Kolkata, India Clay Modellers and Queen Victoria Memorial
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.
Malini, driver and us snarfing down buns and bladders relieved, it was time to head from north to south past the Maidan (a wide expanse of green) and the Victoria Memorial. Today was spent driving to North Kolkata, though Central Kolkata, then South Kolkata (where the *****Taj Bengal Hotel is located) and finally back to Central Kolkata where the Hotel Lytton is located with a many more sights that caught my eye...a policeman, nattily dressed in whites making a valiant attempt to direct traffic...a very small truck carrying an extremely top-heavy load of oil cans (my biggest fear throughout the trip was that a truck would fall over on us)...and twisted masses of electrical/telephone lines looped on posts...
The Victorial Memorial was built in Italian Renaissance style by the British who tried to emulate the Taj Mahal...View image... and contains a supposedly fantastic collection of memorabilia from Colonial days. ex-Marine and I will have to take their word for it. Just too tired to tour the inside and contented ourselves with a walk across the Queen Victoria Memorial Bridge to look at the wonderful murals on the outside...View image...
...paid our respects to the statue of Queen Victorial...
...and enjoyed watching the local tourists take in the memorial...before getting into the car, one more time for the obligatory Temple visits.
