Heritage places in Kolkata

Colonial landmarks, rajbaris, old churches, cemeteries and memorials: the buildings that tell Kolkata’s story, from the East India Company to the Bengal Renaissance.

Kumartuli

Kumartuli: The lanes where the city’s gods are made from river clay.

Bagbazar

Mayer Bari (Udbodhan House): The house where Sarada Devi lived, kept as a shrine.
Balaram Mandir: The house where the Ramakrishna Mission was founded in 1897.
Sister Nivedita’s House: The lane house where an Irish woman opened a school for girls in 1898.

Shyambazar

Shyambazar Five-Point Crossing: Netaji on horseback, where five roads meet.

Sovabazar

Sovabazar Rajbari: The palace of Raja Nabakrishna Deb, and a Durga Puja kept since 1757.

Hatibagan

Star Theatre: The most famous stage of the Bengali public theatre.
Minerva Theatre: An 1893 playhouse on Beadon Street that still stages plays.

Maniktala

Pareshnath Jain Temple: A garden of four Jain temples glittering with mirror-work and coloured glass.

Jorasanko & Chitpur

Jorasanko Thakur Bari: The house where Rabindranath Tagore was born and died.
Marble Palace: A merchant prince’s mansion crammed with European art.
Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House: The restored house where Narendranath Datta was born in 1863.
Nakhoda Masjid: The city’s principal mosque, in red sandstone.

College Street

Thanthania Kalibari: A small, very old Kali temple on Bidhan Sarani.
Indian Coffee House: The high-ceilinged hall where Bengal’s writers and students argue over coffee.
Maha Bodhi Society Temple: A Buddhist vihara on College Square, built in 1920.

Bowbazar & Old Chinatown

Sea Ip Church: A Chinese clan temple from 1905, called a church.
Toong On Church: A red-brick Chinese temple that once housed the city’s first Chinese restaurant.
Bow Barracks: A lane of red-brick blocks, home to an Anglo-Indian community and its Christmas.
Bauddha Dharmankur Sabha: The 1892 monastery that gave Buddhist Temple Street its name.
Firingi Kalibari: The Kali temple linked to a Portuguese-descended poet of Bengali song.

Burrabazar

Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth: The oldest church in the city, built by Armenian merchants in 1724.
Magen David Synagogue: A red-brick synagogue of 1884 with a tall clock spire.
Beth El Synagogue: An 1856 synagogue on Pollock Street.
Portuguese Church: The Catholic cathedral, founded in 1799 for the Portuguese community.

Entally

Mother House: Where Mother Teresa lived, worked and is buried.
St James’ Church (Jora Girja): The twin-spired Gothic church that Kolkata calls Jora Girja.

BBD Bagh (Dalhousie)

BBD Bagh & Lal Dighi: The tank and square at the centre of the colonial capital.
General Post Office: A domed post office on the site of the first Fort William.
St John’s Church: A 1787 church whose garden holds the tomb of Job Charnock.
St Andrew’s Church: The 1818 Scottish church with a tall white spire.
Old Mission Church: The oldest Protestant church in the city, founded in 1770.
Metcalfe Hall: A colonnaded hall of the 1840s facing the river.
Currency Building: An Italianate banking hall of 1833, rescued from demolition.

Esplanade & New Market

New Market (Hogg Market): A Victorian market hall of 1874 with a clock tower.
Shaheed Minar: A 48-metre column of 1828 at the edge of the Maidan.
Tipu Sultan Mosque: A many-domed mosque built by Tipu Sultan’s son in the 1840s.
Kolkata Tram: The last tramway in India, running since 1873.
Kolkata Yellow Taxi: The yellow Ambassador cab, as much a symbol of the city as Howrah Bridge.

Park Street

Park Street: The city’s dining street, and its Christmas street.
South Park Street Cemetery: A walled garden of obelisks and pyramids, opened in 1767.
Indian Museum: India’s oldest and largest museum, founded in 1814.

Maidan & Chowringhee

Victoria Memorial: The white-marble memorial museum and its gardens.
St Paul’s Cathedral: The Gothic Revival cathedral beside the Maidan, consecrated in 1847.
Birla Planetarium: A domed planetarium of 1963, modelled on the Sanchi stupa.
Eden Gardens: The cricket ground, and the old garden with a Burmese pagoda beside it.

Bhawanipur

Netaji Bhawan: The house from which Subhas Chandra Bose made his great escape.
Sri Aurobindo Bhavan: The garden house where Sri Aurobindo was born in 1872.

