Kolkata

Monday, 23 February 2015

We docked in Kolkata (Calcutta) just before midnight. We had to wait until low tide to be able to go beneath three bridges.

We had a morning city tour of colonial Kolkata. Before the British made Calcutta the capital of the British Raj, it was a rather small backwater town. The colonial buildings are an interesting synthesis of architectural styles that became known as Indo-Saracenic: not really Indian, not really Mughal, not really European. Mostly they seem ostentatious and musty.

You can find many pictures of these buildings online -- even in my earlier blog postings. (See Kolkata, Kolkata Part 2, and Kolkata Miscellany.) So I'll omit the over-worked shots and concentrate on more unusual (or amusing) sights.

I'll start with morning fog/haze/smog on the river.

Early morning looking upstream (to the west): Two ships anchored nearby and a power plant on the opposite bank just barely visible.

An hour and a half later, the fog had mostly lifted, but the smoke remains.

Same early morning hour, this time looking downstream (east).

An hour and a half later. More detail, but still extremely hazy.

Waiting in a toll-booth traffic jam gave me the opportunity to take this photo of a tailor at work.

A moving marble sculpture in St. John's Church.

Organ pipes in St. John's Church. Classic Victorian floral design, but so dingy with "dust" that they are difficult to truly appreciate.

Crows taking advantage of the view atop a lion at the gate of the Victoria Memorial.

Right at our dock, where much laundry and bathing were taking place all day. The cow is eating a floral garland.

And the sign above the cow and trash proclaims "Keeping the Ganga clean". Looks like there's a lot of work to do!

And now it's all over. We disembarked after lunch and headed to the airport and home.

A tulsi ("Holy Basil") plant is found in the bow of just about every ship on the water. Most homes in India, especially Hindu homes, have a tulsi plant outside the door or in the courtyard. The leaves are used medicinally, as an herbal tea, and in Hindu worship.

Even though tulsi is usually at the front of a house (or ship), I'll use the tulsi plant to end my postings from our "Journey on the Ganges".

Along the Hooghly: Mayapur to Kolkata

Sunday, 22 February 2015

As we got closer to Kolkata, the pollution and abuse of the river became ever more apparent. Rivers might be considered the "Mother of India" and a goddess, but they are not respected.

One of the largest brick-making sites we saw. While this one is not firing kilns at the moment, brick factories typically put out thick black smoke.

As we approached Kolkata, power plants became more numerous. They were consistently among the most visible polluters.

Smoke is a constant along the Hooghly. Even the trash along the banks is set on fire to minimize its volume, reducing one problem, but creating another.

Abandonned watercraft add to navigation hazards.

But life goes on. Waterfront property is always desirable.

Some of these houses are raised on stilts.

Even close to Kolkata, ferries are still the main way to cross the river.

Portuguese church. Kolkata has seen the Portuguese, French, Dutch, and British establish colonies in the area.

French area.

Sunset on the Hooghly.

More Temples

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Across the road from the 108 Shiva Temples is another walled complex of temples. This complex contains six main structures, and it would have taken a good bit longer than the time we had available to see them all.

Three of the structures in this temple complex. These are the ones we didn't have time to visit. The structures we did see are to the right of this photo.

The Pratapeshwar Temple -- the smallest, but the most finely detailed of the structures.

An example of the detailed terra cotta plaques that cover the Pratapeshwar Temple.

Another terra-cotta detail from the Pratapeshwar Temple.

The next temple we visited is the Lalji Mandir, which is in its own walled compound. There are actually 4 structures here. Behind me is an interesting shrine unlike anything else on the site (next 2 photos). The main building of the Lalji Temple is in the background. In front of it are one large mandupa (audience hall), that is connected to the temple by a small mandupa. The whole compound is so tight that it is difficult to get good photos of the buildings.

An odd shrine in front of the Lalji Mandir. It has the traditional Bengal four-slope roof, but it is covered with rounded stones into which are set a number of mythological creatures.

A closer view of the roof.

Flowers for the deities.

More offerings.

Krishna and Radha sitting on their throne in the temple.

The Lalji Mandir has both terra-cotta and stucco ornamentation.

Terra-cotta figures.

An example of looting. This portion of the temple corner was stolen within the last two weeks. Most likely it is now on the underground art market.

Similar in size and structure to the Lalji Mandir is the Krishnachandra Mandir.

108 Shiva Temples

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Our first stop in Kalna was the "108 Shiva Temples". 108 is an auspicious number for Hindus, and it is the number of beads in a Hindu "mall" (prayer beads). These temples were built in 1809 and have an interesting "aat chala" (8-sloped roof) structure. The temples are arranged in two concentric circles. The outer circle has 74 temples, and the inner circle has 34 temples. It is a fascinating structure, and I wish we could have had more time to experience it.

Google Maps view of the site.

Our rickshaws parked outside the temple.

The park-like space between the two circles of temples.

The outer circle. The temples have alternating white marble and black marble Shiva lingams. When viewing a temple head-on, you can see the lingams in the middle temple and the one to either side, but the lingams are not visible in the other temples.

The Krishnachandra Temple in the neighboring temple complex is visible above the small Shiva temples.

Looking at the outer circle from the doorway leading into the inner circle.

Inner circle temples.

Inner circle temples (and doorway into inner circle).

All the lingams in the inner circle are white marble.

A close-up view of the ornament atop every temple.

Pigeon above the door of a temple.

Looking back at the 108 Shiva Temples from temple complex across the street.

Kalna

Sunday, 22 February 2015

It's our last day aboard the RV Bengal Ganga, as we travel from Mayapur to Kolkata. We are now in the tidewater region of the river, so its name has changed one last time to the Hooghly.

We had one excursion along the way today, at Kalna.

We left the "mother ship" moored in the middle of the river, and took the "country boat" to shore. This photo shows two small boats crossing the river, and the country boat tied up to the RV Bengal Ganga.

The ghats at Kalna. Not especially inviting with the mountain of trash on the right side, and an open sewer into the river just to the left.

Going ashore via our bamboo gangplank.

The trash doesn't look any better from the top of the pile.

We took cycle rickshaws to a temple complex in the middle of town.

Traveling the streets of Kalna.

The rickshaws had no trouble getting past these trucks, but anything larger would have had difficulty.

Laundry day.

Shops.

Vegetable market.