Kolkata West Bengal India

Kolkata: British India’s Former Capital

Kolkata was the capital of British India until 1911, when the imperial government moved to Delhi partly to escape the Bengali political scene, which was by that point more trouble than the British were comfortable managing. The city left behind some of the most ambitious colonial architecture in Asia, a deeply literary culture, an obsession with football, and some of the best street food on the subcontinent.

What to See

The Victoria Memorial is the dominant landmark: a marble-domed building completed in 1921, modelled loosely on the Taj Mahal with European Baroque elements, sitting in extensive gardens just south of the Maidan. The museum inside covers the British period in India with colonial artefacts, paintings, and documents. It is both impressive and uncomfortable in the way that good colonial museums should be. Entry costs around ₹30 for Indian citizens, ₹500 for foreign visitors.

The Howrah Bridge, completed in 1943, carries an estimated 100,000 vehicles and more than 150,000 pedestrians daily. The figures are contested but the bridge is genuinely extraordinary to walk across — the scale of the cantilever structure becomes apparent only when you’re on it amid the traffic, pedestrians, hand-pulled carts, and occasional cattle. Crossing it on foot costs nothing and takes about 15 minutes.

The Indian Museum on Sudder Street is the oldest museum in India (founded 1814), with a collection that ranges from Egyptian mummies to Gandharan sculpture to natural history. It is vast, poorly lit in places, and genuinely remarkable. Allow at least two hours.

The Kalighat temple, a functioning Hindu temple dedicated to Kali in the south of the city, is one of the most significant religious sites in West Bengal. Non-Hindus can enter the outer courtyard but not the inner sanctum. The area around the temple, full of flower sellers and pilgrims, is interesting in itself.

Food

Bengali cuisine is arguably the most complex and technically demanding in India, and Kolkata is the obvious place to eat it properly. Fish is central: hilsa (ilish) in mustard sauce is the signature dish, available at restaurants throughout the city from October through February when the fish is in season. Kosha mangsho, slow-cooked goat in a deeply reduced sauce, is the other landmark dish.

Street food: kathi rolls were invented in Kolkata at Nizam’s restaurant near New Market in the 1930s. The original is a paratha wrapped around egg and meat cooked on a flat griddle. Puchka (the local name for what most of India calls golgappa or pani puri) is consumed at speed at street stalls throughout the city. Mishti doi, sweetened yogurt set in terracotta pots, is available at sweet shops everywhere and costs almost nothing.

College Street, near the university, is the centre of Kolkata’s book trade — hundreds of second-hand and specialist bookshops, the largest concentration of such shops in Asia. The Indian Coffee House on the same street has been serving coffee to writers, students, and intellectuals since 1942 in a setting that has barely changed.

Practicalities

October through February is the right time to visit; the winter months are genuinely mild. The pre-monsoon period from March through May is extremely hot. The monsoon itself (June-September) is intense but the city functions and hotel rates drop.

The metro system is the most efficient way to move between major sites. The park Street area is the most convenient central accommodation zone, with hotels at all price points. A decent mid-range option runs around ₹3,000-5,000 per night.