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les origines du nom de cette côte bordée d'arbres et d'un vieux rempart en ruine, à eu son lot de petites histoires pour expliquer son nom.
On raconte que autrefois les gens venaient y jeter des chats pour conjurer le Malin !
Il pourrait également s'agir d'un trou effectué dans les remparts pour faciliter un passage, peut-être pour les agriculteurs.
On raconte aussi qu'il eut pu servir de passage dérobé propice aux rencontres nocturnes, aux rites magiques et autres superstitions.
.
En fait le Trou au Chat doit son nom d'un instrument de siège de la famille des trébuchets qui y était installé pour défendre ce pan de mur d'enceinte de la vieille ville médiévale.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chat_(machine_de_guerre)
With a BCS facelift trying to hide its origins, the white destination surround still gives away the fact that this Volvo B10M started life as a National Expressliner - Wessex G563 VHY to be precise. Seen here in Fleetwood operating anonymously for Haydock of Oswaldtwistle in one of his several incarnations.
late in 2013 i was able to again visit the Moeraki Boulders on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand... the weather was very much bleak and it was what i call a "black and white" day for photography... this means that i usually had to settle for compositions and captures that would end up as black and white conversions later...
that is not all bad and it has allowed me to learn each place more intimately and also to get maximum out of most of my photographic outings...
this image before conversion was ok but not really that engaging... once i worked it a bit in processing the whole mood changed dramatically and it now reminds me of some gestating alien eggs on some foreign planet...
ISO 800 | f/8 | 30 sec | 24mm | Graduated ND Filter
NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft completed its 1.2 billion-mile (2 billion-kilometer) journey to arrive at the asteroid Bennu Monday. The spacecraft executed a maneuver that transitioned it from flying toward Bennu to operating around the asteroid.
Now, at about 11.8 miles (19 kilometers) from Bennu’s Sun-facing surface, OSIRIS-REx will begin a preliminary survey of the asteroid. The spacecraft will commence flyovers of Bennu’s north pole, equatorial region, and south pole, getting as close as nearly 4 miles (7 kilometers) above Bennu during each flyover.
The primary science goals of this survey are to refine estimates of Bennu’s mass and spin rate, and to generate a more precise model of its shape. The data will help determine potential sites for later sample collection.
This image of Bennu was taken by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a distance of around 50 miles (80 km).
Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
("thank you very much for your visit ")
Follow me, ill follow back & tanks for likening/commenting.
You can to add to any group. I would appreciate if you could share this.
.kurdistTan💛❤💚كوردستان💋
The world can’t see peace without Kurdistan
I’m not an Arab not a Turkish or Iranian, I’m a Kurdish Kurdistani
50 million occupied Kurds across 4 regions
" as long as it is possible for me, I want to fight for freedom of Kurdistan. My home is Kurdistan
The Struggle for Freedom: Justice for the Kurds
We want Freedom for Kurdistan.
Just reminder for my people, never forget they kill us just because we’re the Kurds we have our own culture tradition heritage history and path which are different from theirs , don’t forget don’t forgive, we are the origin people of this land they’re just invaders
Peshmarge Message
We were fighting against terror to protect humanity
kurdistan, Kurdish struggle for Peace, Freedom . Democracy
خوايه گيان :-
هه نديك له به نده كانت پيويستيان به دلخوشيه..پيان ببه خشه
هه نديك له به نده كانت پيويستيان به يارمه تيه يارمه تيان بده
هه نديك له به نده كانت پيويستيان به شيفايه
بؤيان بنيره
هه نديكي تريش هيوايان هه يه بؤيان بهينه دي ،،
ئامين ....خوايه گيان.
Dear God.
Some of your slaves need happiness, give it them , and some of them need your help , help them , and some of them need recovery, recover them, and some of them have hope , make thier dream true then .....amen
وەک کێو .. لە ناو دڵی میللەتەکەت
وەک کێو .. بەرامبەر دوژمنانی میللەتەکەت
بــە کـــەرکـــوکــدا زانــیــم،
خـــیـــانـــەت ، چـــی لـــە دڵــــی مـــرۆڤ دەکــــا..
خاک و نیشتیمان وەکو دایک وایە
ئەوەی خاک و نیشتیمانەکەی بفروشیت
Essay on my personal Blog:
thesilverscrolls.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/origin/
Photo taken of and by Model Astrid de Manyet in Second Life.
Furniture by Aisling.
Skin by Essences.
Hair by Alice Project (current Free Gift for Hallween Massacre).
Eyes by IKON.
Eyeliner and lashes by Oceane.
Body by Maitreya.
Hands by Slink.
Outfit by OVH (Free in Store Hunt).
All rights reserved. © copyright by Seung Kye Lee
- Website: www.leeseungkye.com
- Blog: seungkyelee.wordpress.com/
- Not often do I upload two versions of the same image here on flickr,
but this time I really liked both versions and couldn`t help myself.
Also, I know many of you like viewing wide landscapes, especially when earth and sky comes so nicely together as here, and this is for you.
- I believe every living being has some kind of special place where we feel at "home".
It can not always be found when looking for it, and for those who might find it, the strong feeling may be utterly difficult to describe and the sense of logic exceeds our everyday way of thinking.
Such strong and personal emotions, can prove to be a challenge to try to share with someone.
