‘A city with soul’ is how Vir Sanghvi described Kolkata. No words would come close to epitomize it better. Kolkata, a land of the eastern India laying on the east bank of Hooghly River is a place to visit for once in your life.
The city always had its charm and essence, captivated by its architectural phenomena. Kolkata, an economical and educational centerpiece of the British Raj India had a booming growth in different fraternity at that time.
However, with the independence there came a decade long stagnation which pushed it a little back in the rankings of most developed cities in India. The metropolitan city is home to third largest population in India as of today in an area spread around 205 sq. km.
We’ll look to provide you a rundown of different facts of Kolkata that you’d be glad to know about. Off we go, then.
10) Capital of British India
- Kolkata was the capital city under the British rule in India. The port city had everything that a capital needs to have.
- The city went through an enormous growth cycle in terms of economic and educational strata.
9) The only city to have tramway
- Kolkata is one of the few cities in the world and the only city in India to have tramways.
- The tramway has been in the running for more than 100 years with first service started on 1902. As of today, they serve 25 routes through 125 tramways.
- Nothing beats the feel of the tramway concourse.
8) Football center of India
- If there’s one city which adores football in the same bracket as of cricket, then it’s Kolkata. Kolkata has been the football hub of the nation for long.
- It features ‘Calcutta football league’ which is the second oldest football tournament in the history of the game.
- The city is home to the big names of the football in the nation. It has an abundance of quality clubs and players in the city.
7) Home to Salt Lake Stadium
- This had to be. The football hub of the nation is home to Salt Lake stadium which is the second largest football stadium in terms of seating capacity.
- The ground has hosted many memorable games over the years with different players gracing the pitch.
- The stadium was graced by the Argentine footballer Lionel Messi a few years back. That’s some achievement.
6) Eden Gardens and its capacity
- This beautiful city has one of the most ergonomic cricket grounds in the world.
- Eden gardens can host around 67000 people making it the third largest stadium in terms of capacity.
- Clearly the best ground in India hands down.
5) First metro in India
- It is often said that Kolkata metro is far ahead in thinking and innovations.
- The metro service is running in the city for nearly 2 decades. If you need some stats then here’s some for you, the Delhi metro just completed one decade of service with Mumbai Metro just starting off the service a couple of years ago.
4) A book lover’s paradise
- Kolkata hosts the world’s largest book fair which are attended by record number of people. It is also home to the biggest non-trade book fair in the world.
- Here’s something more, it has the largest public library in the nation. Time to pack off the bags and flock away to this book-den city, then?
3) Howrah Bridge
- Kolkata has the iconic Howrah Bridge that adds charm to the ever pleasant city.
- It’s also one of the largest cantilever bridges in the world.
2) Birla Planetarium
- If you never knew about this, then you’d be glad to have read this post. Kolkata is home to the largest planetarium in Asia and the second largest in the world.
- The planetarium is named as Birla Planetarium.
1) Amazing sweets
- Kolkata lays claim to being one of the finest sweet-makers in the nation. The milk-based sweets made according to the Bengali culture is a delight to the mouth.
- The famous of the lot surely has to be the ‘Roshogulla’.
So that’s all from us on the profiling of few facts of Kolkata. We hope it intrigued you to the peak. There’s definitely more to learn about Kolkata and this 10 fact file is a small effort of ours.
Santosh Kumar is a Professional SEO and Blogger, With the help of this blog he is trying to share top 10 lists, facts, entertainment news from India and all around the world.