Archive for the ‘Kolkata’ Category
February 3rd, 2009 | 
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Mani Square is on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass of Kolkata. It is the next generation shopping and entertainment destination. It has the Kolkata’s first IMAX theater, a 3-screen multiplex, Scary House, Spencer’s Hypermart, Westside, McDonald’s, a 25,000 square foot food court, 50,000 square feet of fine dining space, top brand stores, state-of-the art amenities and facilities to help you. There is a large space for car parking. About 1500 vehicles can park there! Isn’t it amazing?
The Mani Square has good customer service. They are as follows:
1. Customer Relation Officers.
2. First Aid.
3. Lost and Found Assistance.
4. Comfort Zone.
5. Car Wash Service.
6. Valet Parking.
7. Mobile phone recharging.
8. Internet connection/WiFi.
9. Fax and business Center Service.
10. Wheelchairs.
11. Children’s Day Care Center.
12. ATM Counters.
If you fall sick or any medical aid, you just call any staff, they are going to help you. The lost and found assistance is at the ground floor. The atrium and sofas are all over the mall that helps you regroup and energize yourself. 
While you are shopping, you can cleanse your car. So the car wash service is available. There is valet parking. The pick up point is on the south side of the mall. There are 2 tiers of service: Gold and Platinum. If your mobile phone is not recharged, you can recharge them at the customer service desk. You can surf the net free of cost at WiFi hotspots. Here you can get fast, reliable, wirefree internet connection. You can send faxes wherever you want by just coming at the customer service desk! There are wheelchairs for the disabled people. The staff is eager to help you. There is a crèche where your child can play while you shop. There are baby strollers, which will help the mother and father of the kids. It can be rented on an hourly basis. The ATM counter point gives you tension free shopping.
We get a large number of shops under one roof. A number of reputed brands and companies have opened their outlets here at Mani Square making it the hottest destination for shopping!!! For books and stationery, there are Luxor Parker, Starmark, Westside, and Write Site. For cards and gifts, there are Archies, Ariana, Exclusive Lines, Infinity, Presto stamps, Nik-Nish, Starmark, Westside and Wonderland. For kidswear, there are Barbie, Catmoss, Lilliput, Little Shop, OVO, Oyo, Paridhan, Scram, Westside, and Zapp. For confectionary and icecream parlour, there are Baskin and Robbins, Biscotti, Cookieman, Just Desserts, Mama Mia, New Zealand Naturals. The department stores are My Dollar Store, Spencers, and Westside. For electronic, computer, and Communication, there are Ezone, Planet M, The Mobile Store. For footwear, there are Addidas, Liberty, Magnet, M&B footwear, Nike, Puma, Reebok, Westside, Woodland.
So visit this place, enjoy the right shopping ambience and shop till you drop!!!
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Indian Museum in Kolkata is the largest museum in India. It is the ninth oldest regular museum of the world and oldest institution of its kind in Asia Pacific region. Indian Museum is a multipurpose and multi disciplinary institution of national importance. The museum was established at the Asiatic Society, the earliest learned body in the country on 2nd February 1814. Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist, was the founder curator of the museum.
Indian Museum was transferred to the present building in 1878 with two galleries. Today, the museum has over sixty galleries of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology and Botany sections, spreading over ten thousand square feet area. Many rare specimens of both Indian and Trans-Indian origin relating to Humanities and Natural Science are preserved and displayed in
museum.
Spread on the Ist and II floor, the Art collection of the Indian Museum comprises of miniature paintings, textiles, decorative art objects from Asian countries — China, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Java and Kampuchea. 
Muslin and Jamdani from Dhaka, Baluchari textile of Murshidabad, Phulkari of Punjab, Chamba rumal, Persian carpets, Kanthas of Bengal, ritual robes, wood carving, metal images, ivory, lacquerware, bronze, ornaments; Persian, Mughal, Rajasthani, Pahari, Deccani miniature paintings, manuscript illustrations of Western and Eastern India, Bengal school paintings, Nepalese and Tibetan temple banners.
The South East Asian gallery in the Art section has three separate galleries for artifacts from China-Japan, Burma and Nepal-Tibet. In the gallery of the China-Japan, there are coloured porcelains, wine cups, ivory and rhinoceros horn carved articles, paintings etc.
The National Library in Kolkata is the largest library in India. It is an institution of National importance under the Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India. National Library is situated on a scenic 30 acres Belvedere Estate, in Kolkata. The library is designated to collect, disseminate and preserve the printed material produced in the country.
The origins of the National Library can be traced back to 1836 when the Calcutta Public Library was established. The then Governor General, Lord Metcalf transferred 4,675 volumes from the library of the College of Fort William to the Calcutta Public Library. In 1891, the Imperial Library was formed by combining a number of Secretariat libraries. Lord Curzon, the then Governor General of India, conceived the idea of opening a library for the use of the public. He amalgamated Calcutta Public Library with the Imperial Library. The library was formally opened to the public on 30th January 1903 at Metcalf Hall, Kolkata. After independence, the library was renamed as the National Library.
