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The capital of West Bengal sprawls shapelessly
along the eastern bank of the Hooghly River. Once the glorious
capital of British India, its urban horror story of squalor and
starvation only began with Partition and a resulting massive influx
of refugees. This plucky city, however, is keen to promote itself as
the 'City of Joy' and, given half a chance, it reveals itself to be
one of the country's most fascinating and congenial cities, the
intellectual capital of the nation, and a thriving political and
arts arena.
Some welcome space is provided by the Maidan, an enormous open
expanse used by Kolkatans for recreation, cricket and football
matches, political assemblies, yoga sessions, and grazing flocks.
The area is large enough to engulf the massive Fort William, still
in use today, although visitors are only allowed inside with special
permission (rarely granted). At the southern end of the Maidan
stands the huge white-marble Victoria Memorial, fronted by a statue
of a frumpy Queen Victoria, which holds an extensive collection of
British-Indian historical objects.
Kolkata's administrative centre is BBD Bagh (Dalhousie Square). The
square holds both the whimsical and the brutal: on one side is the
Writers' Building where 'writers' (a quaint euphimism for clerks)
beaver away in the Kafkaesque labyrinth of corridors and vast
chambers while quintuplicate forms and carbon copies pile up along
the walls; on the other side is the GPO which was built on the site
of the legendary 'black hole of Kolkata'. It was here that, on an
uncomfortably humid night in 1756, over 140 British inhabitants were
forced into an underground cellar causing many to die overnight of
suffocation.
According to legend, when Siva's wife's corpse was cut up, one of
her fingers fell at the site of what is now the Kali Temple and it
remains a spectacularly grubby place of pilgrimage. In the morning,
goats have their throats slit here to satisfy the goddess'
bloodlust. The city's other attractions include: the excellent
Indian Museum, the largest and probably the best museum in the
country (but dusty and worse for wear due to lack of funds); the
Botanical Gardens, home to a 200-year-old banyan tree, claimed to
have the second-largest canopy in the world (the largest is in
Andhra Pradesh); and the iconic, cantilevered Howrah Bridge,
considered to be the busiest bridge in the world.
Budget accommodation, cheap eateries and bars are thick on the
ground in Chowringhee, south of the Howrah Bridge. Sudder St, off
Chowringhee Rd, is the focal point for budget travellers. There are
also lots of cinemas in this area, screening Kolkatan arthouse fare,
new release Hollywood movies and their Bollywood cousins. Kolkata is
no shopper's paradise, especially since a clean-up campaign has
forced hawkers off the pavements, but New Market, north of Sudder
St, is a good place for arguing the price of goods from clothing to
caneware.
Kolkata is on the international loop and you can sometimes pick up
cut price tickets at the airlines offices around Chowringhee.
Kolkata's Indian Airlines offers frequent domestic flights to major
Indian destinations including Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, and
Lucknow. Generally speaking, it's better to travel by train rather
than bus but if it's a bus you're after, you'll be looking at
catching the dubiously named 'Rocket Service' from the Esplanade bus
stand. For outbound trains, go to either Howrah station on the west
bank of the Hooghly river which handles trains going to the city, or
Sealdah station on the opposite side which takes you in the
direction of Darjeeling and other northern regions. |
India
