KolkataBritish India’s old capital — tram bells, Durga Puja pandals, adda over cha and the Howrah span over the Hooghly
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Kolkata in one minute
Kolkata — live weather, population, hidden places and cost of living, auto-updated.
Kolkata, the City of Joy, grew from a 1690 trading post on the Hooghly into British India’s capital until 1911 — leaving Victoria Memorial, the Writers’ Building, colonial ballrooms and the country’s first metro (1984) and trams. Census 2011 counted 45 lakh in the KMC city, 1.46 crore in the UA — the delta’s great metropolis, still Bengal’s cultural engine.
The city runs on adda — college-street debates, coffee-house sessions, para club football — and on the biggest festival of them all: Durga Puja, UNESCO-listed, when every street becomes an art gallery. Howrah’s cantilever span, Dakshineswar’s temple and the Indian Museum’s 1814 cabinets anchor a city that reads Tagore and eats its way through Terracotta ‘bhaat’ afternoons.
Fast facts
| Status | State capital · Municipal corporation (KMC) |
| District | Kolkata (HQ) |
| Division | Presidency |
| City population (2011) | 44,96,694 |
| Urban agglomeration | 1,46,17,422 — metro est. ~1.5 cr |
| Density | ≈24,300 / km² (city) |
| Colonial note | British-India capital 1772–1911 |
| Languages | Bengali · Hindi · English · Urdu |
| Main stations | Howrah (HWH) · Sealdah (SDAH) · Kolkata (KOAA) |
| Nearest airport | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Intl (CCU) |
| River | Hooghly (Bhagirathi) |
| Metro | India’s first (1984) · trams since 1873 |
| District literacy | 86.3% (2011) |
| Famous for | Durga Puja · Howrah Bridge · adda culture |
City map
Demographics CENSUS 2011
Last official census — 2021 census deferred, estimates update on release.
44,96,694 residents
per 1,000 males
municipal area (2011)
≈4,94,636 children (est.)
🌟 Hidden & heritage places
Kolkata beyond the postcards — quiet places and lanes most guides skip.
Indian Museum
The country’s first and largest multipurpose museum — the Ashoka lion capital, Egyptian mummies and the coin vaults.
Directions ↗Victoria Memorial
The marble catalog of the Raj — 25 galleries, the Angel of Victory and the evening light-and-sound lawn.
Directions ↗Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu)
The cantilever span that carries a city — flower market mornings under it at Mullick Ghat.
Directions ↗Dakshineswar Kali
The Bhajna-bhavan temples on the river — Ramakrishna’s service rooms and the evening aarti boats.
Directions ↗College Street & Coffee House
The world’s second-hand-book mile — Boi Para’s pavement stalls and the Indian Coffee House’s adda since 1942.
Directions ↗Mullick Ghat flower market
The wholesale marigold flood at dawn — the shooting deck of a thousand photographs under the bridge.
Directions ↗Kumartuli & Shobhabazar
The idol-makers’ quarter — straw-and-clay Durga forms in progress and the aristocrats’ rajbari courtyards.
Directions ↗Tram ride through Esplanade
Asia’s oldest running tram network — the slow heritage car from Esplanade through the colonial grid.
Directions ↗Weekend getaways
Approximate road distances from Kolkata.
Cost of living
Indicative monthly estimates for a single person — verify locally before deciding.
| 1 BHK rent (city) | ₹5,000 – 9,000 / mo |
| 2 BHK rent (city) | ₹9,000 – 16,000 / mo |
| Meal at a local eatery | ₹100 – 200 |
| Groceries (single, month) | ₹4,500 – 6,500 |
| Utilities (basic) | ₹1,500 – 3,000 |
| Monthly total (est.) | ₹14,000 – 23,000 |
Estimates only · metro market, cheaper than peers · updated with market data over time
Top industries
What actually runs Kolkata.
Salt Lake & New Town tech
Sector V’s IT campuses and New Town’s back-offices — the eastern hemisphere’s fastest-growing tech belt.
IT ↗Jute mills of the delta
The Hooghly-bank jute mills — Hastings-era factories still exporting the golden fibre.
Jute ↗IISCO & engineering
The Steel Authority headquarters belt plus the heavy-engineering works of Howrah and Dankuni.
Steel ↗Kolkata & Haldia ports
The riverine dock system — the country’s only riverine major port plus Haldia’s petrochemical complexes.
Port ↗Tea auction & trading
The world’s largest tea-auction house — Darjeeling and Assam gardens’ prices set from the city.
Tea ↗Presidency, Jadavpur & IIM-C
The academic trinity of the east — Presidency’s legacy halls, Jadavpur’s engineering and IIM Calcutta’s Joka lake.
Education ↗Bengali publishing & film
Ananda Publishers’ college-street presses and Tollywood’s Tollygunge studios — Bengal’s fourth estate and dream factory.
Media ↗Top restaurants & food
Where locals actually eat — local counters, classics and street institutions.
Phuchka & jhalmuri carts
The city’s soul food — tamarind-water phuchka at Vivekananda Park and jhalmuri cones on every corner.
Directions ↗Rosogolla & mishti doi houses
KC Das’s 1868 canned-rosogolla legacy, Bhim Chandra’s sandesh and the clay-pot mishti doi.
Directions ↗Bengali thali & aaheli-style
The machher jhol plate — shorshe ilish in season, chor-chamari dal and postor bora at the heritage kitchens.
Directions ↗Nizam’s & New Market grills
The 1932 kathi-roll birthplace — Nizam’s_seekh rolls and New Market’s Arsalan biryani counter.
Directions ↗Tiretti & Tangra chinatown
The only true Chinatown of the subcontinent — Sunday-morning dim sum and the Tiretti noodle houses.
Directions ↗Style-verified from local guides · Sep 2026 · hours change — call ahead
Markets & shopping
New Market (SS Hogg)
The 1874 colonial market hall — 2,000 stalls of everything, with the red-brick clock tower over it.
Directions ↗Gariahat & Ballygunge
The south Kolkata bazaar — saree shops, Electronics in the lanes and the foot-bridge snack row.
Directions ↗College Street boi para
The book mile — presidency-side pavement stalls, the Nobel-laureate publishers and the used-book bargains.
Directions ↗Festival & fair calendar
Durga Puja
UNESCO-listed — art-theme pandals, dhak processions, pandal-hopping nights and sindoor-khela bijoya.
Kali Puja & Diwali
The goddess night — Kalighat and Dakshineswar crowds, phuljhuri sparklers and prasad lines.
Saraswati Puja
The students’ festival — books on the altar, yellow sarees and the boi-para readings.
Kolkata Christmas & Book Fair orbit
Park Street’s lit-up cake mile and then the world’s largest Book Fair at Boimela grounds.
October – February
The delta winter — puja aftermath, tram rides and the book-fair season.
From the Bharat DN network
Everything this city needs, on the network's own hubs.
FAQ
What is Kolkata famous for?
Durga Puja (UNESCO-listed), Howrah Bridge and Victoria Memorial, College Street’s book mile, India’s first metro and trams, mishti doi and the adda culture.
What is the population of Kolkata?
Census 2011: 44,96,694 in the KMC city and 1,46,17,422 in the urban agglomeration — Kolkata Metropolitan Area estimates run about 1.5 crore.
What is the pincode of Kolkata?
The BBD Bagh core starts at 700001; the metro spans 700001–700157 plus Salt Lake (700091) and New Town (700156).
Which places should I visit there?
Victoria Memorial and the Indian Museum, Howrah Bridge with the flower market, Dakshineswar and Kumartuli — plus College Street’s Coffee House.