CALCUTTA/ KOLKATA CITY GUIDE

CALCUTTA/ KOLKATA CITY GUIDE

Kolkata is the state capital Of West Bengal and was previously known as Calcutta; it is situated on the banks of the river Hooghly and has the oldest port of the country known as the Port of Kolkata and the river is the only source of water transport. Kolkata is the hub of educational and cultural feat and is the basic component for the economy of the state. Kolkata is the third most populous city of the country and its economic productivity is ranked at third in the country and amongst the South Asian cities of the world. The city of Kolkata is populated densely with an agglomeration of 4.5 million residents of both urban and suburb. The city being old and if of heritage order fights and combats with urban growth of populations , traffic with congested roads, poverty and other socio-economic conditions which it is striving hard to confront and over-throw the ill effects that it has on the society ad on the city which curbs the growth of the city hence though being the third metropolitan city in the country it lags behind economically and the residents have to leave the city for their livelihood and also more because of the heavily influenced political activities that makes the believers to be orthodox . Old Calcutta was primarily consisted of three villages which was governed by the then Nawab of Bengal and which was taken over by the East India Company thereby making Calcutta a colony of the British Empire. The British came as traders and ended up being the ruler of the country and also making Calcutta as the seat of the sovereign head.

Calcutta was comprised of three villages namely Jorasanko, Sutanuti and Gobindopur and it was established during the British rule in the country. The city is over 2 millennia old but its existence was came into records only after the arrival of the East India Company in the year 1690 and that entry was only for the sole purpose of trading and not to take over the city and thereby the entire country. Job Charnock a British is said to be the founder of the city later on in the present century it was held by the Honourable High Court of Calcutta that the city does not have a founder and Charlock’s contribution of founding and establishing the city was held void.

All the Jagirdaari under the Mughal Dynasty was straightaway transferred to the East India Company in the year 1698. In the year 1712 Fort William was constructed because of the small fights with the French. The then Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula did not support this act of the English and warned the British regarding upgrading any new construction and also not to evade from the tax. But the British did not pay attention to the Nawab and led the Nawab to usurp the Fort William having a lot of casualties of the British troops in the process. In the following year the city was recaptured by Robert Clive and in 1765 the Battle of Buxar followed the Treaty of Allahabad. By the year 1772 Calcutta became the capital of the East India Company and in the year of 1773 the status of the Nawabs were abolished took over the city entirely leading the end of the Nawabs.

The city underwent many a changes and saw an uprising of the culture and political environment that had a mind to free the state as well as the entire country from the shackles of the British colonisation.  The Marxist Party came into the limelight into Bengal after the country was independent of the British and the Maoist movement known as the Naxalites came into the picture. The Bangladesh Liberation during the 1971 sa a lot of Bangladeshi immigrants into the city. Calcutta is the base for the Communist Party of India and is the longest serving party with regard to the tenure of office in any state which was elected and re-elected democratically by the voters of the city and the state.

 The city of Kolkata is based on the lower delta of the Indo Gangetic plains. The city is marked with high levels of humidity during the summers with temperatures as high as 36 degrees Celsius and with a pleasant winter of 15 degrees Celsius. The Summers are met with occasional Nor westers known as the Kal Baisakhi with an annual rainfall of 1582 millimetres. The city is hit by cyclones due to the presence of the sea just being two hundred kilometres away from the city hence having an influence over the city.

The city is well connected with the local train system, the railways for outstations, trams which has a heritage value and is protected to maintain the rich culture of its glorious past, the metros connect the entire city from North to South and the new connection from the East to West is under construction. The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is based at Dum Dum and operates all the domestic and International flights and its up gradation has increased the number of daily flights which was earlier.

Most of the school and education department is run by the State Government and generally Bengali is the mode of education because it is spoken all over the city even by those who are not Bengalis. Urdu and Hindi too has an influence over the city but in patches though hindi is the second language spoken in the city. The city houses the oldest and the first institution in Asia to teach modern contemporary medicine known by the name of Calcutta Medical College which was founded in the year 1835. According to a census of 20025 it was held that Kolkata was ranked second in terms of children being immunised under the Universal Immunisation Programme.

Kolkata is referred to as the City Of Joy and with the laid back and fun filled attitude of the people make it rightly being called as the city of joy. The city is also inhabited by the Chines in the Eastern side of the city and they have an area totally in their name as the China Town of Kolkata. There innumerable place of interest in Kolkata marking the first place is the Victoria Memorial then the Museum which the largest in Asia and the Birla Planetarium is of special mention. The Race course is a place to visit during the winters when the derby season is at its full swing. The Dakhineshwar and Kalighat temples are the most holy place of pilgrimage for the Bengalis within the city.