Calcutta the Beautiful!

 

Calcutta has become Kolkata, but it is still the same amazing city I called home as a boy. We're back for our first visit in many years, and I'm prouder than ever to be from Calcutta/Kolkata! Lynn and I arrived by train at Howrah Station on Monday morning, and we're staying in very the heart of the city at the Broadway Hotel.

I sometimes think Calcutta has suffered from an excess of bad publicity. It's true that too much of the city has always been crumbling. It's also true that it is never difficult to find vivid examples of gut wrenching poverty in this metropolis of nearly 5 million souls. But there are aspects of Kolkata that are highlighted less frequently. In this post, I want to share just a little of the architectural beauty and grandeur of Calcutta's downtown core.

After breakfast on Monday morning, and again yesterday morning, Lynn and I set out on walks from the Broadway. The slide show below includes only pictures taken on these two walks. The images illustrate the great architectural beauty of Kolkata, and these just scratch the surface of what might be shared. There's no Victoria Memorial, neither of the great bridges that span the Hooghly River, no Marble Palace, none of the temples, and only one of the churches. There is so very much more! All you see in the pictures here are buildings and streets that lie within a 15 minute walk of our hotel.