Not everyone can identify with your thoughts and feeling on this matter and many has no clue what the heck you are talking about either.
For me, landscapes of ice and snow and majestic mountains are like beacons to me, I cannot wait long before I go and I miss it too much when I return.
Since I was a small boy, dreams of flying through Arctic landscape has had a very strong influence on me and there is no other place I`d rather be. I find it magical and dramatic yet so perfectly serene and beautiful.
Maybe that`s why I love the flying sequence with the boy and The Snowman in the animated movie from the book by Raymond Briggs, 1972.
Again, I believe that many will identify with their own dreams, if they are only reminded about it and take the time to ponder.
- Ranten Peak (1419 m./4655 ft.), Norway, January 2, 2009.
The morning starting off with clear (boring) blue sky, I used the hours to ski around on front of the mountain to find a way to shoot it right on. When observing cloud formations in the western horizon I waited till they sweeped over Ranten Peak and shot 8 images with different compositions.
Canon 5D, 17-40mm f/4, polarizer, gnd filter.
Full Wave 1 Gallery at the Toyark: news.toyark.com/2014/03/21/dc-collectibles-arkham-origins... - DC Collectibles Arkham Origins Wave 1
3840x1600
InGame Photomode
Don't forget to add me on Facebook if you like my Assassin's Creed Origins screenshots ;) Thanks a lot for watching !!!
FUJIFILM X70
Follow me on : Facebook | Photo Blog(Japanese) | Photo Blog(English) | tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram
No, I didn't get a macro lens. These are all slightly cropped versions of shots from the 85mm 1.4D. See why I wanted it?
While working on our sunburns at Wildwood Park yesterday, I tried to capture all the native-looking flowers/plants I could see. So, now, after all my research, give to you the latin origin/species of these native plants, from Left to Right:
unknown
unknown
unknown
cactus
unknown
Here it is Larger for those of you who want to feel that cactus.
okay, for those who want, I did put photos of all these, full size on one of my other Flickr sites right over there.
K U R D I S T A N - 💛❤💚كوردستان💋
NEWROZA WE PÎROZ BE!
All dancing together because they are the kurds from Kurdistan, Kurdistan is not Iraq Iran Turkey not Syria either, we want United kurdistan not divided land between three different cultures different tradition and different languages than our own unique Kurdish
50 million occupied Kurds across 4 regions
The Struggle for Freedom: Justice for the Kurds
We want Freedom for Kurdistan.
Just reminder for my people, never forget they kill us just because we’re the Kurds we have our own culture tradition heritage history and path which are different from theirs , don’t forget don’t forgive, we are the origin people of this land they’re just invaders
Peshmarge Message
We were fighting against terror to protect humanity
kurdistan, Kurdish struggle for Peace, Freedom . Democracy
Thanks for your visit
kurdish & proud ❤️️💛💚
بۆ پاراستنی کوردستان ببێتە فەرهەنگی هەموومان
وەک کێو .. لە ناو دڵی میللەتەکەت
وەک کێو .. بەرامبەر دوژمنانی میللەتەکەت
بــە کـــەرکـــوکــدا زانــیــم،
خـــیـــانـــەت ، چـــی لـــە دڵــــی مـــرۆڤ دەکــــا..
خاک و نیشتیمان وەکو دایک وایە
ئەوەی خاک و نیشتیمانەکەی بفروشیت
وەک ئەوە وایە دایکی خوی فروشتووە
بۆمن هەموورۆژێک نەورۆزە چونکەئاگرێک لە دلمە ...
Agirê Newrozê nîşana serkeftin û bi dawî anîna zordarî û bidestiyê ye.
Nowruz, in peace, brotherly and festivities must be celebration, love for all humanity, peace freedom and brotherhood friendship. Nowruz over neurosis happy eid to all everyone greetings and love,,--------------------
Newroza gelê kurd , sersala 2718 k pîroz be.. her sal bi xêr û xweşî be ..
Sala nû Azadî û felat be .. ✌
نوروز مبارك .. و رأس سنة كوردية 2719 ك مجيدة
عام حرية و تحرر و خلاص من كل اشكال الظلم و الاستعباد ..
Happy Newroz and New year to all Kurds friends of Kurds and Supporters of Kurds and Rojava ! Biji Kurd and Kurdistan. Biji all those who celebrate this important Day.
Cejna Newrozê li hemû cîhanê û bi teybetî li gelê Kurd pîroz bê!
Bi hêviya saleka bê êş û zordarî. Bila agirê Newrozê li her derî geş bibê ku germiya wê li seranserê cîhanê Kurdên welatparêz û Kurdistaniyan himbêz bikê.
Newroz nîşana serhildan, berxwedan, hêvî û serxwebûnê ye!
N E W R O Z T A N P I R O Z
نــــەورۆزتان پـــــیـــرۆز
Bijî Newroz!
Bijî Kurd û Kurdistan!
Thanks for your visit
We meet a criminal of sorts, mugging a man in an alley of Gotham... "Please!!! Don't shoot! I have a wife! A family!" The man yells... "Oh please... Your f$#king rich. You can pay to heal a couple god damn bullet wounds." The criminal states... "Please. Don't shoot." A voice demands...
~Scarecrow
Titanfall 2
-NVIDIA Custom Resolution
-Otis Freecamera Tool
- Hud Toggle By The Janitor
-ReShade Framework
Battle of Princeton 249th anniversary living history/reenactment.
