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Victoria Memorial

The Victoria Memorial was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 25-year reign over India. After the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, the British government assumed direct control of the country, and in 1876 the British parliament made Victoria the Empress of India. Her reign ended with her death in 1901.

Kalighat Temple

One Raja Basanta Roy, uncle of Pratapaditya and the King of Jessore, Bangladesh built what is now known as Old Temple. This temple was situated on the banks of river Adi Ganga. The natmandir, a hall attached to the sanctum sanctorum is in the southern side while Shiva's temple is situated in the north-east. There is also a temple dedicated to Radha Krishna built in 1843 by a zamindar of Baowali. The speciality of Kali of this temple is the long protuded tongue made of gold. This is a different appearance from the other visualisations of Kali. Kalighat temple has

references in 15th century texts. The original temple was a small hut. The present temple was built by Sabarna Roy Choudhury of Barisha in 1809. They offered 595 bighas of land to the Temple deity so that worship and service could be continued smoothly. The name Calcutta was derived from Kalighata. In the early days traders halted at Kalighat to pay patronage to the goddess. The temple was initially on the banks of Hooghly. The river over a period of time has moved away from the temple. The temple is now on the banks of a small canal called Adi Ganga, connecting to Hooghly. The present dakshina Kali idol of touchstone was created by two saints - Brahmananda Giri and Atmaram Giri. It was Padmabati Devi, the mother of Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury who discovered the fossils of Sati's finger in a lake called Kalikunda. This made Kalighat as one of the 51 Shakti Pithas.

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral was the first 'Episcopal Cathedral Church' in an oriental country. Bishop Wilson patronized the construction of this church which was designed after Indo-Gothic pattern at a cost of Rs. 5 lakhs. The foundation stone was laid in 1839. Major Forbes of the Bengal Engineers' Association made the blueprint. It was completed in 1847. A massive earthquake led to the collapse of this tower. It was renovated but in another earthquake of 1934, it was adversely affected again. St. Paul's Cathedral has many well-preserved memorials, one of which is a stained glass panel of the west window, designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones in 1880 to honour Lord Mayo assassinated in the Andaman Islands.

famous Flower Market

This famous flower market in Kolkata is set at the foot of the massive Howrah bridge. The piles and garlands of roses and marigolds, the smells, the voices and the intense activity make it a fascinating and totally unique place.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple

In the year 1847, the wealthy widow Rani Rasmani prepared to go upon a long pilgrimage to the sacred city of Banaras to express her devotions to the Divine Mother. In those days there was no railway line between Calcutta and Banaras and it was more comfortable for rich persons to make the journey by boat rather than by road. We are told that the convoy of Rani Rasmani consisted of twenty four boats carrying relatives, servants, and supplies. But the night before the pilgrimage began, the Divine Mother, in the form of the goddess Kali, intervened.She appeared to the Rani in a dream and said,

"There is not need to go to Banaras. Install my statue in a beautiful temple on the banks of the Ganges river and arrange for my worship there. Then I shall manifest myself in the image and accept worship at that place." Profoundly affected by the dream, the Rani immediately looked for and purchased land, and promptly began construction of the temple. The large temple complex, built between 1847 and 1855, had as its centerpiece a shrine of the goddess Kali, but also had temples dedicated to the deities Shiva and Radha-Krishna. A scholarly and elderly sage was chosen as the head priest and the temple was consecrated in 1855. Within the year this priest died and his responsibility passed to his younger brother, Ramakrishna, who over the next thirty years would bring great fame to the Dakshineswar temple.