Kolkata’s unique architectural heritage is a reflection of the communities that settled in the city and made it their home over centuries — a collection of architectural styles not seen elsewhere in India.
Kolkata is known to celebrate its Durga Puja in all its grandeur. But, Kolkata also shines during Christmas and gulps down a plate of Biriyani and Sewaiyaan in Eid. That’s the Culture of Kolkata. Built in 1787, St. John’s Church was among one of the first public buildings erected by the East India Company in one of the busy lanes of the City. The Church caters to the netizens even today, showing the beautiful Heritage of the City and foretelling the stories of eons ago.
Another building sharing its tales with open doors is the Toong On Church (Chinese Temple) thriving in a shanty area of the City. The diverse culture of Kolkata is what it’s known for and attracts tourists with open windows to sit on and view the city lines from atop.
Spread across a hundred acres of land, Futnani Chambers was built in the late 19th Century by the Britishers. It still has a political significance from the standpoint that it was the young home of one of Bengal’s longest serving Chief Minister - Jyoti Basu. Worn down today, it still has huge social significance in the lives of hundreds of whose shops are swung open each day to cater to the public at large.
The tram lines laid across the city will take you from the infamous Theatre to the lanes of the busy New Market (formerly known as Sir Stuart Hogg Market), one of the busiest markets in the country. Built about 150 years ago, it houses more than two-thousand shops and is one of the hotspots of the city. Catering to the needs of people of all culture, in local parlance, New Market can be referred to as both, a cultural and political hub of the city.
The City’s culture does not just belong to mere opaque walls but into the souls alive within them. Built in 1883, one of the Nation’s First Commercial Theatre, the Star Theatre of the old ‘Calcutta’ talk about our rich Heritage and the stories of the likes of Vidyasagar and Tagore who had visited this place themselves.
Another heart of the City’s politically driven economic architectures would be AG Bengal, the Indian Government’s Office of Audit and Accounts.
‘Calcuttan’ architecture would be incomplete without a trip down to the Marble Palace.
One of the Jewish Masterpieces - The Esplanade Mansion, beautifully erect in the heart of the City. The building is core to the City’s culture.
The nitty-gritty of a common day in Kolkata can be lived in the infamous Calcutta Bungalow, an old 1920 building remade for the public to sulk into the Bengali culture and enjoy the delicacies catered.
The world-famous Victoria Memorial. The prior is a beautiful palace opened in 1835 with sculptures and every inch of the building made of white marble. Built in a Neoclassical style it is still famous for housing unseen artwork, a rock garden, lake and a small zoo in itself. When we begin to talk about Victoria Memorial, words won’t suffice to praise the architectural wonder dating back to the time of Queen Victoria.
Every architectural structure has liven on for thousands of years and will thrive for centuries after us, to tell our stories, to sit by those window panes and gaze into the City’s horizon and share our lives and our breaths with the every generation to come. That’s our culture, that’s our legacy and its heritage.