"British Regulars is a term commonly used to describe the Napoleonic-era British foot soldiers who were known for their distinct red uniform and well-disciplined combat performance. These soldiers were members of the regular army, as compared to irregular military such as private armies or mercenaries.
Known famously in British folklore as the "Red Coats", the hardened soldiers were the backbone of the British Army in the 18th and the 19th centuries. There is no universally accepted explanation as to why the British wore red.
The classical British Regulars were most famous for their actions at the Battle of Culloden (1746), the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the Peninsular War (1808–1815), the War of 1812 (1812–1815) and the Waterloo campaign (1815). During the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), the British Regulars were a well-disciplined group of foot soldiers with years of combat experience, including in the Americas, the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and the War of 1812.
Most of the British Regulars were between the ages of 18 and 29, and over 60% were 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) to 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall. At the time, the British government did not allow enlisted men to be older than 45.
Although typically under English command, many of the enlisted Regulars were either Scottish or Irish. A small number of Regulars were from Prussia and other states of the German Confederation. From those multiple origins also came the two different schools of thought: the American and the German. The American school focused on open-formation light infantry tactics, which were well suited for areas of rough terrain, and dense forested areas, which were best suited against enemies that had no cavalry or artillery. It also favoured infantry ranks of two deep and the use of light infantry with rifles. The German school focused on disciplined close-drill order, which was well suited for the vast European Plain. That approach was preferred in large battlefields if the enemy had large numbers of cavalry and artillery. It favoured infantry ranks of three deep and the use of smoothbore muskets.
In April 1775, during Paul Revere's midnight ride, Revere's warning, according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere's own descriptions, was "The Regulars are coming out!", in reference to the British Regulars.
After 1855, starting in India and gradually extending to other colonial outposts, the scarlet uniforms were often replaced with khaki on campaign for the tactical reason of camouflage. However, it was not until 1902, with the introduction of a universal khaki service dress, that scarlet was officially abandoned as the campaign dress for European operations." (Wikipedia)
PLEASE, NO GRAPHICS, BADGES, OR AWARDS IN COMMENTS. They will be deleted.
*Disclaimer: YES I KNOW MY FIGS ARE DUSTY!!! :D*
Haven't been uploading a whole lot recently! At least not actual Lego posts that I used to do a lot. What can you expect when you work constantly and also have a Girlfriend and a Youtube channel that just hit 2,000 subs! Long story short I've been busy so I thought I'd post an actual Custom figure picture since I've updated some figures recently! Well, here they are:
Lucius Fox: Lord Business body with brown hands and standard hair. I've been using the GB Winston head because I liked it better than my old goatee head I used to use. Also it's convenient that Ernie Hudson, who played Winston, will be playing the Fantastic Mr. Fox in "Batman: Bad Blood".
Robin (Jason Todd): So this Robin was made after Arkham Knight came out and Jason Todd's Robin was shown in game. I loved the design, although He will be updated again soon! I want him to have the New Robin torso since it looks closer to the game! He'll of course get a cape just like my other Robins. Also according to Taylor (TCmazz1) His boots and gauntlets are yellowish/lime green in the game but I don't think that'd look good so I went with classic Green! He uses the Damian Wayne Head and Hair, 2012 Robin Torso with dark green arms, and Brick Forge Gauntlets.
Darkest Knight Batman: I came up with this Batman after purchasing my AK Batman. So the idea behind this one is after Jason Todd's funeral, Batman switches from grey/black to all black to mourn over the loss of his fallen soldier. It uses the 2015 JL Cowl, 2012 Black suit Batman torso, OnlineSailins AK Head and Arms, Brick Warriors Gauntlets, and a Custom cape that was also included with the AK Batman but was not made by OnlineSailin.
Batsuit V8.03: Arkham Knight Batman. So I put silver arms, custom painted BrickForge gauntlets, the 2012 Cowl and head, and a 2015 cape on him. (Because I feel the shape and material are more accurate looking.) And Now he's ready to suit up, jump in the Batmobile and spend half the game fighting ridiculous amounts of tanks!
Robin (Dick Grayson): Based on his Arkham Origins Online Appearance, This Robin uses the combed hairpiece, 2006 head, two different capes, 2012 body with black arms and hands, red BrickForge Gauntlets, and painted legs.
Kid Flash: So All I did was repaint his body a bit and give him the Hawkeye head because mine sucked donkey dick through a straw!
Arsenal (Roy Harper): All I did was give him a head found at a retro toy store yesterday! YAY!
Tell me what you think you goobers!
Origin is an interactive sound and light installation that functions through the use of the electricity naturally produced from the bodies of the participants. Through this we are given the opportunity to experience a world of light and sound created by our own physicality. Photo by Kelvin Trundle : Facebook - www.facebook.com/KelvinTrundlephotography/
One of the things I love about crossdressing is putting together new outfits from old stuff!
Here's a Free People skirt with a top of unknown origin...
Work for school. This may be the first time I like stupid FlickrSharpening!
Oh and I dedicate this to Classical Beauty for the testimonial. Thank you, dear!
The hearts are out of sweet pepper and I spent hours for making them myself.
Now I won't be able smell any sweet pepper without feeling sick ever again.
I'm not really satisfied but my teacher liked it though..