Kalighat

Kalighat Kali Temple: One of the 51 Shakti Peeths, and the shrine the city is said to be named after.
Greek Orthodox Church: A Doric temple-fronted church of the 1920s, beside the Kalighat tram depot.

Alipore

National Library of India: The country’s largest library, in the grounds of Belvedere House.
Alipore Jail Museum: The old central jail, where freedom fighters were held, turned into a museum.

Kidderpore

Bhukailash Temples: Twin Shiva temples of 1781 beside a tank, hidden in Kidderpore.

Garden Reach & Metiabruz

Sibtainabad Imambara: The tomb of Wajid Ali Shah, the exiled last Nawab of Awadh.

Ballygunge & Gariahat

Birla Mandir: A white-marble temple on Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue, lit at night.
Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture: A cultural institute at Golpark with a library, a museum and evening talks.

Tollygunge

Mahanayak Uttam Kumar Statue: Tollygunge’s tribute to the greatest star of Bengali cinema.
Karunamoyee Kali Temple, Tollygunge: A 1760 temple of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family beside Tolly’s Nullah.

Garia

Boral & Tripura Sundari Temple: The village of Pather Panchali, with an old goddess temple.

Barisha

Sabarna Sangrahashala: The family museum of the zamindars who once held Calcutta.
Barisha Aatchala: The pillared courtyard where a Durga Puja has been held since 1610.
Dwadash Shiva Temples, Barisha: Twelve Shiva temples in two rows beside a tank.

Thakurpukur & Joka

BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir: A large carved-stone temple on Diamond Harbour Road beyond Joka.

Budge Budge & Achipur

Achipur Chinese Temple: Where India’s Chinese community began, on the river near Budge Budge.
Komagata Maru Memorial: The memorial at Budge Budge to the passengers shot in 1914.

Tangra (Chinatown)

Tangra Chinatown: The Hakka Chinese quarter where Indian Chinese food was shaped.

Beliaghata

Gandhi Bhawan (Hyderi Manzil): The house where Gandhi fasted to stop the riots of 1947.

New Town

Nazrul Tirtha: A striking concrete cultural centre named for Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Biswa Bangla Gate: A steel arch over the main road with a viewing gallery in a hanging ring.

Lake Town & Bangur

Lake Town Clock Tower: A 30-metre replica of London’s Big Ben on VIP Road.

Dum Dum

Clive House: One of the oldest buildings around Kolkata, on a mound in Dum Dum.

Dakshineswar

Dakshineswar Kali Temple: Rani Rashmoni’s nine-spired temple on the Hooghly, where Sri Ramakrishna lived.

Baranagar & Cossipore

Cossipore Udyanbati: The garden house where Sri Ramakrishna spent his last months.
Baranagar Math: The site of the first monastery of the Ramakrishna Order.
Kripamayee Kali Temple: A nine-spired riverside Kali temple of 1848, older than Dakshineswar.

Sodepur

Khadi Pratisthan, Sodepur: The ashram Gandhi called his second home.

Panihati

Mahotsavtala Ghat, Panihati: The riverside banyan where the Chida-Dahi festival has been held for five centuries.

Khardah

Shyamsundar Temple, Khardah: The Vaishnav heart of Khardah, the town of Nityananda.
Twenty-six Shiva Temples, Khardah: Twenty-six aatchala temples round one courtyard near the river.

Titagarh

Annapurna Temple, Chanak: Dakshineswar’s near-twin, built in 1875 by Rani Rashmoni’s daughter.

Barrackpore

Gandhi Ghat: A riverside memorial where Gandhi’s ashes were immersed.
Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya: A museum of Gandhi’s life and his work in Bengal.
Mangal Pandey Park: A riverside garden in memory of the sepoy of 1857.

Strand Road & the Ghats

Howrah Bridge: The cantilever bridge that is the city’s emblem.
Babughat: A colonnaded ghat of 1830, built by Rani Rashmoni in her husband’s memory.
Prinsep Ghat: A Palladian pavilion by the river, under the Vidyasagar Setu.

Howrah & the West Bank

Indian Botanic Garden: A 1787 garden at Shibpur, home of the Great Banyan.
Belur Math: The headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, on the west bank.

More ways to explore Kolkata

Last checked on 2026-10-02. Each place was checked to exist and its position confirmed. Timings, closing days and ticket prices are shown only where known and can change: confirm before you travel.