Festivals
While scores of festivals of different ethnicity, culture and religion are celebrated throughout India, there are some that are celebrated more in some cultures and religion as opposed to others. Two important festivals of Kolkata are Naba Barshq, the Bengali New Year, in mid-April. The other is Durga Puja in October - it is the largest Bengali festival and honors the goddess Durga.

The Maidan & Fort William
After the events of 1756, when Siraj-ud-daula sacked the town, the British set out to replace the original Fort William, in the Maidan, with a massive and impregnable new fort. First they 'cleared out' the inhabitants of the village of Govindpur and in 1758 laid the foundations of a fort. By the time it was completed in 1781, the fort had cost the awesome total, for those days, of UK£2 million. Around the fort a huge expanse of jungle was destroyed to give the cannons a clear line of fire. However, the fort has never fired a single shot in aggression.

Victoria Memorial
At the southern end of the Maidan stands the Victoria Memorial, possibly the most awesome reminder of the Raj to be found in India. This huge white-marble museum houses a vast collection of memorabilia from the days of the British Empire. There are portraits, statues and busts of almost all le main participants in British-Indian history. Scenes from military conflicts and the events of the Indian Uprising are illustrated. There are some superb watercolors of Indian landscapes and buildings that were executed by travelling Victorian artists. There's also a piano that Queen Victoria played as a girl and a huge painting depicting King Edward VII entering Jaipur in a regal procession in 1876. French guns captured at the Battle of Plassey are on show along with the black stone throne of the nawab defeated by Clive.

The Calcutta Gallery, opened in 1992, exhibits many early pictures of Kolkata as well as relics from the Raj, such as pistols. Upstairs is the National Leaders Gallery, which displays portraits of various political and social leaders of India, including Tagore. There is also a model of Fort William as well as historical documents including some pertaining to the struggle for Independence.

Eden Gardens
At the northern corner of the Maidan are the small and pleasantly laid out Eden Gardens. A tiny Burmese pagoda was brought here from Prome, Myanmar (Burma) in 1856; it's set in a small lake and is extraordinarily picturesque. The gardens were named after the sister of Lord Auckland, the former governor general. Near the gardens you can take a pleasant walk along the banks of the Hooghly River.

Raj Bhavan
Raj Bhavan, the old British Government House, built between 1799 and 1805 at the north end of the Maidan, is now occupied by the governor of West Bengal and entry is restricted. Near the Raj Bhavan is the Doric-style Town Hall, and next to that the High Court, which was copied from the Staadhaus at Ypres, Belgium, and completed in 1872. It has a 55m-high tower. Just south of the zoo on Alipore Rd is the National Library, the biggest in India, which is housed in Belvedere House, the former residence of the lieutenant-governor of Bengal.

Indian Museum
This museum, built in the mid 1870s, is a fine colonial building housing an impressive collection. The entrance hall is dominated by an original Mauryan lion capital, India's national symbol, and the archaeological gallery houses the Barhut Gateway (2nd century BC), a massive structure decorated with a bas-relief depicting the life of Buddha. It has the best collection of Pala statues in the country and the art collection has many fine pieces from Orissan and other temples. It also has superb examples of Buddhist Gandharan art - an interesting meeting point between Greek artistry and Buddhist ideals that produced Buddha images and other sculptures of great beauty. The art and textile galleries are worth a look.

Kali Temple
Rebuilt in 1809 on the site of a much older temple, Kalighat (as it is also known) is believed to be the actual temple from which Kalikata (anglicized to Calcutta) took its name. According to legend, when Shiva's wife's corpse was cut up, one of her fingers fell here. Since then it has been an important pilgrimage site and is always extremely busy. Kali represents the destructive side of Shiva's consort and demands daily sacrifices. In the morning, goats are slaughtered to satisfy the goddess' bloodlust.

Nakhoda Mosque
North of BBD Bagh, this is Kolkata's principal Muslim place of worship. Built in 1926, the huge Nakhoda Mosque is said to accommodate around 10,000 people and was modeled on Akbar's tomb at Sikandra near Agra. The red-sandstone mosque has two 46m-high minarets and a brightly painted onion-shaped dome.

St. John's Church
A little south of BBD Bagh is this crumbling church, which dates from 1787. The overgrown, tranquil graveyard here has a number of interesting monuments, including the octagonal mausoleum of Job Charnock, founder of Kolkata, who died in the early 1690s. Admiral Watson, who supported Clive in retaking Kolkata from Siraj-ud-daula, is also buried here. The obelisk commemorating the black hole was moved from near the main post office to a corner of this graveyard.

St. Paul's Cathedral
Built between 1839 and 1847, St Paul's Cathedral stands at the southern end of the Maidan, just east of the Victoria Memorial, on Cathedral Rd. The steeple fell during an earthquake in 1897 and, following further damage in a 1934 quake, was redesigned and rebuilt. Inside, there's some impressive stained glass, including the great west window by Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

South Park Street Cemetery
This peaceful cemetery is an evocative reminder of Kolkata's colonial past and is definitely worth a visit. Well-maintained and set under shady trees, there are some incredible tombs with poignant epitaphs (especially the children's). The more famous occupants include Colonel Kyd, founder of the Botanical Gardens, and Rose Aylmer, remembered only because her unfortunate death was supposed to have been caused by an addiction to pineapples.

Sunderbans Wildlife National Park
The name Sunderbans is perhaps derived from the term meaning 'the forest of sundari (Heritiera fomes)', a reference to the large mangrove tree that provides valuable fuel. Along the coast, the southern part of the forest passes into a mangrove swamp, which has numerous wild animals and crocodile-infested estuaries. It is one of the last preserves of the Royal Bengal tiger and the site of a tiger conservation project.

Situated south of Calcutta, Sunderbans is one of the most unique ecosystems in this part of the world and is dominated by mangrove forests. Situated at the mouth of the Ganges, Sunderbans spreads over 54 islands and two countries (the West Bengal state in India and Bangladesh) and is a part of the world's largest delta region. A UNESCO world heritage site, Sunderbans is home to the largest number of wild tigers in the world.