11 Best Sights in Kolkata (Calcutta), India

This massive, white marble monument was conceived in 1901 by Lord Curzon and built over a 20-year period. Designed in a mixture of Italian Renaissance and Saracenic styles, surrounded by extensive, carefully manicured gardens, and preceded by a typically sober statue of Victoria herself, it remains a major symbol of the British Raj as well as that of Kolkata itself. Inside the building is an excellent museum of the history of Kolkata (there's a lot to read, but it will really sharpen your sense of the British-Bengali relationship) and various Raj-related exhibits, including Queen Victoria's writing desk and piano, Indian miniature paintings, watercolors, and Persian books. Cameras and electronic equipment must be left at the entrance. In the evenings there's a sound-and-light show, with narration in English, about Kolkata's history. The lawns are used by locals, especially during winter, for family picnics and joyrides on horse-drawn carriages.

With wide, buzzing streets lined with late-Victorian buildings and pavements taken over by vendors selling rice-based meals, snacks, fruits, clothes, accessories, books, magazines, and electronic devices, this square remains the heart of the city. Still referred to by its colonial name, Dalhousie Square, the regal buildings were built around a sprawling tank (water reservoir), Lal Dighi, for civil employees. Now they are home to international banks, and the state secretariat and other public offices. After office hours, the square falls silent; that's a good time to visit if you're interested in taking a closer look at its architectural and historic landmarks.

North Kolkata may be the city's intellectual heart, but the slick commercial area east of the Maidan is the city's spinal cord. Now technically called Jawaharlal (or J. L.) Nehru Road, Chowringhee runs along the east side of the Maidan, with shops, hotels, and old Victorian buildings lining the other side of the wide pavement. In the evening, hawkers do their best with potential shoppers, and at night, the homeless bed down.

For breakfast or tea with sandwiches, try Flury's Tea Room which serves nostalgia in a new, contemporary setting. Kolkata's first Swiss confectioner opened in the 1920s and is now an institution. You can get a chicken or cheese omelet, croissants, vegetable patties, beans on toast, tea in a pot, and coffee for Rs. 500.

The irregular heptagon south of the Eden Gardens in the Maidan is surrounded by a moat almost 50 feet wide. Begun in 1757 after Robert Clive's victory at Plassey over Siraj ud-Daula, Fort William was designed to prevent any future attacks. The fort's walls, as well as its barracks, stables, and Church of St. Peter, have survived to this day chiefly because the fort has, in fact, never been attacked. The Indian government still uses the fort, but it's closed to the public.

Built in 1864 and still in use as Kolkata's main post office, this building's massive white Corinthian columns rest on the site of the original Fort William, where the British were attacked in 1756 and many officers were imprisoned by Siraj ud-Daula in the infamous "Black Hole of Calcutta," a tiny space that caused most of the group to suffocate. A postal museum, founded in 1884, has artifacts and stamps. The Philatelic Bureau is situated at the southwestern end of the building.

India's oldest museum has one of the largest and most comprehensive collections in Asia, including one of the best natural-history collections in the world. The archaeology section has representative antiquities from prehistoric times to the Mughal period, including relics from Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, the oldest excavated Indus Valley cities. The southern wing includes the Bharhut and Gandhara rooms (Indian art from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD), the Gupta and medieval galleries, and the Mughal gallery.

The Indian Museum also houses the world's largest collection of Indian coins. Gems and jewelry are on display. The art section on the first floor has good collection of textiles, carpets, wood carving, papier-mâché figures, and terra-cotta pottery. A gallery on the third floor contains exquisite Persian and Indian miniature paintings, and banners from Tibetan monasteries. The anthropology section on the first floor is devoted to cultural anthropology. The museum plans to establish India's first comprehensive exhibit on physical anthropology. Some interesting specimens are an Egyptian mummy donated in 1880 by an English seaman, a fossilized 200-million-year-old tree trunk, the lower jaw of a 84-foot whale, and meteorites dating back 50,000 years.

On the north end of the Maidan stands a 148-foot pillar commemorating Sir David Ochterlony's military victories over the Nepalese in the border war of 1814–16. Built in 1828, the impressive monument has a curious design: the base is Egyptian, the column is Syrian, and the cupola is Turkish. Previously known as the Ochterlony Monument, now officially called the Shaheed Minar (Martyr's Tower), it has been the site of many political rallies and student demonstrations during Calcutta's turbulent post-Independence history.

The graves and memorials here form a repository of British imperial history. People who lived within the Raj from 1767 on are buried here, and in the records of their lives you can see the trials and triumphs of the building of an empire.

Completed in 1847, the cathedral now has a steeple modeled after the one at Canterbury; previous steeples were destroyed by earthquakes in 1897 and 1934. Florentine frescoes, the stained-glass western window, and a gold communion plate presented by Queen Victoria are prize possessions. Birds congregate in the interior eaves. The lawns and the Parish Hall are a popular venue for marriages and other functions.

Maidan, the green lungs of the city, and loved and prized by its people, stretches from the governor's house in the north to the National Library in the south, the Hooghly in the west, and the iconic Victoria Memorial in the east. The historic fields were created when the forests around the water bodies in the area were cleared out for the British army stationed at Fort William. The Maidan is now home to cricket fields, Eden Gardens, clubhouses of popular football (soccer) leagues, stadiums, monuments, statues of both British generals and Indian leaders, and a racecourse. Mornings see fitness enthusiasts and sports teams take to the grounds, while evenings are for families and couples enjoying the pony rides and fountains.