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Kolkata and all of India can be (and is) dirty, hot, congested, chaotic, has heart-wrenching poverty, some of the worst roads in the world, and demands patience along with constant vigilance regarding water and food but...
India is also one of the most colorful and interesting countries in the world. Prepare to never know what you are going to see on any given day throughout your journey whether in villages, along the road or the city. Anywhere you go, there will be another fascinating sight before your eyes. On our last day in Kolkata, a man walked down Sudder Road (a busy, main street) with a live sheep slung over his back while his small son led their herd of goats down the middle of the road! If that doesn't stop you in your tracks, nothing will.
A few of the "must see" sightseeing in Kolkata:
- The Flower Market, located under the Howrah Bridge (itself a landmark of Kolkata);
- Dakshineshwar and Kalighat Temples;
Continue reading "Sheila's Fast and Easy Kolkata/Calcutta, India" »
Kolkata has always had a diverse community that includes Chinese, Tamil, Armenian, Tibetan, Greek and Jews and India (historically) has provided shelter and asylum to people facing persecution, but if someone doesn't take you by the hand and show you where the two synagogues (..."synagogue" means house of assembly, house of worship...) of Kolkata are, you'll never find the them. Both Magen David and Beth El, Synagogues (Historic Protected Heritage Monuments)...View image.... are buried in the extremely busy BBD Bagh (Dalhousie Square) area, the center of British power during the 1800's and reasonable close to the Kolkata Flower Market and Howrah Bridge. Down narrow streets, surrounded by busy wholesale/retail shops and warehouses, you not only will have trouble finding them but also need written permission to visit.
Malini tried to locate them on the day's Kolkata sightseeing without any success. We arrived back in Kolkata for a short day between Orissa and Sunderbans and decided to revisit David Nahoum's famous Nahoum's Confectioners shop in the New Market. Both to tell Mr. Nahoum how disappointed we were and buy more delicious buns. Nahoum's was founded in 1902 and the original owner's grandson is the person you see for written permission.
Continue reading "The Ancient Synagogues of Kolkata/Calcutta, India" »
And now for something completely different... With another free day in Kolkata, Tomas (Footloose Travel) earlier suggested that we might enjoy spending time at the venerable Royal Calcutta Turf Club (race course), built in 1820, if the horses were running that day. It's difficult to get information on-line but the daily newspaper showed that there were going to be races today. Good deal...here they come spinning around the turn...
Malini had pointed out the Royal Calcutta Turf Club (they have not changed the spelling of Calcutta to Kolkata) and we set out to walk there, calculating it was perhaps a 2-3 mile walk tops from Hotel Lytton. Off we went, straight south down Chowringhee Road, past the green expanse of the Maidan with its park and cricket grounds (people exercise here in the morning), managed to actually cross the roads without getting run over, inhaled tons of dust and pollution while doing all this. The constant din of traffic, honking, buses spewing exhaust in the heat was tiring but finally the Royal Calcutta Turf Club in front of us...View image...
Continue reading "A Day at The Horse Races - The Royal Calcutta Turf Club, India" »
The first visit was to the Dakshineshwar Kali Temple located across the Houghly River in the North Kolkata area. Off with the shoes and paid a few rupees to have them watched (they would not be there when leaving if you didn't)... View image...before heading inside. On weekends (which this was), there is a very long wait to enter the most important nine-spired main temple in the center where Rama-krishna was a priest and reached his spiritual vision of the unity of all religions. The Dakshineshwar Temple was built in 1847 or 1855, depending who gives you the information, and is surrounded by 12 other temples dedicated to Shiva. Malini had two interesting "facts":
- If a worshipper visits and prays at all of the temples in this complex, all sins are washed away; and
- The worship of "woman power" only takes placed in the Bengali area.
Instead of standing in the very long line for the main temple, we walked out the courtyard to the Houghly River and spent some time watching the locals bathe before leaving the complex to watch every woman entering Dakshineshwar Kali Temple carrying red flowers as offerings to Kali. "Red" is Kali's favorite color and she is considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses.
