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West Bengal
Kolkata
Sightseeing
Sightseeing
 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 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.
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