127. OH KOLKATA! MY 15th FORAY...

This building glisten and gleam and glow like a jewel box. Embellished with mirrors, coloured stones and mosaics, it's a Jain temple. Financed and conceptualised by a wealthy individual, it serves as a ego booster for the said person.

Another temple dedicated to the goddess Kali - the Kalighat Kali Temple

The Victoria Memorial is this massive domed building made entirely of white marble from Rajasthan. During the British Raj, Kolkata was India's capital until 1911, the city is more than 300 years old. Today, it's an important center of trade and industry where many of their people come to for jobs. The energy of Kolkata is palpable...

Mother Theresa's Sisters of Charity started as a small humble abode. When her fame and work became better known, her mission grew into this neat and clean building. Entering the compound was like going into an oasis after the heat and soot and noise of Calcutta's streets. She was laid to rest in its chapel

 

The craftsman of these beautiful images was the best of the lot. His figures were well proportioned with intricate fine details...his mud mixture is so fine his figures look like porcelain...Like!

Kumartolli is an area where craftsmen produce clay idols by the dozen before their many festivals. As an important festival was due lasting 5 days, the lane was busy and energetic. 

It's interesting to watch as an Indian craftsman would produce images that appear distinctively Indian - so I spot a Ganesha with a typical Indian male's body and the female forms are big hips and chests...

This artform is wonderfully organic. The 'skeleton' is formed from pliable bamboo strips tied with yarn of some sort, once dried, mud is plastered all over and moulded into a form...

the all-important after lunch siesta...any where is a good spot...

The waiters at this Indian Coffee House sport uniforms from a colonial past. This place is quaint with an old world feel about it. Its ceiling was really high so the ceiling fans had long 'stems' .... the electric meters below, must still work beautifully as the fans kept this cavernous building cool - in more ways than one...

These electrical meters still work but am not sure if blackouts happen often!

This lifesize temple is made of plywood and styrofoam for an important festival lasting 5 days, after which it will be torn down...

the Dakshineswar Kali Temple -  the Goddess Kali is a big thing in West Bengal due to some mythical story...as I'm not into such stories, I won't relate it here but shall appreciate that the Indians here place importance on the female energy - the spiritual symbol, the Swastika or Svastika in Sanskrit, at its entrance...(see post 100 - The Swastika)

 

This Great Banyan tree is supposedly the largest and oldest at 250 years old, with more than 3000 prop roots, spreading out over 1.6 hectares. It's the biggest attraction in Kolkata's Botanic Gardens. 

At this old St John's Church, this version of the Last Supper was commissioned by the Goethe-Institute and the painter, a Johann somebody is likely German or an European. Note that the figures have European features and one has red hair and the lone female, supposedly Mary Magdalene, is a blonde, and she rests her head intimately on the shoulders of a man next to her, supposedly Jesus...if I should duplicate this painting, I can paint them to look Asian...and this group was supposedly from the Middle East...

This other painting below, I spotted at a rural church that was more than a century old, was done by local residents. The 3 'Kings from the East' is depicted here to have dark skin tone and in books on bible stories, these 3 kings were Caucasian in features and skin tone...

This old rural church was built in a Tibetan architecture which makes it charming

The family home of Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, now a museum. He won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1913...

''The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end...''

Tagore was one of Kolkata's best known sons. The other is Paramahansa Yogananda - one of my Teachers...(Post 5 - My Masters)

Their Ambassador taxis are white in other cities but yellow here. The 'no refusal' on its door is to indicate that once a cab is despatched upon getting a booking, the passenger can't refuse to take that cab...

Howrah Bridge over the Hooghly River is a hive of activity. I've no idea how this city can support this huge population of around 15 million people...no other city in India can be this packed. Everybody here walks with a purpose, every single person is walking fast to get the day's work done. Nobody's idle. Their day starts early as the sun's up before 6 and by 8pm, the businesses shut down...

The men carry such large heavy loads that can be heavier than their body weight (the way ants do!) and at a certain point, another worker takes over the load...like a relay...

 

Noisy trams from their colonial past, rattle like tin cans still ply the streets, apparently Kolkata's the only Indian city with trams still running. There are a good many huge colonial  buildings still standing but most are crumbling and terribly neglected. A shame, as the buildings are solidly built with beautiful wrought iron details...

The Indians are tops at hole-in-the-wall businesses. I also marvel at how they can sit for hours on platforms such as these, operating a business the whole day through, practically 365 days a year... 

 

The Indians show you can carry out your own small business anywhere. All you need are the tools...in the case of these roadside barbers, a shady spot, a crate to sit on and you're in business...


 

 

...and you can have a bath anywhere too....as long as there's water...

 

Their many festivals allow the fresh flower business to flourish...this is one of the largest markets in the country. Men draped with garlands covering their bodies parade the streets to sell their wares

 The area covered...

After several days braving the traffic of Kolkata, I flew onwards to Darjeeling, a well-known hill resort and tea growing region of West Bengal state. From there, by road into the neighbouring state of Sikkim - a politically sensitive region due to its close proximity to China's Tibet and its history of having to fight and defend itself against the Chinese, the Nepalis and Bhutanese.