Continue reading "Dakshineshwar and Kalighat Temples in Kolkata/Calcutta, India" »
Even while leaving the Kolkata Flower Market there was much to see. Men loading and unloading trucks filled with heavy bags of rice and grains...View image...sellers of fruit....View image...and green coconuts to drink...View image...people picking through garbage (remember Slum Dog Millionnaire?) and small carts carrying cardboard...View image. There was never an end to the varied sights of Kolkata.
A short car ride to Kumartula, one of the oldest residential areas in Kolkata with a high concentration of clay modellers, known as "Kumar." This district is busy throughout the year making icons of Hindu Gods and Goddesses and wedding decorations. Diwali (the festival of lights) was over and since Holi (the festival of colors and spring) had not begun, most of the clay modellers weren't working today. There were a few working on deities made of bamboo, straw and clay, and then decorated with color and cloth but not many. Before heading to the Queen Victorial Memorial and temples, we popped into the New Market for a few minutes to buy some buns (sweet rolls) at Nahoum & Sons Confectionary (we were all starving) and the Oberoi to use a clean toilet. TIP:: Look for a decent hotel and/or restaurant. Once you leave your hotel, there are no other clean toilets.
Continue reading "Kolkata, India Clay Modellers and Queen Victoria Memorial" »
The Kolkata Wholesale Flower Market is one of the Kolkata highlights. I dearly love flowers and the sight (and smell) of thousands of roses will forever remain with me. You can buy one dozen long stem red roses for less than $1.00 U.S. That blew my mind. The market is almost directly under the Howrah Bridge, itself a landmark. ...View image... At one time, the Howrah Bridge was the only way across the Houghly River and is similar in size to Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. It is considered the busiest bridge in the world and everything from pedestrians...to bullock carts...to push carts...to automobiles...to bicycles cross every day.
Before plunging into the market, Malini filled us with mutliple cautions. Buyers and sellers are constantly running through the narrow lanes of the Flower Market with humungous loads on their heads. Watch every footstep, where you walk, what's coming at you, piles of animal and human excrement...and in we went...
Continue reading "The Kolkata/Calcutta, India Flower Market" »
Malini and driver from D.J. Tours & Travel, Kolkata, picked us up at 9:00 a.m. for a long day of sightseeing and promptly began filling our heads with facts about Kolkata on the way to the Flower Market. Keep in mind that these are Malini's facts:
- There are over 70,000 metered taxis.
- Kolkata/Calcutta is called "City of Joy" because the people are so easily pleased.
- The hand-pulled rickshaws can weigh more than 20 kilos/44 pounds (and then you add the weight of the people) and can only be found in Central Kolkata. Elsewhere, the rickshaws are pulled by bicycles or motorbikes.
- Kolkata is the only Indian city that still operates trams. ...View image... The trams were pulled by horses at one time.
- The population of Kolkata includes the suburbs and exceeds 13 million people. More than one million people make their way into the city each day for work.
Continue reading "On The Way To The Kolkata/Calcutta Flower Market, India" »
Yes, they did change the spelling from Calcutta to Kolkata in January 2001 with many conflicting explanations. Fortunately, all ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I had to do today was wake up for breakfast. The Hotel Lytton looks much better in the daylight (contrary to arrival at 2:00 a.m. in the dark) and is ideally located in the Chowringhee area. ...View image... But first, breakfast. Lytton begins serving a huge buffet breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and there are other westerners (primarily French today) here beside us. The delicious International buffet (different choices every day) was loaded with Indian food (we love Indian food), eggs made to order, the ubiquitous British favorite...baked beans...and even unexpected "breakfast foods" like vegetable tetrazzini. Refreshed, it was time to set out on an ATM and bottled water hunt.
Directions from hotel staff, it was gird the loins and head outside where little yellow Ambassador taxis were waiting, along with barefoot, painfully thin (but strong) rickshaw pullers hoping for a fare, a few beggers and Sudder Street has many homeless people. Sleeping in the bushes, doorways while others wash theirselves in a source of runnning water. One of the many Mother Theresa places for the Dying and Indigent isn't far away and another building across the street distributes free food to the poor several times a week. But even so, you'll see these sights all over Kolkata/Calcutta. Sudder Street is a long time favorite of budget travelers and safe. The famous *****Oberoi Grand Kolkata was only a short three-block walk from Hotel Lytton.
Continue reading " Exploring Kolkata/Calcutta, India in Depth" »
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