Oh ! Calcutta ! … Now it’s Oh ! Kolkata !

 Oh ! Calcutta !   … Now it’s  Oh ! Kolkata ! 

Once upon a time , I was longing to visit  Calcutta  which has a nick name “ City of Joy” . Coinciding to this nick name , in 1969 there was a  longest running  musical show in Broadway and in London with 3900 performances ,  based on the controversial off-Broadway musical comedy revue.  It is a series of musical numbers about sex and sexual mores ! In Indian news papers the news of Oh! Calcutta ! was like a mirchi !  But I do not find any  link between the title of the musical and the city , Calcutta . Any way it was sensational at that time , when I was 17 !

Though I had travelled  to many places in India on official duties , Calcutta was missed out  for quite a long years. At last I had a chance to visit for an audit work to Calcutta in 2000 for my previous company , Greaves Cotton. I felt very happy on seeing the City of Joy. When I got down at Howrah railway station , the historical bridge welcomed me !

Calcutta is located on the east bank of Hooghly river and served as the capital of India until 1911 under the East India Company and later under the British Raj.

But in my first visit I could not move  around much to enjoy the richness of the city. Later when I joined Schwing Stetter , I got a good opportunity to visit many places in the city and suburb. The thrill of travelling in the TRAM , is a great pleasure , as the Tram services in old Madras was terminated  in 1953, I believe. It is a new mode of transport to see and enjoy travelling for me and every new visitor will love to go for a ride. It moves very slowly in a track along with other motor vehicles .

The places I have visited are  Victoria Memorial Museum , St.Paul’s Church , National Museum , under ground Metro train travel , Dhakshineswar , Belur Math ,  ISKCON temple  and  Birla Mandir . In the present Kolkata ( Calcutta has been renamed in 2001 as Kolkata ) , lot of infrastructure development is happening and a new city  has already come up in the suburb. The charm of old Calcutta  is still there in the present Kolkata in certain areas with hand pulled rickshaws and  cycle rickshaws. You can see all mode of transport in Kolkata , which you may not see in any other states .

On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who was then Viceroy of India, placed before the public the question of setting up a fitting memorial to the Queen. He suggested that the most suitable memorial would be a "stately", spacious, monumental and grand building surrounded by an exquisite garden.This was to be a historical museum where people could see before them pictures and statues of men who played a prominent part in the history of this country and develop a pride in their past.The princes and people of India responded generously to his appeal for funds and the total cost of construction of this monument amounting to one crore, five lakhs of rupees, was entirely derived from their voluntary subscriptions.Sir William Emerson, President of the British Institute of Architects, designed and drew up the plan of this building, while the work of construction was entrusted to Messrs. Martin & Co. of Calcutta. Vincent J. Esch was the superintending architect.

St. Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral of the Church of North India - a united church which is part of the Anglican Communion - in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calcutta, and the incumbent bishop is the Rt. Revd. Ashoke Biswas.^[1]

The building itself stands on the "island of attractions" in Kolkata - beside the Victoria Memorial, Nandan, Rabindra Sadan theatre complex, and the Birla Planetarium.

Belur Math, sprawling over forty acres of land on the western bank of the Hooghly (Ganga), in Howrah district, an hour’s drive from Kolkata, is a place of pilgrimage for people from all over the world professing different religious faiths.  Even people not interested in religion come here for the peace it exudes.

It was at Belur Math that Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the foremost disciple of Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), lived the last years of his brief life.  He consecrated the grounds in 1898 by worshipping the urn containing the sacred relics of Sri Ramakrishna, which he himself carried on his shoulders to the place of worship. 

The Dakshineswar Kali Temple (Bengali: দক্ষিনেশ্বর কালী মন্দির Dokkhineshshôr Kali Mondir, Sanskrit: दक्षिनेश्वर काली मन्दिर) is a Hindu temple located in Dakshineswar near Kolkata. Situated on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini, an aspect of Kali, meaning, 'She who liberates Her devotees from the ocean of existence i.e Saṃsāra'.^[1] The temple was built by Rani Rashmoni, a philanthropist and a devotee of Kali in 1855. The temple is famous for its association with Ramakrishna a mystic of 19th Century Bengal.
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 Shiva—Kali's companion—along the riverfront, a temple to Radha-Krishna, a bathing ghat on the river, a shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni. The chamber in the northwestern corner just beyond the last of the Shiva temples, is where Ramakrishna spent a considerable part of his life.

Kalighat Kali Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess Maa Kali.^[1] It is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.
Kalighat was a Ghat (landing stage) sacred to Kali on the old course of the Hooghly river (Bhāgirathi) in the city of Calcutta. The name Calcutta is said to have been derived from the word Kalighat. The river over a period of time has moved away from the temple. The temple is now on the banks of a small canal called Adi Ganga which connects to the Hoogly. The Adi Ganga was the original course of the river Hoogly (the Ganges). Hence the name Adi (original) Ganges.

Apart from the above land mark places I have travelled  around  and seen the co-existence of rich and poor  in the old city. A barefoot rickshaw puller and a rich man in a luxury  car  move together on the streets.



Rich & Poor contrast !



Convoy of rickshaws



Another way of transport ?



Joy ride for whom ?



Famous Haldiram Sweets are made here!



Sharma Tea House - for delicious samosa and tea



Flyover to new city



yellow taxi on the bridge



Indian National museum Estd.1814



Road side economic shave !

Merging of Tram and Taxis in a busy street



Superfast roads to Delhi and Mumbai



Tender coconuts on two wheelers !

There are many photos I took in my last trip during March 2012 but could not share all here. Hope you all will have the pleasure of viewing Kolkata through the lense of my Blackberry ! A seperate story line is  getting ready on my trip to Mayapur , the International Head Quarters of ISKCON , a holy Dham , about 130 KM north of Kolkata. Chant hare Krishna and Be Happy .