train ride (Rs10).
reviewed
-
N
Only Parathas
Calm and relatively stylish this new restaurant offers high quality Punjabi vegetarian food including (but not limited to) 133 types of paratha (bread).
reviewed
-
O
Classic Books/Earthcare Books
Charming family publisher-bookshop with strengths in development, environmentalism, politics, spirituality and women’s issues. Located behind Drive-Inn.
reviewed
-
P
CIMA
For cutting-edge contemporary Bengali art visit CIMA a well-lit, six-room gallery with an eclectic giftshop.
reviewed
-
Q
Flury’s
Great espressos (Rs60) and iced-tea (Rs60) layered like a tequila sunrise in an enticing art deco palace-cafe.
reviewed
-
Kolkata University
College St is the heartland of Kolkata's vibrant academic universe.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Blue & Beyond Restaurant
The open-air rooftop terrace offers unusual views over New Market.
reviewed
-
R
-
Chinatown
Less than 500m south of Old China Bazar lie the scanty remnants of Kolkata's ragged little Chinatown. Most Chinese have since moved away, and at first glance the area looks pretty unappealing. But if you wander up Damzen Lane you'll find two Chinese Temples (one now used as a local school) and a somewhat decrepit gateway - built big enough for the family's domestic elephants. Just off the main road Chhatawali Gali (Lushun Sarani), notice the sad ruins of the once-grand 1924 Nangking Restaurant.
To get a closer look you'll pass an extensive shoulder-high garbage heap. But it's more than garbage. At closer inspection you'll see that Kolkata street-folk have burrowed homes r…
reviewed
-
S
Jain Temples
Three eye-catching Jain temples are grouped together two short blocks east of Raja Dinendra Rd (1.6km from Shyam Bazaar metro, two big blocks south of Aurobindo Sarani). The best known is 1867-built Sheetalnathji Jain Mandir. Its dazzling if somewhat unrefined pastiche of colourful mosaics, spires, columns and slivered figurines looks like a work of Gaudi. Directly south, the quieter Sri Sri Channa Probhuji Mandir has a fine gateway arch and plenty of greenery. The sedate 1810 Dadaji Jain Mandir has a central marble tomb-temple patterned with silver studs.
reviewed
-
T
Babu Ghat
The Hooghly might look unappealingly murky, but it's holy to Hindu Kolkatans whose main festivals often involve plunging divine puja images into its waters. The riverside ghats are interesting any morning or evening when die-hard devotees bathe and make offerings.
A photogenic if distinctly seedy vantage point is Babu Ghat, hidden behind a grubby, pseudo-Greek gateway near Eden Gardens. Here the votive floating candles simply add to the spectacle of colourful sunsets viewed through the impressively elegant Vidyasagar Setu suspension bridge.
reviewed
