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Kolkata, the City of Joy, is the place that you cannot miss to explore if you are a travel lover. The rich culture and heritage of the city in the eastern India state of West Bengal is one of the most cherished places. Whether it is the lip-smacking street food in Dalhousie and Esplanade or spending time in the lap of nature in Botanical Garden or visiting the Victoria Memorial Hall and Indian Museum to relive the history – every bite would give you the feeling of satisfaction and completeness. When you are visiting Kolkata you must explore the City of Joy and to be honest it will add up a highly rich experience to your travel spree.
 

I tried exploring some of the very interesting and must visit places in Kolkata in this post. My roots are connected to the beautiful city and I tried covering the lovely city in few series as I felt covering everything in just one would become lengthy and would not serve the purpose of the article. This is the first one in that series.

Howrah Station: It is the gateway to the beautiful city of Kolkata. Howrah Station is India’s largest railway complex that houses 23 platforms – most number of platforms in the entire railway system of India – in two different complexes (Old and New). This is one of the busiest railway stations in India that was opened in 1854. If you are travelling to Kolkata by train you will be entering the city through this huge railway station.


Howrah Bridge: The Bridge is otherwise known as Rabindra Setu, named after the renowned Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. However, it is popularly known as Howrah Bridge. It is a propped cantilever bridge that is suspended above the Hooghly River connecting Howrah and Kolkata. The bridge was commissioned in 1943 and its renaming was done on 14 June 1965. While entering the City of Joy you need to cross this massive architecture.


Vidyasagar Setu: This is the 2ndHooghly Bridge erected above the Hooghly River to ease out the traffic on the Rabindra Setu. This bridge is named after the famous Bengali educationist reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. This is a toll-bridge and is the longest cable–stayed bridge in India. It was opened for public on 10 October 1992.


Birla Planetarium: It is one of the most popular places of interest in Kolkata. The planetarium is popularly termed as Birla taramandal among the city locals and was established on 2 July 1963. It is the second largest planetarium in the world and largest one in Asia. The planetarium is open from 12 noon to 7 in the evening with its first show at 12:30 PM and last one is at 6:30 PM. It conducts daily shows in English, Hindi and Bengali languages.

 


Indian Museum: You can’t miss visiting Indian Museum when you are in Kolkata. It is the oldest and largest museum in India that houses many rare collections of skeletons, fossils, antiques, mummies, ornaments & armours and Mughal paintings. The museum was founded by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1814 and is located on Jawaharlal Nehru Road near Esplanade area. The museum is closed on Monday and opens for public from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM.


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