Historical Landmarks and attractions of Kolkata

Historical Landmarks and attractions of Kolkata

24 August 1690, Job Charnak lands in Sutanuti village along Hooghly river.

The British took Lakshmi Kama Mnjumder's house (1st brick house in Kolkata) on rent near today's Laldighi.

In 1691 the East India Company opened office. Since then slowly Kolkata became beautiful.

On 10 November 1698, British East India Company purchased the three vil¬lages—Kolkata. Govindopur, Sutanuti at a cost of Rs 1600+1300.

In 1773 the British left Chennai and established capital in Kolkata (1773— 1912).

In 1803 Lord Wellesly formed Im¬provement Committee for the develop-ment of Kolkata.

The British Union Jack was hoisted for the first time on top of the fort in Kolkata in 1702.

In 1847 Kolkata Municipality was formed with 7 Councilors and in 1865 Kolkata Corporation was formed.

The British was defeated in 1756 by Siraj, Nawab of Bengal.

In 1757, Clive defeated the Nawab and laid foundation of British Empire.

Kolkata's main gateway is Howrah Bridge or Rabindra Setu. A cantilever bridge with a dimension of 705x97 meter built in 1943 This famous brdge connects Kolkata & Howrah. This is the 3rd longest in the world. It, however, ranks first in terms of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Be¬fore that in 1874 a pontoon bridge, by arranging rafts or bergs one by one, was used to ferry between the two banks.

Metro railway (underground railway) was for the first time introduced in India. It is the 5th underground railway in Asia. The foundation stone was laid by the then Prime Minister of India Mrs Indira Gandhi on 29 December; 1972. The service was opened to the public on 24 October, 1984. Initially it was introduced be¬tween Tollygunge and Esplanade and Dum Dum to Shyambazar. In course of time on 29 Sept 1995, service between Dum Dum & Tollygunge was introduced. The journey time between Dum Dum and Tollygunge (16 km) is 33 minutes. Metro-ride is one of the prime tourist attractions in Kolkata.

Kolkata is the only city where electric tram cars are running on the tracks laid on the roads.

India's first Planetarium, M P Birla Planetarium started in Kolkata on 29 Sep¬tember,1962.

Another pride of Kolkata is its vari¬ous museums (33) including college and university museums.

Today sky-scrapers are found every¬where in India. However, the first sky- scraper—13 storied New Secretariat Building was first constructed in Kolkata in 1954.

Other worth mentioning landmarks in Kolkata ore Sahid Minar illuminated in the evening, fountain of lights opposite Victoria Memorial, Kolkata gallery in Victoria Memorial, Son-et-lumiere, i.e. the history of Kolkata in light and sound presentation, at Victoria Memorial. New addition is Asia's largest cable steed bridge on Ganga called 2nd Hooghly Bridge, i.e. Vidyasagar Setu.

World's first floating naval museum River Ganga is in Man-of-War Jetty in Kolkata. Various episodes of Kolkata during British rule are presented in pic¬torial form by Kolkata Port Trust

Balloon sports i.e. ballooning in sky is another interesting and romantic event added to Kolkata's variety from Garer Math (Maidan). Airborne Promotions from Delhi is assisting in this respect with relevant equipment The cost of joy ride in the sky for 4 persons at a time in a bas-ket of 70 ft high balloon is Rs 2500 per head for half an hr.

The Police Museum in Kolkata is another interesting addition to the city's existing attractions. Book-bomb sent by the revolutionaries of Maniktala to British Police Commissioner Kingsford in 1908, the revolver of Kanai Lai Dutta, letter of Dinesh Gupta, car door of Tegart and other souvenirs of revolutionary era are the exhibits in the museum at D C (North) office premises close to Maniktala. Not only fire arms, seized secret orders of revolutionaries, leaflets, the bomb unit hurled by Japanese in 2nd World War are also exhibits in the museum. The museum at 113 A P C Road also displays evolutionary history of Kolkata Police from the time of the Black Deputy. It is open every day from 11 am to 5 pm except Monday.

The latest addition in Kolkata is the 1st Science City in Asia, the pride of Kolkata at the intersection of EM By-Pass and Park Circus extension. It took 3years to complete. The Science City was built in an area of 50 acre of land at a cost of Rs 60 crore at the initiative of Dr Saroj Ghosh.
Disneyland to intricacies of space science is being shown here. One of the objectives is also to create awareness about environment.
Dina-motion and Space Theatre are wonders of Science City. There are convention centre, mini auditorium, seminar hall, souvenir hall, cafeteria etc. It is open between 9-00 to 21-00 every day. One should visit this place on Kolkata tour.