My first Upload. This is one of my favorite figures. It uses a lego Iron Man Helmet. Credit for helmet goes to bouysmm. Inspired by The Arkham Origins Deathstroke concept art.
1953 Porsche 550 #550-001
This car is the first 550 and the first pure race car ever built by Porsche.
It won Nurburgring 1000 km 1953 (Helm Glöckler), finished 2nd in class at Le Mans 1953 (Hans Herrmann / Helm Glöckler), DNF at the Carrera Panamericana 1953 (Jaroslav Juhan) and won 1000 km Buenos Aires 1953 (Jaroslav Juhan)
Porsche Rennsport Reunion V
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
St. Patrics Cathedral on 2016 Christmas Eve.
New York’s First Cathedral: The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral
Written by Joyce Mendelsohn, 2001
Edited and updated by James E. Garrity, 2015
The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral is the original Cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York. Since its construction 200 years ago on the corner of Mott and Prince, it has stood as the heart of old New York; a beacon for the Catholic faithful and an American symbol of religious freedom. Originally the center of a once impoverished Irish community, St. Patrick’s has expanded to serve a diverse community of Catholics from Italian, Hispanic, Asian, and various other origins. Today, our Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral remains a vital force in the community which proudly unites Catholics through worship, social groups and spiritual guidance.
The History of Catholicism in New York
The history of our city's Catholicism begins in the 17th century with French-born Fr. Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit who landed in New York State. Fr. Jacques was one of the North American Martyrs sent as missionaries to the Quebec Hurons in the early 1640s. He escaped capture and torture by an Iroquois war party in 1643 with the help of Dutch Calvinists who smuggled him by boat to New Amsterdam (later renamed New York) where he was warmly welcomed as “a martyr of Jesus Christ” by Willem Kieft. Father Jogues sailed back to Europe upon learning that 18 different languages were spoken among the settlement population numbering some 500, described as having “the arrogance of Babel.” He later returned as an Iroquois missionary though he was seized and murdered in 1649 by a member of the Mohawk tribe. His canonization was in 1930 by Pope Pius XI.
Peter Stuyvesant proceeded Kieft with openly hostility to public worship by religions other than the Dutch Reformed Church which remained even after the British gained control in 1664 of what became New York. The small Catholic population only gained esteem in 1674, when King James II (a Roman Catholic convert) granted religious liberty to the province which still lacked a its own place of worship. In 1683, King James II appointed an Irish Catholic Colonel Thomas Dongan to govern New York under his “Charter of Liberties and Privileges” which granted religious freedom to all Christians. However, the fall of the Catholic Stuarts in England due to the Protestant “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 drove Dongan from his post, ending the brief religious liberty in the province and ushering in a law in 1700 that prohibited Catholic priests from entering the city as per the provincial assembly. Despite these restrictions, Jesuit Ferdinand Steenmayer snuck into the city to celebrate Mass in secret on several brave occasions.
Upon the anti-Catholic law being repealed (1784) in the now sovereign state of New York, an Irish Capuchin friar Charles Whelan arrived in the city to help organize what would become the first Catholic parish in the independent United States. New York’s Catholic community numbered less than 1,000 of the total 230,000 populating the land from French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Irish descent. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church in the City of New York was incorporated in 1785, led by the French consul and largely financed by a donation from King Charles III of Spain. Construction then commenced on the first Catholic house of worship in the city - St. Peter’s Church.
Opening Mass was celebrated on November 1, 1786, in the small, Georgian- style building located on the corner of Barclay and Church streets in lower Manhattan. Severely damaged in the Great Fire of 1835 (a conflagration that raged for three days and destroyed 674 buildings), the original wood frame building was replaced in 1840 by the present monumental granite structure, designed in the classicaltradition.
Pierre Toussaint And Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton
Two extraordinary parishioners are connected with St. Peter’s Church: Pierre Toussaint, who is being considered for canonization, and Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born American saint.
Toussaint, born in Haiti in 1766, was brought as a slave to New York in 1787. When his owners fell upon hard times, he became a successful hairdresser, at the same time quietly waiting on and supporting the household. After the death of his owners, the former slave purchased his wife’s freedom and became a leader of the free black community in New York.
Pierre Toussaint devoted his life to aiding the poor and the sick—opening his home to black orphans, raising funds to support a Catholic orphanage and school, and entering quarantined zones to nurse victims of epidemics that ravaged the city.
Toussaint worshiped at St. Peter’s Church for sixty-six years and was buried in the cemetery of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in 1853. In 1989, his remains were removed and brought to St. Patrick’s Cathedral uptown as the first step in the cause for his beatification. Within St. Peter’s Church is a life-size marble statue of Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was born in New York in 1774 into a devout Episcopalian family. At age nineteen, Elizabeth Ann Bayley married wealthy businessman William Seton. They raised a family of five children in a gracious home at 7 State Street facing Battery Park, which is now the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. As a young wife and mother who became deeply involved in assisting the poor, Mrs. Seton was widely known as the “Protestant Sister of Charity.” After her husband’s death, the widow—always deeply spiritual—was drawn to Catholicism and in 1805 was received into the Catholic faith at St. Peter’s Church.
