Deodapper
Kolkata: Temples, museums, colonial core
New Barrackpore, West Bengal, IN · 13 stops · 56 km (34.9 mi) · about 3 h 22 min driving · 26 spoken stories · driven 2×
For those wanting to understand Kolkata's layered identity, this 35-mile route takes you from the airport through sacred sites like Dakshineswar and Belur Math, the Bengal Renaissance landmarks of Jorasanko and Marble Palace, and the colonial heart around the Victoria Memorial. Roughly 3.5 hours of driving, best broken up with stops for coffee at Indian Coffee House or breakfast at Park Street.
Photo: Apoorva Karlekar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
From Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU) to South City Mall
The stops
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1
Dakshineswar Kali Temple
Dakshineswar Kali Temple is a Hindu navaratna style temple in Dakshineswar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River. The presiding deity of the temple is Bhavatarini (Kali), a form of Mahadevi or Parashakti Adya Kali, otherwise known as Adishakti Kalika.
“We're pulling up at Dakshineswar Kali Temple, standing on the eastern bank of the Hooghly, the river also called the Bhagirathi.”
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2
Belur Math
Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It is located in Belur, West Bengal, India on the west bank of Hooghly River. The land for the Math was purchased on 4 March 1897.
“Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, the twin organizations founded by Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna's chief disciple.”
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3
Kumartuli
Kumortuli is a traditional potters' quarter in North Kolkata in West Bengal, India. The city is renowned for its sculpting prowess. It not only manufactures clay idols for various festivals but also regularly exports them.
“Welcome to Kumartuli, the traditional potters' quarter of North Kolkata.”
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4
Jorasanko Thakur Bari
Jorasanko Thakur Bari is a Haveli in Jorasanko, North Kolkata, West Bengal, India, is the ancestral home of the Tagore family. It is the birthplace of poet Rabindranath Tagore and the host of the Rabindra Bharati University campus.
“This is Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of the Tagore family and the birthplace of Rabindranath Tagore.”
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5
Marble Palace
Marble Palace is a palatial nineteenth-century mansion in North Kolkata. It is located at 46, Muktaram Babu Street, Kolkata 700007. It is one of the best-preserved and most elegant houses of nineteenth-century Calcutta. The mansion is famous for its marble walls, floors, and sculptures, from which it derives its name.
“Here's the Marble Palace, a palatial nineteenth century mansion at forty-six Muktaram Babu Street, and one of the best preserved and most elegant houses of old Calcutta.”
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6
Indian Coffee House
Indian Coffee House is a restaurant chain in India, run by a series of worker co-operative societies. It has strong presence across India with nearly 400 coffee houses.
“Time for an early lunch at the Indian Coffee House, the most famous address in the College Street book district.”
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7
Mullick Ghat Flower Market & Howrah Bridge
The Howrah Bridge is a balanced steel bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it replaced a pontoon bridge at the same location linking both sides of Kolkata.
“Two Kolkata icons in one place.”
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8
B.B.D. Bagh (Dalhousie Square)
Binoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh, shortened as B. B. D. Bagh, formerly called Tank Square and then Dalhousie Square, is the administrative, financial and commercial region and one of the central business districts of Kolkata (Calcutta), capital of the Indian state of West Bengal.
“We're in B.”
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9
Indian Museum
The Indian Museum is a grand museum in Central Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is the ninth oldest museum in the world and the oldest, as well as the largest museum in Asia, by size of collection. It has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies and Mughal paintings.
“The Indian Museum is right at the head of Park Street, and it's a heavyweight.”
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10
Park Street
Park Street, is a famous thoroughfare in downtown Kolkata, India. It is one of Kolkata's most visited places, famed for numerous celebrations such as on Christmas and New Year's Eve. The street runs through what was a deer park of Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta from 1773 to 1789.
“Park Street is one of Kolkata's most visited places, and the locals call it Food Street and the street that never sleeps.”
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11
Victoria Memorial
The Victoria Memorial is a large marble monument in the Maidan in Central Kolkata (Calcutta), having its entrance on the Queen's Way. It was built between 1906 and 1921 by the British Raj. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, the Empress of India from 1876 to 1901.
“And here is the white marble emblem of the city, the Victoria Memorial, standing in the Maidan with its entrance on the Queen's Way.”
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12
St Paul's Cathedral
St. Paul's Cathedral is a Church of North India (CNI) cathedral of Anglican background in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, noted for its Gothic architecture and dedicated to Paul the Apostle. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calcutta. The cornerstone was laid in 1839; the building was completed in 1847.
“A two minute hop from the Victoria gardens brings us to Saint Paul's Cathedral on Cathedral Road, part of what's nicely called the island of attractions along with Nandan, Rabindra Sadan and the Birla Planetarium.”
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13
Kalighat Kali Temple
Kalighat Kali Temple is a Hindu temple in Kalighat, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, one of the 10 Mahavidyas in the Hindu tantric tradition and the supreme deity in the Kalikula worship tradition. The temple is one of the 51 Shakti Pithas in India.
“Kalighat Kali Temple is dedicated to the goddess Kali, one of the ten Mahavidyas and the supreme deity of the Kalikula tradition.”
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