Established in 1875, and spread over nearly 100 acres in the heart of Kolkata are the Zoological Gardens. Inaugurated by the Prince of Wales in 1876, it is one of the oldest and the largest Zoos of India.
During the winter season, the migratory birds flock in the zoo for its artificial lake and vegetation. But in recent times the birds do not flock so much as the yester years due to ecological imbalances.
The zoo displays a large number of crowd-pulling megafauna, including the Royal Bengal Tiger, African Lion, Jaguar, Hippopotamus, Great Indian One-horned 
Rhinoceros, Reticulated Giraffe, Grant’s Zebra, Emu, Dromedary Camel and Indian
Elephant. Previously, other megafauna like the Panthera hybrids and the Giant Eland were present.
The zoo sported a large collection of attractive birds, including some threatened species up until the 1980s – large parrots including a number of Macaw species, Conures, lories and lorikeets; other large birds like Touracos and Hornbills; colourful game birds like the Golden Pheasant, Lady Amherst’s Pheasant and Swinhoe’s Pheasant and some large flightless birds like the Emu, Cassowary and Ostrich. However, lack of pairing and exchange programs have caused a significant decline in the populations, causing some of the populations to die out.
‘SOUTH CITY’ is a mixed use development on 31.14 acres of land in South Kolkata having 4 Residential towers comprising of 1600 flats, Club, School and more than a million sq.ft. Shopping Mall, all planned of international standard. It is the biggest retail development in Eastern India located at 375, Prince Anwar Shah Road, Kolkata – just opposite Jodhpur Park, a posh residential area and close to Gariahat, the main shopping hub of South Kolkata.
The Mall will be surrounded by customers with the perfect demography from a retail point of view, whether in terms of disposable income, a modern mindset or an ambitious lifestyle. It is surrounded by new upcoming housing projects Merlin manor, Merlin Residency, City High, Orbit Heights, Westwind, Hiland Park, Udayan, Bengal Shrachi, Orbit City, Sugam Park, Ekta Heights– all residential complexes housing the upwardly mobile, who want to make a lifestyle statement. The residential complex within South City will house 1600 families. So the footfalls are assured.
Designed after exhaustive research of the best shopping malls around the world, great attention has been placed on details. The stores inside South City Mall are synergistically placed and promise to change the way 
people perceive shopping and entertainment in Kolkata. We have already booked space for anchor stores such as Pantaloons, Shopper’s Stop, Giant, Fame Cinemas and some of the other known brands that will be present in South City Mall are annexed here with: The fabulous façade, the colossal multilevel car park for 1400 cars, the exceptional landscaping, the larger floor plate ensuring larger footfall, and shops arranged in consumer friendly clusters, and all this with fine dining options and a fabulous food-court, ensures a shoppers’ paradise.
Kolkata has the highest credit/deposit ratio in the country and is the third largest retail market in India. Not surprisingly one in every ten of India’s richest consumers resides in West Bengal. With easy accessibility by the Lake Gardens flyover to Southern Avenue and its proximity to EM Bye-Pass through the Jadavpur Connector, the retail hub of South Kolkata is ready for a paradigm shift to the South City Mall.
Kolkata Port was commissioned on 17 Oct 1870 under Calcutta Port Act. In 1886 a separate oil wharf was setup at Budge Budge. The dock at Kidderpore (KPD) became operational in 1893. In 1925, four riverside jetties and a coaling jetty were made at Gardenreach. In 1928 the 2nd dock now known as Netaji Subhash Dock (KPD) came up there. Kolkata dock comprises KPD, NSD and Budge Budge. There are 18 & 9 operational berths at KPD & NSD. Budge Budge has 6 wharves for liquid bulk. There are 10 berths and 2 oil jetties at HDC. Haldia Sagar & Diamond Heart provide excellent loading/unloading facilities. These facilities have been developed on a stretch of over 150 Km. The Haldia Docking Complex (HDC), deep water third dock system was commissioned, 104 km downstream of Kolkata.
Kolkata Port is India’s only riverine port with two dock systems – Kolkata Dock
System at Kolkata with the oil wharves at Budge Budge, Anchorages at Diamond
Harbour, Kulpi, Sagar and Sandheads and a deep water dock system at Haldia Dock
Complex, Haldia . It has the most sophisticated port facilities with extensive
storage facility for diverse cargo.
With a modern computerised container terminal, Kolkata port offers a very
customer friendly approach.
It is also the oldest operating port in India, having originally been
constructed by the British East India Company.
In the 19th century Kolkata Port was the premier port in British India. After
independence its importance decreased because of factors including the Partition
of Bengal (1947), reduction in size of the port hinterland and economic
stagnation in eastern India. In the 21st century due to the east Indian economic
recovery and infrastructure improvements, the port grew swiftly to become the
nation’s second largest container port. It was one of India’s fastest growing
ports in 2004-05.