Elizabeth Ann Seton turned for guidance to BishopJohnCarroll. He had been appointed as the first Bishop in the United States in 1789 and in Baltimore presided over America’s first diocese— encompassing all of the thirteen original colonies. At Bishop Carroll’s urging, she moved her family to Baltimore in 1808 to open a Catholic girls’ school—marking the beginning of the Catholic system of parochial schools in the United States. Mother Seton founded the Sisters of Charity—the first Catholic religious order in America. Her order was successful in establishing orphanages and hospitals and developing the parochial school system. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton died at age fifty- two in 1821 and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
Father Antony Kohlmann
In response to the needs of a growing number of Catholic immigrants, Pope Pius VII established the Diocese of New York in 1808, which included all of New York State and a portion of northern New Jersey. Archbishop Carroll chose Alsatian-born Father Antony Kohlmann, along with several of his fellow Jesuits, to organize the new diocese. When Father Kohlmann arrived in the new diocese, he described the Catholic population as consisting “of Irish, some hundreds of French and as many Germans; in all according to the common estimation of 14,000 souls.” A parcel of land on Mott Street on the comer of Prince Street was chosen for the construction of New York’s first Cathedral. It was to rise on land that had been purchased in 1801 and 1803 by St. Peter’s Church for a burial ground. (The graves were removed to another site.) At the time, Canal Street was the northern boundary of the built-up portion of Manhattan. The Cathedral, erected in the midst of meadows, hills, and woodlands, was referred to as the “new church out of town.” (It was still a rural area in 1820 when a fox was caught in the churchyard!) Funds for construction came from large numbers of poor Irish immigrants—at considerable personal sacrifice—and from several wealthy Catholic laymen, including Andrew Morris (an Irish immigrant) —the first Catholic ever to be elected to public office in New York State to serve on the Common Council—and Cornelius Heeney (another immigrant from Ireland), a business partner of John Jacob Astor. On June 8, 1809, Father Kohlmann officiated before an assembled crowd of 3,000 at the laying of the cornerstone for St. Patrick’s Cathedral—the second Roman Catholic Cathedral in America (Baltimore’s Cathedral was the first) and the second Catholic church in New York (after St. Peter’s).
The new Cathedral was the first house of worship in the United States to be dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick, who organized the Irish Church in the fifth century. Known as the Apostle of Ireland, Patrick was consecrated as Bishop circa 432. He traveled tirelessly throughout Ireland, preaching, writing, and teaching, converting chiefs and bards, gathering followers, establishing churches and schools, building monasteries, and performing miracles. Since specific rules for canonization were not set down until the tenth century, local veneration of St. Patrick evolved into his sainthood.
The new Cathedral was designed by Joseph Mangin, a French-born architect and engineer, who arrived in New York in 1745 and soon established a reputation as a skilled architect and builder. In 1802, Mangin, along with native- born architect John McComb Jr., won the competition for the design of New York’s present City Hall (completed in 1812) with their plans for an exquisite French Renaissance exterior and a splendid Federal-style interior.
Mangin designed a grand and magnificent structure for St. Patrick’s Cathedral—proclaiming the strength and presence of the Catholic community as a force within the city. At the time of construction, it was the largest church building in the city—over 120 feet long and 80 feet wide and rising to a height of 75 feet with an 85-foot inner vault. The Cathedral—with its massive rough-cut stone facade punctuated by niches for statuary, pointed-arch doorways, and a large tracery-ornamented gable window—was one of the first Gothic Revival churches in America. The interior space was marked by tall, clustered iron columns that divided the body of the church into three naves surmounted by Gothic arches. Painted wall surfaces and natural light streaming through tall windows added to the spiritual quality of the interior. The Cathedral formally opened on Ascension Day, May 4, 1815, with a crowd of 4,000 worshippers and dignitaries, including Mayor DeWitt Clinton, and a greater number overflowing into the streets.
The first Bishop appointed to the diocese was Irish-born Richard Luke Concanen.The Napoleonic Wars prevented him from reaching New York and he died in Italy in 1810. The work of governing as administrator of the diocese continued to be carried out by Father Kohlmann, who devoted himself to fund raising and overseeing construction of the Cathedral. He maintained those responsibilities until the arrival in November 1815 of the second Bishop, sixty-five-year-old John Connolly, an Irish Dominican theologian who was held in high repute by both Pius VI and Pius VII. Bishop Connolly directed the construction of several new churches in the diocese and founded an orphanage in a wood-frame building at 32 Prince Street, across from the Cathedral, that was staffed in 1817 by three Sisters of Charity sent to New York by Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. Pierre Toussaint, a leading financial supporter, generously contributed funds to the orphanage for close to forty years.
The Sisters established St. Patrick’s School in 1822. The original orphanage and school building was replaced in 1826 by the present red-brick convent and school designed in the Federal style and distinguished by an exquisite doorway of the period. For more than 180 years, the Sisters of Charity continued their tradition of service— first in the orphanage and then in St. Patrick’s School. The school had educated generations of Irish, Italian, French, Hispanic, Chinese, and German children. St. Patrick’s School boasted a distinguished roster of graduates—leaders in business, film, theater, arts, teaching, and the full spectrum of vocations and professions. The school (which had been New York’s oldest surviving parochial school) was forced to close in 2010 due to insufficient enrollment. In 1823, Bishop Connolly invited Cuban-born Fr. Felix Varela to New York to start a pastoral ministry among poor Irish immigrants, who made up the majority of the 35,000 Catholics living in the city. Father Varela—a social activist and advocate of Cuban independence—served as pastor in several diocese churches and is best remembered for his staunch support for the Irish in the face of growing anti-Catholic sentiment.
