Dakshineshwar-Jain Temple (morning)-Indian Museum-
Nehru Children’s Museum-Victoria Memorial-Zoo (afternoon)Purely for orientation, take one or both of the above bus (Rs75) tours. Neither is up to much: the guide’s talk is drowned out by traffic, too much time is spent in the bus, too little at the more interesting sights, but at least you’ll get out and about a bit, and certain sights, notably Howrah, are really best experienced from a bus window. The morning tour leaves the bus terminal in the city center via the High Court building (1872) and the oldest Catholic church in Calcutta, St Mary’s. A half-hour later, it comes to the single-span cantilevered Howrah Bridge (1943), and grinds to a prolonged halt. Two million people cross this bridge daily, and you have to wait your turn. Originally a marshy swampland (the origin of its name), Howrah is now Calcutta’s most congested area. A tidal wave of human and motorised traffic washes over and around the bus, and if this doesn’t tell you what Calcutta’s about, nothing will.Across the bridge are the Botanical Gardens. The largest and oldest of their kind in India, they were laid out in 1787. Spread over 270 acres, and containing over 30 000 varieties of trees and plants, it is also Calcutta’s principal lung. The gardens are famous as the place where Assam’s and Darjeeling’s famous teas were first developed, and presently house several species of bamboos, palms, succulents and exotic plants gathered from five continents. But their main attraction is the world’s largest Banyan Tree, over 200 years old, with a circumference of 417 m (1367 ftl). Despite the loss through decay of the ‘mother’ tree in 1925, the more than 1600 younger aerial roots continue to flourish, giving the tree the aspect of a forest. The tour bus spends exactly 4 minutes here, before leaving the gardens. Return to see them properly another day. Arrive by car or rickshaw (19 km; 12 miles from Chowringhee, 40-min drive, set out 7 am latest to avoid rush-hour Howrah crush) and use Nos 55/56 buses for the hour-long tour of the gardens.Some 10 km (61/2 miles) further north, still on the west bank of the Hooghly, the tour visits Belur Math, headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission. This was established in 1898 by Swami Vivekananda, in memory of the popular Indian sa- Rarnakrishna, who preached the essential unity of all religions. Reflecting this ids,. the Ramakrishna Temple here looks like a church, a mosque or a Hindu temple , depending on where you view it from. The Mission itself is a medical help centre for the poor. Open to visitors 6.30 am to noon, 3.30 to 7.30 pm, daily. A short distance north, over the Hooghly via Vivekananda Bridge, a visit is made to Dakshineshwar Kali Temple, the place where Ramakrishna achieved his spiritual vision. Tour guides impress visitors by telling them that the saint’s name has been invoked here continuously for 20 years. The great appeal of Ramakrishna’s religion is its cosmopolitanism, its free and liberal tolerance, something which free-thinking Calcuttans can readily identify with.
Returning south, some 3 km (2 miles) from the city centre, the tour makes its final morning stop at Parasnath Jain Temple, arguably the most interesting temple in all Calcutta. An exquisite structure, built in 1867, it is accompanied by beautiful ornamental gardens. Dedicated to Sitalnathji, 10th of the 24 Jain tirthankars (prophets), it houses an elaborate, colourful blend of glass mosaics, mirror-inlay pillars, and stained-glass windows, and features a gilded dome ceiling, floral-design marble flooring from Japan, and ornate chandeliers from Brussels and Paris. For a Jain temple, it’s unusually flamboyant. Opening times are 6 am to noon, 3 to 7 pm daily.
The afternoon city tour is altogether more worthwhile. It starts at the Indian Museum, at the junction of Sudder St and Chowringhee. Built in 1875 in the Italian style of architecture, this is the largest museum in India and houses one of the finest collections in Asia. There are presently six departments: archaeology, anthropology, zoology, geology, botany and art, arranged in dusty mothballed halls round a central garden courtyard. The archaeological section features the immense Bharhut Stupa, depicting the 500 incarnations of Buddha prior to his enlightenment. There is a fine collection of South Indian coins, dating back to the 5th century BC, and some beautiful terracottas. Also, a fine collection of Gandharan sculpture. Upstairs, there are giant prehistoric skeletons and a preserved goat with 8 legs and 4 ears; also the rare double-coconut tree, which blossoms only once every century, and takes a further 10 years to produce a fruit. The geology section has meteorites, also rocks and minerals. At the top of the building, there’s an excellent display of miniature paintings. The whole place is dusty, dim and yellow with age, but this somehow adds to its appeal. The museum is open 10am to 5 pm (summer), 10am to 4.30 pm (Dec–Feb), except on Mondays, and there’s a decent guidebook on sale at the entrance. Admission is Rsl.
