Winning Nobel Prizes - all of 3 so far, one of which went to the ambassador of Peace, Mother Teresa - is second nature to Kolkata, widely known as the intellectual capital of India, and as a city with a soul. Kolkata is home to Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa and Amartya Sen, all three of whom won the Nobel Prize at different stages of Kolkata's life.
Kolkata is the capital city of the Indian state of West Bengal, and is situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river. The city lies between the Hooghly on the west, the salt lakes to the east, and the marshes and the swamps to the south.
It was called Calcutta ever since the British renamed it for ease of pronunciation, right until 2001, when its name was officially changed to Kolkata. It retains a large part of the colonial legacy of the British, which is just as well, because it was where the seat of British power lay during the time it was being consolidated in the country.
Poetry, communist thought, rasogullas and Durga Puja are some of the things that Kolkata is known for. Besides being the cultural and intellectual capital of India, it is also the financial and commercial hub of Eastern India. It is a major commercial and military port as well.
The partition of India began the decline of the region, following which, over the 1960s and the '70s, power shortage and a violent Marxist-Maoist movement caused economic stagnation to set in. Kolkata has since been the base of India's communist movement, and for over 3 decades now, Bengal has been ruled by the Left. Since 2000, however, the IT industry has set foot in the state and the city has begun to progress economically.
Yet, the city's charm is inescapable. Political rallies, football matches and books thrive together here, as the Maidan, Kolkata's landmark public park, so successfully conspires in their harmonious co-existence. Even though air-conditioned malls and business complexes are starting to keep the city updated with the rest of the world, the old-world whiff is hard to erase any time soon. Some monuments that take you back into time are the Victoria Memorial Hall (a museum), St. Paul's Cathedral, the Indian Museum, the Shahid Minar, and Fort William.
Bengali, English, Hindi and Urdu dominate the speech waves in Kolkata. And sweets dominate the taste buds - rosogullas, roshomalais, maalpoa and sondesh are notorious favourites here. Kolkata, like the rest of West Bengal, is also passionate about Durgo Pujo, the festival dedicated to Goddess Durga.
Higher education is offered by universities - Calcutta, Jadavpur and Rabindra Bharati - and Bengal Engineering College. The Indian Institute Of Management is among the top 5 business schools in India.
Kolkata is linked to its twin, Howrah, by the Vidyasagar Setu or the Second Hooghly Bridge. Howrah is known for its manufacturing units, and was once known as the Sheffield of the Orient. The Howrah railway station is one if the busiest and the largest in the world. The famour Howrah bridge connects the city to Burrabazar of Kolkata, and is also a bustling stretch.
In all, here's a place that could help you end your cultural hunger, and that will make friends with your sweet tooth as well!
Article courtesy: localtiger.com