Even today there are ships that sail a long distance. Harshavardhana is one of
the ships that sail along the Nicobar Islands.
If you have a passion for cruises you must have a try at this one.
The M. P. Birla Planetarium started functioning from September 29, 1962 as an
educational, scientific and research institution and was formally inaugurated on
July 2, 1963 by the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. This
was the second major Planetarium to be set up in the commonwealth countries with
London having a Planetarium a few years earlier to the one in Calcutta then.
This was the first of its kind in India and the largest in Asia. Syt. M. P.
Birla was the driving force behind this project. The Planetarium has been
established on a land (about an acre) leased by the West Bengal Government. The
Planetarium with all its assets had been transferred to the Registered Society
of “Birla Institute of Fundamental Research”.
The M. P. Birla Planetarium, since its inception, has designed and presented to
the public and students more than 350 astronomical projects dealing with many
facets of astronomy, astro-physics, Celestial Mechanics, Space Science, History
of astronomy,Centenaries of famous Astronomers as well as mythology concerning
stars and planets. The Planetarium has also been conducting a series of graded
school programmes for children of various age groups. Almost from the very
beginning of this institution, it has been conducting a Free Evening Course in
Astronomy. In the year 1993 it introduced a Post-Graduate Diploma Course in
Astronomy & Planetarium Sciences. In the year 1999 the Planetarium joined hands
with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani and introduced a new
course called the M. Phil. Course in Astronomy & Planetarium Sciences.
The M. P. Birla Planetarium has been hosting and participating in several
National and International seminars in astronomy and connected fields and has
been regularly organizing astronomical expeditions for the studies of Solar
Eclipses and other Celestial events. The Planetarium has also been organizing
special lectures and exhibitions in connection with centenaries of astronomers
like Galileo, Kepler, Tycho Brahe and others. The Planetarium owns an
astronomical observatory equipped with a Celestron C-14 Telescope with
accessories such as ST6 CCD Camera, Solar Filter etc.
The Planetarium has been regularly bringing a scientific Journal called “The
Journal of M. P. Birla Planetarium” wherein appear contributed articles from
astronomers from India as well as from abroad. An editorial board has been
suitability set up for the assessment and sensibility of the articles received
for publication. In recent years, the Planetarium has also brought out some
astronomical publications like “Bust Stories”, “A Brief Introduction of
Astronomy”, yearly astronomical pocket-calendars and picture post-cards etc. The
M. P. Birla Planetarium was chosen as the venue for the 7th International
Planetarium Directors’ Congress in 1980. Several planetarium directors from all
over the world attended this conference and participated in deliberations.Please
also visit the website:President’s Page
The Planetarium is equipped with an Electronics Laboratory for design and
fabrication of scientific equipment. In 1993, after two years of work, this lab
set up an Automation System for excecuting the special effects and visuals
during a planetarium show. One must come and have a look to the Planeterium
begore giving their views.
Marble Palace is located at the busy 46, Muktaram Babu Street of Kolkata
which is famous as Chorbagan. The structure and the designs will mesmerize
anyone. The palace was built by one of Bengal’s richest landlord – Raja Rajendra
Mullick Bahadur in 1830.
It is obviously not required to mention that how much of planning and master
mind of architectures were used to build the palace.
Since the palace was built at a time when Kolkata was the capital of British
India, it is but natural that the aristocratic Mullick family who built this
awesome palace had the tacit support of the local British administration. In
fact, the name "Marble Palace" was given by Lord Minto, may be because of the
fact that the entire palace was built using an astounding 126 varieties of
marble procured from various parts of India. Many renowned architects, both
Indian as well as Europeans were involved in designing this masterpiece.
On the frontal side of the palace is a beautifully landscaped garden where you
will find exquisite sculptures and statues of Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ,
Christopher Columbus and Lord Buddha. The sculptures of lions are amazing and
speak volumes about the quality of craftsmanship.
As you walk upstairs, you will come across fully mirrored rooms, which showcases
rare works of Reynolds, Rubens and Murillo. The painting of Rubens depicting
Catherine’s wedding is absolutely stunning and is a top draw with visitors. The
palace has art and historical relics of 90 countries across the world, which
literally makes it a virtual treat for art connoisseurs. Apart from this, an
amazing 82 varieties of exquisitely decorated antique clocks are on display at
this palace.
The sheer grandeur and opulence of this palace makes it a perfect site for
shooting films. A number of Tollywood films have been shot at this magnificent
palace.
A Mela is also formed at the lawn of the palace to mark the festival of
Rathyatra. Various swings are installed and various kind of games alonwith the
toys made of muds are available in the mela.
By the advent of Metro Railway in Kolkata visiting places has become much more
easier. If opted a Metro ride, one should get down to Mahatma Gandhi Road
Station or else metered taxis and buses are available all over Kolkata. The
admission fees is nil but a prior permission is required from West Bengal
Tourism Department. One must visit this masterpiece to know the class of old
era.