Apart from having the largest number of colonial buildings of any city in India, she added, Kolkata was also once a “world city” along the lines of New York. ; 91-33/2249-2323; doubles from US$130. Discover (and save!) Kanak Bldg., 41 Chowringhee Rd. The driving force behind a collaborative online media archive called Recalling Jewish Calcutta, she has most recently authored Where Gods Reside, a book that explores the city’s diverse places of worship—lesser-known gems include a Greek Orthodox church and a Japanese Buddhist temple. Between them, Singapore Airlines and subsidiary SilkAir offer daily flights from Singapore to Kolkata. ; 91/98-3007-0213; doubles from US$345. The past lives on everywhere, clashing and combining with the future in a colorful tapestry: flower vendors hand-stripping stems of their thorns by the bushel with their smartphones laid on the pavement beside them; hawkers rolling and folding samosas for suited office workers and young rockers festooned with piercings; dhoti-clad laborers taking their morning bath in the frigid Hooghly, just as they have done for hundreds of years. 18 Park St.; 91-33/2229-8841. The result is a barebones catalog that only outlines the city’s significant architectural heritage, ranging from undeniable icons like the Writers’ Building (a Greco-Roman landmark originally built for the British East India Company in the 1770s) to effectively anonymous structures such as an “old residential house” on Abhoy Guha Road. And yet, as Deb Lal explained when she arrived a few minutes later and spread out a map of the city’s heritage sites, the original headquarters of the Raj today sees only a fraction of the foreign tourists who explore Lutyens’ Delhi or the Gateway of India area of Mumbai. Mullick Bazar, Park Street area Kolkata, West Bengal, 700017, ... Old … Located far from the heart of the city, at Belvedere Avenue, around 30 kms off Kolkata, the National Library is not just a literary sojourn but also a ghost-buster's delight. We threaded through the stalls and down to the riverbank, where some of these workers were bathing in the shadow of the Howrah Bridge. The British colonized India for over 200 years, and cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai are home to notable Victorian-era buildings. 5 Radha Kanta Jeu St.; 91/98-3018-4030; doubles from US$72. We rendezvoused at 6 Ballygunge Place, an upscale restaurant that occupies a large white bungalow in the South Kolkata neighborhood where 18th-century European residents once built their so-called garden houses. Sections of this page. Copyright © 2018 DESTINASIAN MEDIA GROUP - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The architecture of Bengal, which comprises the modern country of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley, has a long and rich history, blending indigenous elements from the Indian subcontinent, with influences from different parts of the world.Bengali architecture includes ancient urban architecture, religious architecture, rural … As developers eye land, activists and residents fear the city’s history is fading with the demolition of old structures. Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Pargans, Howrah, Hooghly, and Nadia .Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi). This home by Abin Design Studio, enriched with heirloom treasures and a fusion of classic and contemporary elements, is a tribute to his family. “This isn’t a spectacularly different house from what people know of from their lifetime. Looking up at the bougainvillea-festooned window boxes on the building’s pretty red-brick exterior, I recalled Deb Lal’s complaint about the “facade-ism” that has become a stand-in for more substantial conservation efforts in the absence of a comprehensive heritage plan. Interior Design Studio. Where citizen groups are active, such as in the old Chinatown area of Tiretta Bazaar, revival efforts are starting to gather steam; McGill was particularly effusive about the 2017 transformation of a 110-year-old Chinese dormitory into Sei Vui, a restaurant run by one of the neighborhood’s surviving social clubs. Far from a cesspool of filth and poverty, Kolkata is one of the most vibrant and engaging metropolises in the country. Designers Interiors Architects Welfare Association. Calcutta Walks guide Ramanuj Ghosh at the Mullick Ghat flower market. A genial man with a neatly trimmed gray beard, Sen took justifiable pride in showing me the work he had done to preserve the property’s original features (red oxide floors, decorative window grilles) while modifying it for use as an art gallery and museum shop–style boutique that sells eclectic apparel and home decor. your own Pins on Pinterest 91-33/2460-3922. Sprawled along the banks of the Hooghly River, Kolkata was never a planned city like New Delhi, she explained. Old building architecture of Kolkata. The wooden ceiling had long planks and solid wooden logs to bear the load of the ... with a special focus on the Raj and Kolkata. Steeped in the intellectual patriotism that made Calcutta the center of the Indian independence movement in the early 20th century and later gave rise to Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army, Bengalis have been reluctant to embrace the city’s legacy of imperial rule, even though the Victoria Memorial—a white-marbled pile built a century ago in the so-called Indo-Saracenic style—is perhaps the most remarkable homage to empire in all of India. Despite those compromises, given the fate of the Old Kenil-worth, The Astor represents an important victory for conservation, and along with a few other pioneers, it could mark a turning point for the city. The designation meant all renovations had to be cleared through the city’s Heritage Conservation Committee and changes to the exterior were not permitted, despite the fact that the building was virtually falling apart when restoration work began in 2012. Note: We do our best to ensure that all articles are accurate at the time of publication, but things change, do check ahead. It was the story of India all over again: “intangible” ingenuity was thriving by dint of jugaad—or “making do”—while the infrastructure crumbled around it. We arrived just in time to avoid the long queue, and my tablemates, who run a tour company called Heritage Walk Calcutta, ordered up a feast worthy of twice our number, including deep-fried flatbreads filled with green peas (koraishutir kochuri) that are a winter staple. Photo about January 08.2011 Kolkata,West Bengal,India,Asia-A traditional house of the Old Kolkata. May 3, 2019 - Kolkata designed by ranganath krishnamani. Developed from three riverside villages granted to the East India Company by the nawab of Bengal in 1690, Kolkata—known until recently as Calcutta—became the first capital of the British-held territories in India a century later and remained the capital of British India until the seat of government was moved to New Delhi in 1911. Never a city for colonial nostalgia, the former Calcutta has a poor record when it comes to protecting its architectural heritage. “Because it doesn’t have any theoretical foundation, the list is dangerously prone to manipulation,” said Deb Lal, bemoaning the destruction of several post-independence structures associated with Writers’ Building. Open In Google Maps. Kolkata, Oct 31 (IANS) A coffee table book, “Kolkata Happening City”, with more than 2,700 photographs of iconic buildings and unique facts on its distinctive old-world architecture was launched here on Tuesday. 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