The Nehru Children’s Museum, at the bottom of Jawaharlal Nehru Rd, is a novelty stop. It has an overrated scale model of Amritsar ‘s Golden Temple and various electronic/scientific games. But there’s a fine collection of dolls, and a model exhibition depicting India’s longest epic poem the Rarnayana, in 1500 miniature models. This tells the story of the King Rama who defeated the manyheaded demon king of Lanka, Ravana, to retrieve his abducted wife Sita. The museum is open 12 noon-7 pm, except on Mondays, and sells excellent ice-cream. Admission is Rs2.
The tour stops next at the majestic Victoria Memorial, picture-postcard symbol of Calcutta. Built between 1906 and 1921 at a cost of Rs7.5 m, this gleaming white marble palace stands at the southern end of the Maidan, a living reminder of the might of British India. It had been compared to the Taj Mahal, with its four rudimentary minarets, gleaming white dome and exterior of solid Macrana marble. It was conceived by Lord Curzon as both a tribute to Queen Victoria and a triumphant depiction of her reign in India. Playing on Henry James’ lament on hearing of the Queen’s death), ‘We all feel a bit motherless today’, Curzon appealed to popular sentiment and raised the money for this fabulous reliquary entirely from voluntary subscriptions. Fully reflecting the pomp of empire, the Empress of India sits at the entrance flight of marble stairs, enthroned in bronze, clad in the regal robes of the Order of the Star of India. Further symbol of her greatness is provided by the 49-m bronze Angel of Victory, spreading its wings skyward, high atop the central dome.
Inside is the finest collection of memorabilia relating to British India contained under one roof. The Royal Gallery on the first floor has paintings of the notable events in Victoria’s life: her coronation, marriage to Albert, the christening of son Edward VII, celebrations of golden and diamond jubilees. Also, the museum’s pride: the rosewood baby grand piano on which the young princess played, and her personal writing-desk and embroidered armchair. The largest painting in the gallery, indeed the largest oil painting in India, is the work of the Russian artist Vassily Verestchagin, and depicts all the pageantry of the Prince of Wales’ (the future Edward VII) visit to Jaipur in 1876. The Portrait Gallery contains a rare collection of ancient Persian manuscripts, including some illuminated writings owned by the ‘Tiger of Mysore’, Tipu Sultan. The walls of the gallery are lined with pictures of key figures in the 1 development of British India, including a pensive-looking Robert Clive, General Stringer Lawrence (father of the Indian army) and the Duke of Wellington. The adjoining gallery has an arms and armour collection dating back to the times of medieval Indian combat.
Beyond Robert Clive’s cannon-fronted statue in the Sculpture Gallery, you’ll find the Memorial’s focal point, the magnificent Queen’s Hall, with its graceful figure of the newly crowned girl queen. This is overlooked by 12 large frescoes depicting the main highlights of her life. The museum also has a very good collection of 18th and 19th century prints of India and portraits by British and European artists. The collection of prints by Thomas and William Daniell is the most complete in India. Back on the entrance balcony, you can enjoy a fine view out onto the Maidan. Open 10 am-5 pm in the summer (only to 4 pm November to February), except Mondays, the Victoria Memorial demands an extensive visit. You can leave the bus here for the free guided tour from the memorial entrance which lasts 2 hours, and is highly recommended. The bus tour continues to the Zoological Gardens 2 km (1 1/4 miles) south, off Belvedere Rd (open 6.30 am-5 pm, entrance Rsl). The gardens house rare white tigers of Rewa, giraffes and exotic birds, and an odd reptilium with snakes living in little tiled bathrooms. From the zoo, cross the road and take tea in the fine, new Taj Bengal Hotel.
Finish off the day with a relaxing sunset stroll round the Maidan. This large area of not so green parkland was cleared from the jungle around the old Fort St William (not open) to allow cannon an unobstructed line of fire. Today it is a popular place to do early-morning yoga for city-dwellers preparing to do battle with another day of urban stress. If you want to see more than just joggers and cricketers, browsing sheep and goats, vendors and hangers-on, turn up on a Sunday for the Dharamtolla ka Mela fair. This takes place near the Ochterlony Monument, and features folk entertainers, quacks dispensing medicines, performing animals and children, and all sorts of strange goings-on. Just off the Maidan, on the corner of Cubbon Park, opposite the South-east Rail Booking office in Esplanade East, there’s something really strange: a small hole-pocked triangular island affectionately known as Rat Zoo. It’s rodent husbandry run amok.