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• Howrah Bridge • Fort William • Bellur Math • St. Paul's Cathedral • Eden garden • BBD Bagh • National Library                             • Indian Museum • Birla Planetarium • Victoria Memorial • Jaldapara Wildlife • Marble Palace • Science City • Botanical Gardens                     • Dakshineshwar Kali Temple

Fort William	Top^
Fort William constructed in 1781 in the honour of King William -III is the nerve centre of these Eastern operations of Indian Army, being the Eastern Army Command. Situated on the picturesque banks of the Hoogly the Fort has been a witness to many bloodbaths and historical moments. Today this fort is the property of the Indian Army with a provision to accommodate 10,000 army personnel. The fort still stands as before, except the St. Peter’s Church which no longer exists. The fort is built in a shape of an octagon. A telephone office, recreation club, canteen, cinema hall, restaurant, swimming pool and wide moat surround it. A museum inside the fort consists of arms and armors, swords, muskets and machine guns kept on display for the visitors.
Victoria Memorial	Top^
The Victoria Memorial was built to commemorate the peak of the British Empire in India. The Victoria Memorial, conceived by Lord Curzon, represents the architectural climax of Kolkata city. Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy specified its classical style but the actual plan of Victoria Memorial was laid down by the well-known architect, Sir William Emerson. The Victoria Memorial blends the best of the British and Mughal architecture. The Victoria Memorial hall was built with white Makrana marbles. The Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone of Victoria Memorial in 1906 and it was inaugurated in 1921 in memory of Queen Victoria. The Victoria Memorial is 338 by 228 feet and a height of 184 feet. Today the Victoria Memorial Hall is a museum having an assortment of Victoria memorabilia, British Raj paintings and other displays. As night descends on Calcutta, the Victoria Memorial Hall is illuminated, giving it a fairy tale look. It is interesting to note that the Victoria Memorial was built without British government funds.
Bellur Math	Top^
Belur Math was founded in 1938 by Swami Vivekananda, the disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, paying homage to his guru. It is situated at a distance of about 6.4 kms from Howrah Station on the banks of the Hooghly River. This place is very easy to reach, as it is well connected by bus and train. Belur math has an amazingly big prayer hall, where you can find the awesome statue of Ramakrishna. Belur Math of Kolkata, India is a very important pilgrimage place. Belur math houses a beautiful monastery, several temples and also has the headquarters of Ramakrishna mission. This international tourist attraction place is based on the principle of religious fraternity, as was advocated by Ramakrishna Paramhansa. This is also reflected in the architectural design of Math, which exhibits a blend of temple, church and mosque patterns.
St. Paul's Cathedral	Top^
St. Paul's Cathedral, built in 1847. Dedicated to Saint Paul, this church was the first Episcopal Church of the eastern world. Situated at the southern end of the Maidan, St. Paul's Cathedral attracts people from Calcutta as well as other parts of the world. Thousands of tourists visit the church every month. St. Paul's Cathedral, apart from being a religiously sanctified place, is a wonderful piece of architecture. It took about 7 years in its construction, before it was opened to public in 1847. The motif of architecture is typical Indo-Gothic in nature, characterized by slender vertical piers, counterbalancing buttresses, and vaulting and pointed arches. The entire credit for this wonderful architecture goes to Major W.N. Forbes, the famous English architect. This church was patronized by Bishop Wilson in 1839.
Indian Museum	Top^
Indian museum of Kolkata, India provides you a complete plethora of items to glance. Infact, there is a need to spend one whole day to view all the items. In the must watch category, we have the 4,000-year-old mummy and the urn that is said to contain the ashes of Buddha. Indian museum is more commonly known as 'Jadughar' as in house of magic, where you can also enjoy the fossils, coins, Gandhara art, stones etc. The present building, opened in 1875, comprises sections devoted to geology, zoology, industry, archaeology, art, and ethnology. The coin room contains the largest collection of Indian coins in the world. The Art Section comprises Tibetan temple banners, metal images, enamelled wares, bidriwares, ornaments, silver wares, glass wares, pottery, ivory and bone work, wooden sculptures, leather objects, lacquered toys. The Archaeological Section displays stone-age artifacts from India and abroad, pre-historic antiquities from Mohenjodaro, Harappa The Anthropological Section displays numerous objects of material cultures of both tribal and non-tribal peoples of India. The extensive Geological Section has over 80,000 specimens, displayed in four galleries showing varieties of meteorites, precious stones, ornamental building stones, rocks and minerals and fossils.
