Kolkata - Part I

Kolkata is not a very old city. It is only about 320 years old. Yet, being the capital of India during the "Indian Reneissance" , it has a long history of art and culture. (Kolkata was the capital of India during during British Indian rule till 1911) The facades of Kolkata reminds us of the days of the British Raj and tells a story of their own.
Kolkata is characterised by widely disparate income levels of its people, interest of the people in art and culture, culinery skills of the chefs of the various eating joints scattered throughout the city, a blooming film industry which has seen ups and downs but is still shining, and many more things. In fact, Kolkata carries different charms for every Kolkattan.

This post is dedicated to the older parts of Kolkata. North Kolkata, as it is known, is one of the earliest dwellings of the city. (Sutanuti village was one of the three villages that made up the city of Kolkata). The buildings are old, dillapidated yet carry a charm of their own.

The following photo was taken from my window on an autumn afternoon.


The following picture also depicts a typical North Kolkata atmosphere. Buildings standing close to each other, with a labrynth of lanes and by-lanes



The following picture shows the state of a typical building in North Kolkata



The rich reneissance history of North Kolkata is characterized by a lot of heritage buildings. Girish Ghosh, was a well known Bengali dramatist from Kolkata. The following is a picture of his house as it stands now.



Kolkata is flanked by river Ganges (Ganga) on the west. The following picture is a surreal view of the river.



People who live by the river, use it for bathing and washing, among other things. The following two pictures depict bathing and washing.

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To be continued...