Bishop Connolly’s entire episcopacy was plagued by a severe shortage of priests. He brought Fr. Michael O’Gorman (who he ordained in Ireland before leaving for New York) with him from Ireland, and in 1820, he ordained Fr. Richard Bulger (another Irishman) to the priesthood. Father Bulger thus was the first priest to be ordained in New York City. Fathers Bulger and O’Gorman regularly traveled to New Jersey, to upstate New York, and to Brooklyn on Long Island to celebrate Masses for the Catholics there, since there were no resident priests in those locations at that time. Both Father Bulger and Father O’Gorman became ill in November of 1824 as a result of tending to the sick and dying of the diocese, and they both passed away within a week of each other at their residence on Broadway. They had been living in the same residence as Bishop Connolly, and when they died, the Bishop, who officiated at both of their burials, caught a bad cold and he died a few months later in February of 1825. Fathers O’Gorman and Bulger (and other early priests of the diocese) were buried in the courtyard in front of the church. A commemorative bronze plaque was placed upon the gravesite in 2010.
At the time of Bishop Connolly’s death, the diocese was composed mainly of working class Irish parishioners. The appointment of his successor, Fr. John Dubois—a French educator and missionary—was viewed with disappointment by the Irish community. Forced out of France in 1791 by the French Revolution, Father Dubois arrived in America with letters of introduction from the Marquis de Lafayette to James Monroe and Patrick Henry. Father Dubois settled in Virginia, where he built a church and opened a school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, that became Mount St.Mary’s College. In 1826, when he was consecrated the third Bishop of New York, there were twelve churches in the diocese for a Catholic population of about 150,000, served by only eighteen priests. By 1837, the numbers had grown to thirty-eight churches and forty priests. Plagued by ill health, Bishop Dubois requested a coadjutor. In 1838, the Rev. John Joseph Hughes was elevated to the episcopy as Bishop of Basileopolis at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and was then appointed coadjutor bishop to Dubois. In the following year, he was made administrator-Apostolic of New York. Bishop Dubois died in 1842 at the age of seventy-eight and is buried in front of the Cathedral, as he had personally requested.
St. John Neumann
Six years before his death, Bishop Dubois had welcomed a twenty- five-year-old theological student named John Neumann to the diocese. Neumann—who was canonized by Pope Paul IV in 1977 as America’s first male saint—was born in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) and attended seminary in Prague. Since his ordination had been delayed by the government, Neumann came to New York as a missionary. The young man was ordained to priesthood at St. Patrick’s on June 28, 1836, and sent to upstate New York to work among German-speaking Catholics. Renowned for his outstanding mission and pastoral work and for his holiness and charity, Neumann was appointed the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852, where he died in 1860.
The multitudes of Irish Catholics who arrived in New York in the 19th century were mainly uneducated peasants leaving behind an impoverished existence in their native homeland due to harsh British colonial rule. And, after 1845, they were also fleeing from the Great Hunger—the potato famines that killed more than one million Irish and drove some two million more to America. The new immigrants lived in squalor, crowded into rotting structures and wretched tenements, eking out a miserable living, and suffering from disease and extreme poverty. These Famine Irish turned in large numbers to the church for solace.
The fourth Bishop of St. Patrick’s, who succeeded Bishop Dubois in 1842, was himself the son of poor Irish farmers and weavers. In 1817, at age twenty, John Joseph Hughes (born in Annaloughan, County Tyrone)emigrated to the United States and briefly settled in Pennsylvania before entering Mount St. Mary’s College, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1826. Father Hughes spent the next twelve years in Philadelphia serving as pastor of several churches and was widely admired for his skillful management, strong leadership qualities, and outspoken defense of the church. Arriving in New York in 1838, Father Hughes served first as coadjutor and later administrator-Apostolic of New York. He was appointed a bishop in 1842—the first prelate to be consecrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Bishop Hughes faced two daunting challenges—presiding over a diocese that was experiencing unprecedented growth and protecting Catholics and their churches from the growing hostility of native-born Protestants.
Beginning in the 1830s, the city had experienced several outbreaks of violence led by nativists against Catholics. In 1831, the tiny, wood-frame structure of St. Mary’s Church (the third Catholic church in New York, organized in 1826) on Sheriff Street was burnt to the ground by arsonists. (A substantial stone church, still standing, was built to replace it in 1833 on Grand Street.) The burning of St. Mary’s Church compelled the Trustees of the Cathedral to approve the construction of the brick wall— which surrounds the church—in 1834. Frequent brawls and street riots between Protestants and Catholics led to the founding in 1836 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Latin for “Irish”) as a mutual benefit society and self- defense group. In the following years, nativist mobs had advanced on St. Patrick’s several times but were turned back after receiving reports that armed Irish defenders— posted by Bishop Hughes—were stationed along Prince Street and behind those brick walls which had been specifically constructed to protect the Cathedral.
