Toong On Temple

Kolkata (Calcutta)


Peep through the crack between the often-locked doors of this distinctive 1924 two-storey building to spy a meditative Buddha statue glowing in the half light. If you manage to enter (no fixed hours), check out the quainter shrine on the 1st floor. The Chinese temple (curiously calling itself a church) is surrounded by the activities of trash-scavangers who live in humbling lean-tos on nearby pavements.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kolkata (Calcutta) attractions

1. Nam Soon

0.14 MILES

This is Kolkata's oldest Chinese temple, an 1820s relic from the colonial period when thousands of Chinese migrants flocked to Kolkata to work on the…

2. ML Bhunja

0.17 MILES

This brilliantly antiquated gunmakers' shop has operated since 1948 and while it now sells mostly imported sporting rifles, the old teak cabinets display…

4. Hind Perfumerie

0.22 MILES

This perfume-maker's shop conjures up images of the Raj era. It's an atmospheric place, although the perfumes can be of the strong concentrated variety…

5. Pollock St Post Office

0.27 MILES

Once a grand Jewish school building, this post office offers some curious photo ops, given its location in the heart of a busy market area.

6. BethEl Synagogue

0.28 MILES

Literally meaning 'House of God', this atmospheric synagogue's front facade looks a little like a 1930s cinema. Within the building (dating back to 1856),…

7. Mission Church

0.29 MILES

Hidden almost invisibly behind BBD Bagh, this Protestant church is Kolkata's second-oldest place of Christian worship, dating to 1770.

8. Nakhoda Mosque

0.31 MILES

Located amid the din and chaos of Rabindra Sarani, the 1926 red-sandstone Nakhoda Mosque rises impressively above the bustling shopfronts of its…