MOULDING TRADITION FROM CLAY
The symphony of artisans kneading clay, hammering frames in place, hoisting 50kg idols of gods and goddesses and the clicking of photographers’ cameras capturing the spectacle make up the scene at Kumartuli in the run-up to Durga Puja. This 300-year-old neighbourhood — translating to ‘potters’ quarters’ — captures a timeless artistic heritage of Kolkata and […]
KOLKATA’S ART DECO LEGACY
When the Hindi OTT period series ‘Jubilee’ starring Prosenjit Chatterjee hit the screens this April, viewers lapped up Bollywood’s first real-life scandal. The rift between the Bombay Talkies husband-wife team of Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, and the scandal that rocked the industry when she ran away with the hero of her film Najmul Hussain, […]
Nandan-West Bengal Film Center
GREEN FUTURE ON HERITAGE TRACKS
The legacy of Kolkata’s roads owes its reputation in part to the clang of trams rolling down the tracks. For 150 years, the original, ecofriendly, electric vehicles have woven into the very fabric of the city, continuing to be the sole operating tram network in India. As a witness to Kolkata’s evolution, trams serve as […]
Old shops of Kolkata
KOLKATA’S LAKE DISTRICT
The Lake, or Rabindra Sarobar, with its four islands and the lush green surroundings, which is home to a wide range of biodiversity, was non-existent till a century ago.The area in Dhakuria was a marshland, from where Calcutta Improvement Trust (later, Kolkata Improvement Trust, which recently merged with KMDA) excavated soil to fill tracts […]
LIGHTS, ACTION, KOLKATA
Cine-lovers’ heart swells with pride when Amitabh Bachchan, in his speeches at Kolkata International Film Festival year after year, talks about Kolkata’s robust contribution to Indian cinema. Bachchan’s analysis is neither limited to the global impact of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’, Mrinal Sen ‘Kharij’ or Ritwik Ghatak ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’, nor does it merely point […]
CITY BY THE RIVER
Calcutta started its journey as a city over 300 years ago when East India Company administrator Job Charnock established the Company’s trade on the bank of the Hooghly. The business post was selected as the place was skirted by the Hooghly on the west and a creek to the north, waterways being the primary route […]