In 1844, James Harper (of the famed Harper publishing family) was elected Mayor of New York as the candidate of the anti-immigrant American Republican Party. At the same time, Protestants and Irish Catholics in Philadelphia clashed in rioting that claimed the lives of some thirty Irishmen and resulted in the burning of Catholic churches and convents. Bishop Hughes vigorously defended the rights of Irish Catholics against this rising movement of bigotry and bloodshed. He organized thousands of Irish men to defend the Cathedral. As a massive anti-Catholic torchlight parade gathered in City Hall Park, ready to march up the Bowery to the Cathedral, he stationed sharpshooters on the protective walls surrounding the building. Bishop Hughes sent a letter to Mayor Harper warning that if any harm came to a single Catholic person or Catholic church, the city would be turned into “a second Moscow” (referring to the burning of Moscow during Napoleon’s invasion in 1812). The Bishop’s powerful message and forceful actions are credited with averting the anticipated violent anti-Catholic outbreak in New York.
In 1851, young men from the neighborhood around the Cathedral organized a militia regiment, known locally as the Second Regiment of Irish Volunteers. It was officially accepted as part of the New York State Militia and designated as the Sixty-Ninth Regiment. Commonly called the “Fighting Irish,” its green insignia was composed of a decorative shield flanked by two Irish wolfhounds standing on a ribbon inscribed with the Regimental motto, “Gentle When Stroked, Fierce When Provoked.” The Sixty-Ninth Regiment served in every campaign from Bull Run to Appomattox during the Civil War and fought in the Spanish-American War and the Mexican Border Campaign. Legendary hero Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan, chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy, and poet Joyce Kilmer were with the Regiment in bitter fighting in France during World War I. The “Fighting Sixty- Ninth” has been a fixture in the United States Army ever since and last saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 1907, the Regiment has been a unit of the New York Army National Guard.
Bishop Hughes was consecrated as Archbishop of New York in 1850 and continued a vigorous mission of building churches, schools, and hospitals. In 1842, when appointed bishop, he presided over a diocese of fifty churches, forty priests, and 200,000 Catholics. At his death in 1864, the numbers had increased to eighty-five churches, 150 priests, and a population of over 400,000 Catholics.
In a far-seeing move that many ridiculed at the time as “Hughes’ Folly,” the Archbishop proposed the construction of a new Cathedral in an undeveloped area far uptown on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets. Andrew Morris and Cornelius Heeney had purchased the rural property in 1810 on behalf of Father Kohlmann for the sum of $11,000 for the use of the Jesuit boys’ school that he had started downtown. In 1812, he established a school for girls near the boys’ school, run by the Ursuline nuns. The schools were no longer in existence when Archbishop Hughes laid the cornerstone for the new Cathedral on August 15, 1858.
During the Civil War, Archbishop Hughes served as the envoy of President Lincoln on a successful overseas mission to dissuade European countries from supporting the Confederacy. In gratitude, Lincoln petitioned Pope Pius IX to name Archbishop Hughes as America’s first Cardinal. But the death of this indomitable leader in January 1864 came before that honor could come to pass. His memory was honored by tributes from President Lincoln and other statesmen and his body viewed by over 200,000 common people who solemnly came to worship in the Cathedral. He was entombed in the crypts below the Cathedral and remained there until the “New” Cathedral was completed uptown—his remains were then removed to a crypt there in 1883. The Cathedral uptown holds the remains of all of the archbishops and cardinals that have served the Archdiocese since the death of Archbishop Hughes.
Archbishop Hughes’ successor in 1864 as the second Archbishop of the diocese was Bishop John McCloskey. He was born in Brooklyn in 1810 to Irish immigrant parents (his parents are both interred in the cemetery surrounding the Old Cathedral) and, at age eleven, entered Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, distinguishing himself as an outstanding student. After graduation, the fifteen-year-old returned to New York with the intention of pursuing a career in law. But after a near-fatal accident in 1827, the young man decided instead to study for the priesthood. Young McCloskey was under the guardianship of Cornelius Heeney (who dedicated his fortune to the care of poor children at the end of his life), and the young man was taught Latin by Thomas S. Brady (buried in the crypts below the Cathedral). He was taught proper English elocution by Charlotte Melmoth, the first Shakespearean actress to come to America, who opened a school in Brooklyn when her acting career ended. (She was buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard cemetery surrounding the Cathedral.) McCloskey returned to Emmitsburg as a seminarian and later taught Latin at the college. In 1830, he was ordained to the priesthood at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral and remained until 1834 before taking a leave to study in Rome. Upon his return, Father McCloskey was instrumental in starting a seminary in Nyack under Bishop Dubois. (The seminary was destroyed by fire just prior to its opening in the 1830s. Arson was suspected, but the case was never investigated fully.) Father McCloskey became the first president of St. John’s College (later renamed Fordham University), founded by Archbishop Hughes in 1841.
Reverend McCloskey served as coadjutor bishop of New York from 1844–1847 and first Bishop of Albany from 1847 to 1864 before his appointment as Bishop to the New York diocese. Later raised to archbishop, he was highly respected as a pioneer in Catholic education and a clergyman of great spiritual strength and humility. During the tenure of Archbishop McCloskey, a disaster of tragic proportions struck on the night of October 6, 1866, when a catastrophic fire destroyed all but the outer walls of the Old Cathedral.
The five-alarm fire began in the packing room (filled with straw and wood shavings) of a porcelain dealer at 44 Crosby Street and quickly spread to nearby buildings. Showers of sparks fell on the lath and plaster roof of St. Patrick’s, which was soon a blazing inferno. As huge fragments of the burning roof crashed down into the sanctuary, filling the building with flames and smoke, a crowd of parishioners, led by Fathers McGeehan and Mullen, rushed inside to remove precious religious articles. They were successful in rescuing the Blessed Sacrament, vestments, several vessels, a number of oil paintings, and silver candlesticks just moments before the entire structure was engulfed by fire.
