Museums and galleries in Kolkata

From the country’s oldest museum to small collections in old houses and universities, with the galleries where Bengal’s artists show their work.

Kumartuli

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

Bagbazar

Sister Nivedita’s House: The lane house where an Irish woman opened a school for girls in 1898.

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.

College Street

Asutosh Museum of Indian Art: The first university museum in India, devoted to the art of eastern India.

BBD Bagh (Dalhousie)

General Post Office: A domed post office on the site of the first Fort William.
Metcalfe Hall: A colonnaded hall of the 1840s facing the river.
Currency Building: An Italianate banking hall of 1833, rescued from demolition.

Maidan & Chowringhee

Victoria Memorial: The white-marble memorial museum and its gardens.
Birla Planetarium: A domed planetarium of 1963, modelled on the Sanchi stupa.
Academy of Fine Arts: Galleries and the stage that is the home of Bengali group theatre.
Nandan & Rabindra Sadan: The state film centre and concert hall, heart of the city’s cultural evening.
Nehru Children’s Museum: The Ramayana and Mahabharata told in miniature clay models.

Park Street

Indian Museum: India’s oldest and largest museum, founded in 1814.

Bhawanipur

Netaji Bhawan: The house from which Subhas Chandra Bose made his great escape.

Kalighat

Kalighat Patuapara: The south’s own idol-makers’ lane, near the temple.

Alipore

Alipore Jail Museum: The old central jail, where freedom fighters were held, turned into a museum.

Ballygunge & Gariahat

Birla Industrial & Technological Museum: India’s first science museum, with a walk-in coal mine.
Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture: A cultural institute at Golpark with a library, a museum and evening talks.

Lake Gardens & Southern Avenue

Birla Academy of Art & Culture: An art museum and galleries on Southern Avenue.

Behala

State Archaeological Museum: West Bengal’s own archaeology museum, on Diamond Harbour Road.

Barisha

Sabarna Sangrahashala: The family museum of the zamindars who once held Calcutta.

Thakurpukur & Joka

Gurusaday Museum: A museum of Bengal’s folk art: kantha, scrolls, dolls and terracotta.

Tangra (Chinatown)

Science City: One of the largest science centres in the subcontinent.

Beliaghata

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

Salt Lake (Bidhannagar)

Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre: The government cultural centre for eastern India, with craft fairs and performances.

New Town

Mother’s Wax Museum: A wax museum opposite Eco Park.
Rabindra Tirtha: New Town’s cultural centre devoted to Tagore.
Nazrul Tirtha: A striking concrete cultural centre named for Kazi Nazrul Islam.

Barrackpore

Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya: A museum of Gandhi’s life and his work in Bengal.

Howrah & the West Bank

Rail Museum, Howrah: Old locomotives and a toy train beside Howrah station.

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.