WEST BENGAL››Kolkata››Sightseeing

Botanical Gardens

The extensive Botanical Gardens, on the west bank of the Hoogly river, stretch forever 1 km along the river and occupy 109 hectares. The gardens were originally founded in 1786 and administered by Colonel Kyd. It was from these gardens that the tea now grown in Assam and Darjeeling was first developed. Trees of the rarest kinds, from Nepal, Brazil, Penang, Java and Sumatra can be found here. There are towering Mahogany trees, an avenue of Cuban Palms and an Orchid House. Mango and Tamarind trees shade the grassy lawns. But the main attraction of the garden is the 200 year old Banyan Tree, claimed to have the second largest canopy in the world. It is the world's largest, having a circumference of 330m.
The Palm House in the centre of gardens is also well worth a visit. The gardens are over the Howrah Bridge, 19Km by bus from Chowringhee. The gardens are open from sunrise to sunset, and although they tend to be very crowded on Sunday, on other days they are peaceful and make a pleasant escape from the hassles and crowd of Kolkata.

Nicco Park

Nicco Park is situated at Salt Lake. This Amusement park is the Disneyland of West Bengal, with a variety of unusual games and rides. The Cave Ride is the latest addition and is the only of its kind in this part of the world. The park is open to the public from 10.00 AM to 8.00 PM everyday during the winter and 11.00 AM to 9.00 PM everyday during the rest of the year.

Vidyasagar Setu

Vidyasagar Setu a golden Gate Bridge look alike, 2kms downriver, was completed in 1994. It is a modern day engineering marvel and is the largest cable stayed bridge in Asia. The bridge connects the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah. It was built at a cost of Rs. 388 crores. Unfortunately it is not making the big difference that was envisaged, as the approaches are too narrow to to handle the amount of traffic that use bridge, and plans for widening the road are slow in implementation.

Pareshnath Jain Temple

This temple, in the north-east of the city, was built in 1867 and dedicated to Sheetalnathji, the 10th of the 24 Jain tirthankars. The temple is an ornate mass of mirrors, coloured stones and glass mosaics. It overlooks a garden, and is open daily from 6 to 11.30 am and 3 to 7 pm.

Belur Math

North of the city, on the west bank of the Hooghly River, is the headquarters of the Ramkrishna Mission, Belur Math. Ramakrishna, an Indian philosopher, preached the unity of all religions. He died in 1886, and his follower Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. There are now branches all over India. Belur Math, the movement's international headquarters, was founded in 1899. It is supposed to represent a church, a mosque and a temple, depending on how you look at Belur Math is open daily from 6.30 to 11 am and from 3.30 to 7 pm, and admission is free.
    The Mission's Institute of Culture, which has a library, reading rooms and lecture halls, is in the south of the city near Dhakuria railway station.

Nakhoda Mosque

North of BBD Bagh, this is Kolkata's principal Muslim place worship. Built in 1926, the huge Nakhoda Mosque is said to accommodate 10,000 people and was modelled on Akbar's tomb at Sikandra near Agra.  The red sandstone mosque has two 46m minarets and a brightly painted onion-shaped dome. Outside the mosque, every day except Sunday, you can buy attar, which is perfume made from essential oils and flower fragrances.

National Library

The sprawling structure of the National Library, with a , most imposing facade and staircases in Belverde near Alipore houses collection of precious books in India. It is the biggest in India.

Next >>