What to see, what to do in Calcutta: the 10 essential activities

Calcutta astonishes and detonates. Far from India’s tourist routes, the city has charted its own course, cultivated its identity and preserved its past imperial splendour. Nowhere else in India is the scent of old England so palpable as in this city.

We discover its architectural heritage, admire its colonial buildings, visit the iconic Victoria Memorial, before strolling through its colorful markets, meeting its artists and tasting its street food. Follow our guide.

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Visit the Victoria Memorial

We walk through the Maïdan district with its vast avenues punctuated by grandiose buildings, the historic heart of the former capital of the British Indian Empire. The emblematic Victoria Memorial, an imposing white marble monument whose lines are located between the White House and the Taj Mahal, sits, imperturbable and majestic, in the south of the park of Maidan and reflects its immaculate dome in the basins of the gardens which surround it. . Erected to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, it is now a museum and park much loved by locals.

We visit its small museum which houses a permanent art collection and a gallery where we learn the history of the city. Opposite the Victoria Memorial, a detour to Saint Paul’s Cathedral is a must, a beautiful neo-Gothic building built by the British in 1847.

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Stroll down Chowringhee Street

Leaving the cathedral, take Chowringhee street, once the main artery of the imperial capital. We stroll on the wide sidewalk admiring the perfect alignment of the old Edwardian facades, its large vintage hotels like the Oberei Grand, a large white colonial-style palace and we stop in its upscale boutiques and its shopping centers.

In the Indian Museum, you can admire the Buddhist sculptures of Gandhara (1st century BC – 4th century AD). Finally, the visit ends with the New Market, the meeting place for shopaholics. Textiles, clothes, bags, crafts, tea, hi-tech… almost everything can be found in this colorful bazaar!

Take a “Heritage tour” in the BBD Bagh district

Continuing the walk in the same street we walk along the emblematic Eden Park, the largest cricket stadium in the world and we arrive at the BBD Bagh district (named after the three separatists Benoy, Badal, Dinesh), the former Dalhousie Square , the administrative, political and financial center of the British Indian Empire.

There is a concentration of the most beautiful colonial buildings classified “legacyof Calcutta like the Writer’s Building, an elegant 240-year-old red brick building, which today houses the government of the state of West Bengal. Two steps further, we marvel at The Last Supper by the German painter Johan Zoffany in the Church of St. John, the city’s first parish church (1787).

DISCOVER THE HERITAGE OF CALCUTTA

Taste the street food

Calcutta is famous for its street food. In the downtown neighborhoods, at lunchtime around Chowringhuee and Park Street, the streets fill with office workers grabbing a bite to eat and discussions are rife.

We weave through the crowd to admire the dexterity of the street “cooks” preparing before our eyes chapatis (Indian bread), delicious curries and other Bengali specialties and we taste one of these delicacies served on small paper plates for less than one euro! After these little snacks, we treat ourselves to a cup of Chaithe perfect blend of tea, milk, cardamom and sugar, at one of the chaiwallah (tea maker) street.

Take a mini-cruise on the Hooghly

We board a boat at the Vivada pier near the BBD Bagh district for a three-hour mini-cruise on the Hooghly, a tributary of the Ganges. Far from the frenzied agitation of the city, we let ourselves slide on the calm water of the river for a journey through the historical past of Bengal. Portuguese, French, English and Dutch… all went up the Hooghly to set up their trading posts on its banks from the 16th century.

From then on, silk, spices, jute and opium… all the wealth of Bengal sailed on this river aboard large merchant ships bound for Europe. Of the many ghatsstairs descending towards the river, women and men perform their ablutions, dive into the sacred river, place a few offerings of flowers, meditate or have a massage.

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Marvel at the flower market

Early in the morning we go to the famous Howrah Bridge, the symbol of Calcutta. This 655m-long mixture of steel and exhaust fumes is certainly the busiest bridge in the world, with 80,000 cars and more than a million pedestrians crossing it daily! At the foot of this iron mastodon and this hellish traffic, the most delicate perfumes take over at the Mullik Ghat flower market.

We stroll among the mountains of orange and yellow carnations, garlands of jasmine, bouquets of orchids or roses which are negotiated here. The flowers are mostly destined for temples throughout the province of Bengal.

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Meet the Godmakers of Kumartuli

We hail an ambassador, the emblematic yellow taxi of Calcutta, to go to the district of the godmakers in Kumartuli in the north of Calcutta. Here, one is born sculptor of Hindu deities from generation to generation and the hundred workshops where idols of straw and clay come to life are close together. The craftsmen shape Hindu deities before our eyes to provide the statues of the Gods of the various religious festivals that punctuate the Hindu calendar.

We let ourselves go in the labyrinthine alleys, from workshop to workshop to see the sculptors model, make up and dress the countless statues. Some sculptures seem larger than life! The months before October are the busiest in activity, when craftsmen produce statues of the 10-armed goddess Durga for the festival held in her honor.

TOUR OF THE TEMPLES OF CALCUTTA

Honoring Mother Teresa

One cannot go to Calcutta without visiting the house of the Missionaries of Charity created by Mother Teresa in 1950. The place welcomes volunteers from all over the world guided by the charisma of this Albanian, Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2016. We go there at the end of the afternoon to attend adoration, a moment of grace during which the sisters sing and meditate.

We gather in front of the tomb of Mother Teresa and we visit the museum dedicated to her as well as the small room in which she lived in the greatest destitution and where she died in 1997.

VISIT OF MOTHER TERESA’S HOUSE

Dive into the intimacy of Tagore

Born in Calcutta, Rabindranath Tagore is one of the greatest Indian poets and the first man from the Asian continent to have received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. We visit his birthplace, today a museum devoted to the life and the work of the artist. In the beautiful red brick mansion built by the Tagore family in the 18th century, you can discover the Bengali art of living through the antique furniture and the layout of the different rooms.

Life-size portraits, original paintings and photographs recount the evolution of Tagore as an artist but also his commitment as a philosopher, he was the figure of the Bengali Renaissance. “Kavi gurui.e. the master of poets, is today a source of inspiration for the younger generation and his house, once the nerve center of artistic and cultural reform in Bengal, has become a place of pilgrimage. for contemporary artists from India.

GUIDED TOUR OF CHIC NEIGHBORHOODS

Sip coffee at the Indian Coffee House

The Indian Coffee House on College Square is a veritable institution in Calcutta. We stop here for a coffee break and immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of the Bengali pastime par excellence. As soon as you cross the threshold, you are caught up in the ambient hubbub of conversations that resonate in the huge room on two floors.

Residents of all social categories, students, retirees, or politicians, gather here to chat while sipping a coffee for a few euro cents under the giant portrait of Tagore. Over the decades, the Coffee House has been a meeting place for Bengali writers, poets, and artists such as Tagore, but also Satyajit Ray and Amartya Sen, a Flore Bengali cafe!

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY DAY