Birla Planetarium	Top^
Birla Planetarium, Kolkata has been projecting the fascinating celestial world of astronomy and space science to the discerning public ever since its inception, back in the year 1963. The planetarium is equipped with various state-of-the-art gadgets like the Celestron C-14 Telescope, Solar Filters, the Cal Zeiss Universal Planetarium projector and wide range of special effects projectors, which unravel the mysteries of the outer space in its dome shaped miniature sky every day. The Planetarium owns an astronomical observatory equipped with a Celestron C-14 Telescope with accessories such as ST6 CCD Camera, Solar Filter etc. An Electronics Laboratory for design and fabrication of scientific equipment is also present inside the planetarium. The laboratory has now developed an Automation System for executing special effects and visuals during a planetarium show. The planetarium organizes special shows during solar and lunar eclipses. Calcutta Birla planetarium is a single storied circular edifice designed in the typical Indian style. It is a must see place for those interested in astronomy. Its astronomy gallery maintains a huge collection of fine paintings & celestial models of renowned astronomers. It enables you to explore science outdoors.
Howrah Bridge
Howrah Bridge, Kolkata (now Rabindra Setu) is one of the best cantilever bridges in the world and a praiseworthy architecture also, which has always been attracting tourists over the world for its historical value also. Architectural significance of Howrah Bridge, Kolkata can fade away its glory in this modern time only because of its close association with history. It has been the emblem of Kolkata as well as West Bengal over the decades.Location:On the River Hoogly, between Kolkata and Howrah. Howrah Bridge, Kolkata connects Kolkata western bank and Howrah eastern bank. Just beside Howrah Railway Station. History of Howrah Bridge:The end of the 17th Century Kolkata realized a big communication problem with Howrah which is on the other bank of River Ganga. Kolkata was then comprises with three villages - Kolkata, Sutanati & Gobindapur. On the western bank, Howrah was emerging up as a bustling site of commerce.
Eden Garden	Top^
Eden Gardens is the oldest cricket ground in India and also one of the finest in the world. It was established in the year 1864 and has the largest accommodation as compared to all the grounds in the world. Though there is no definite information about the history of Eden Gardens, some believe that the land belonged to the Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, while some are of the opinion that it was the property of the Auckland Family. However, one thing which is certain is that the land was conferred to Governor General's family, who, in turn, presented it to the citizens of Calcutta for recreational purpose. Considered to be the largest cricket stadium in the world the Eden Gardens boast of a capacity of 1,20,000. Witnessing a cricket match at Eden Gardens jam packed with spectators is any cricket lover's dream come true. The mammoth score board and the flood lights just add to the cricket zing. One may get a glimpse of the stadium upon request to the chowkidar, otherwise entry is restricted to the stadium. The adjoining garden can visited from 0900-2000hr daily. Also try and visit the Mohun Bagan football club nearby.
BBD Bagh	Top^
BBD Bagh continues to be one of the posh areas of Kolkata city. BBD Bagh used to be the seat of British Power and was formerly called Dalhousie Square. The locality observed the name change after the siege of British Writer's Building by three brothers, Binoy, Badal and Dinesh. BBD as such stands for the initials of the three brothers. The building established by the British in the year 1880 still provides its services with a new crew, all those employed by the local government. The Writer's Building and the General Post Office of British era still exist as landmarks in BBD Bagh territory. BBD Bagh and its surrounding roads and areas like Netaji Subhash Road, Biplabi Trailakya Maharaj (formerly Brabourne) Sarani, Lyons Range, India Exchange Place, Mission Row, R.N. Mukherjee Road and Fairlie Place form the older commercial hub of the city.
Botanical Gardens	Top^
Botanical Garden in Calcutta, famous for its enormous collections of orchids, bamboos, palms, and plants of the screw pine genus (Pandanus). The garden covers more than 109 hectares (270 acres), on which about 1,700 plant species are cultivated. It was founded in 1787 by the East India Company, primarily for the purpose of acclimatizing new plants of commercial value and growing spices for trade. A major change in policy, however, was introduced by the botanist William Roxburgh after he became superintendent of the garden in 1793. The major tourist attraction of theo garden is a 250-year-old, 98 feet high, banyan tree (Ficus Bengalhensis) with a circumference of 1,300 feet. it contains over 30,000 varieties of trees and plants. The garden's main attraction is the world's largest banyan tree, 200 years old with over 600 aerial roots. Thus the scrumptious Assam and Darjeeling teas trace their roots to this garden. Apart from the regular Indian species it is also possible to be amongst some rare breeds straight from the Amazon and Congo basins, Brazil, Sumatra as well as Java. The grand sight of soaring Mahogany trees, enchanting and natural Orchid House and the glorious Cuban Palms is a memory of a lifetime.
Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary	Top^
The Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Alipurduar sub-division of Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal and about 124 km from Siliguri. This wildlife sanctuary is spread over an area of 114 square km. and located close to Phuntsholing in Bhutan. The nine tributaries of the Torsa river flow through the area which is shaded by tall grasses, mighty trees, perennial streams and sandy riverbanks. This sanctuary was established in the year 1941 for the protection of one-horned rhinos. The one–horned rhino, tiger, including the Royal Bengal Tiger, wild elephant, deer, bear, sambar, barking deer, hog deer, leopard, wild pig, bison and various other birds can also be seen here. Elephant safaris can be enjoyed at the Sanctuary. The best time to visit the sanctuary is between October and May. The nearest airport is situated at Bagdogra. Jaldapara is connected by road with Darjeeling and Siliguri. The Madarihat is the nearest railway station which is only 7 kms from the Sanctuary.
National Library	Top^
The National library is situated at the Belvedere Estate, near Alipore Zoo in Kolkata. Around 18 thousand readers daily gather to accumulate knowledge on various subjects. The collection comprises about 20,00,000 books and 5,00,000 manuscripts. Its gigantic campus encompasses 130 acres of land. At present, the National Library is the 2nd largest public library in Asia for which several notable persons have donated their invaluable collections at different times. Sadar-Ud-ddin, the Zaminder of Buhor, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, Surendra Nath Sen etc. are some famous donors. These have added to the value and content of books in this prestigious institution.
Dakshineswar Kali Temple	Top^
Dakshineswar Temple is famous and one of the important pilgrimage centers of India. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Kali, and was built in 1847 A.D., by Rani Rasmoni, on the bank of Ganga (Hughly) River. Legend has it that the Goddess appeared in the dreams of a rich lady who wanted to go to Varanasi. It is a world famous place of pilgrimage and it was here that the famous religious thinker Rama Krishna Paramahamsa achieved his spiritual vision and preached the unity of all religions. The temple compound, apart from the nine-spired main temple, contains a large courtyard surrounding the temple, with rooms along the boundary walls. There are twelve shrines dedicated to the aspects of Shiva, Kali's companion, along the riverfront, a temple to Radha-Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river, a bookshop, a shrine to Rani Rashmoni. The chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples, is where Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa spent a considerable part of his life.
Marble Palace	Top^
Marble Palace, Kolkata is situated at 46, Muktaram Babu Street, Chorbagan, on C. R. Avenue in north Kolkata. It is in vicinity to the house of the famous aristocrat family of Kolkata, and at large Bengal, the Tagores and the master-poet, Rabindranath Tagore. This exquisite Marble Palace, Kolkata is a marvelous construct made of exclusive Italian marbles. The great connoisseur of art, Raja Rajendra Mullick Bahadur patronized the building of this magnificence. This wonderful building accommodates a heritage-glorifying art-gallery. This architectural masterpiece is made from the extensive use of Italian marble. The lush green lawn in front of it is clad with statues of Hindu Gods, The Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the great explorer Christopher Columbus, Lord Buddha and some lions. The Marble Palace in Kolkata was named so by Lord Minto as 126 different types of marbles, accumulated from different corners of the country were employed to give shape to this one of a kind architectural delight.
Science City	Top^
Science city is truly a unique center of science, communication and environment. This institute was built in 21st century and till date it is the only one of its kinds within the country. Calcutta science city is located on Calcutta's Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. It can capacitate about 2215 persons. The science city of Kolkata, India consists of the main auditorium, 1 small size auditorium and about 8 fully air conditioned seminar halls. The different sections of the complex include the Space odyssey, Dynamotion, Life Science Corners, Science Park, Toy Train & Ropeway , the Dinosaurs Complex and others. The main auditorium of the Convention Centre complex can accommodate over 2000 people, while the mini auditorium has a capacity of about 400. There are 8 seminar halls complete with latest audio-visual systems. Open on all weekdays except Mondays the Science city is one place to get lost in the cycle of evolution with roaring dinosaurs, mammoths, sabre tooths and many other Jurassic life size creatures. Hold your breath all these activities can be undertaken within a budget of Rs 100/- per head, just make sure that you reach early so that you don’t regret the lack of time for not being able to do justice to each section.