Archbishop McCloskey resolved to rebuild the Cathedral and commissioned architect Henry Engelbert (known for his designs of the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale) to reconstruct St. Patrick’s. Engelbert designed a severely plain facade of smooth brown stucco, facing Mott Street, lacking the detail and grace of the original exterior. The splendid interior, however, was rebuilt with a ceiling of ribbed vaults and arches carried on clustered piers. An altar screen of carved figures, representing the Apostles, is surmounted by a pointed arch stained-glass window above a painting of the figure of Christ. Completed in less than two years, the Cathedral was rededicated by Archbishop McCloskey on the Feast of St. Patrick—March 17, 1868.
The foremost ecclesiastical event in the history of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral took place in the restored structure on April 27, 1875, with the investiture of Archbishop McCloskey as the first American to be named Cardinal. Several Papal emissaries, seven archbishops, twenty bishops, hundreds of priests, and thousands of laymen attended the ceremony of solemnity and celebration. After its construction was completed, His Eminence John Cardinal McCloskey moved his seat uptown to the magnificent new St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, which was formally dedicated on May 25, 1879. The historic St. Patrick’s downtown then became a simple parish church.
Since that time, the church has remained the heart of an active parish with an ever-changing population. (Parish boundaries run from Wooster Street to the Bowery, between Hester Street and East Fourth Street.) Beginning in the 1880s, Italian immigrants poured into the area centered on Mulberry Street that came to be known as Little Italy. (Earlier in the 1800s, Lorenzo Da Ponte, who had written librettos for several of Mozart’s operas, lived on Spring Street, and his opulent Funeral Mass took place in the Cathedral in August of 1838.) Large numbers of Hispanic and Chinese newcomers to America make up a significant portion of the present population. Recent years have seen the transformation of previously commercial areas, such as SoHo and NoHo, into residential communities largely populated by people in the arts and media. Currently, many young people are making the entire area their home. Their youthful energy has breathed much life into St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral parish.
As the 200th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the Old Cathedral approached, Msgr. Donald Sakano, who had been appointed pastor of the venerable church in 2007, began to plan for what would be a six-year Bicentennial Celebration (since it took six years for the church o be completed in the early 1800s). Monsignor Sakano marshaled the assistance of historians familiar with church and city history as well as people in the parish community for the purpose of putting together a celebration that would highlight the great history of the church.
A slogan for the Bicentennial Celebration (which we are currently in the midst of) was selected: “Embracing the future as we celebrate our past.”
The Bicentennial Celebration of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral began with a Mass celebrated by His Excellency, Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, held in the Old Cathedral on June 7, 2009, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the laying of the church’s cornerstone. Various church and civic leaders attended Mass and the related events. A parade was held in which, among other events, (a) the Ancient Order of Hibernians, or “AOH,” marched to the church and stood shoulder-to-shoulder around its perimeter wall in commemoration of the AOH’s defense of the church against physical attack by the nativist, anti-Catholic “Know-Nothings” at the request of then-Bishop (later Archbishop) “Dagger John” Hughes and (b) the April 1861 parade of the famed “Fighting 69th” regiment—a unit of the Irish Brigade—as it marched off to the Civil War was re-enacted.
At that same June 7, 2009, Mass celebrating the laying of the cornerstone of the church, Archbishop Dolan announced from the pulpit that an application would be made to the Holy See requesting that St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral be awarded basilica status. This honor is bestowed upon churches that have historical or other kinds of significance for the Catholic Church and which affords certain ceremonial privileges for a church so honored.
It did not take a long time for the application to be honored; His Excellency Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan announced from the altar of the “new” Cathedral at the annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass on March 17, 2010, that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI had awarded Basilica status to the Old Cathedral, effective (fittingly) on March 17, 2010.
All of the people who have had connections over the years with the Old Cathedral are rightfully proud to learn that this wonderful old church has been so honored by His Holiness Pope Benedict. Old St. Patrick’s is the only church within The Archdiocese of New York to have ever attained Basilica status—a fitting honor for such a historically and ecclesiastically significant edifice within the great City of New York.
Deeply rooted in the community, The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral continues its tradition of providing for the spiritual needs of Catholics of all ages. In 2013, the Basilica once again became a place where Roman Catholics could be buried on the island of Manhattan. A columbarium was erected early in the year for the purpose of accepting the cremated remains of parishioners and friends of the Basilica, and more columbaria are in the building stages as of this writing. Once again, Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral is an honored burial place for the faithful departed of New York City—the exact purpose that the pioneer Catholic community of New York City had originally intended for the land when it was purchased in 1801.
++++++++++ FROM WKIPEDIA +++++++++
Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtə/ ([kolkata] (About this soundlisten), also known as Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. The city is widely regarded as the "cultural capital" of India, and is also nicknamed the "City of Joy".[1][2][3].According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the seventh most populous city. the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Area's economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion (GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity) making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi.[11][12][13]
In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690,[15] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule, and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation.
As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National Library of India. Among professional scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India, the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports.
Etymology
The word Kolkata derives from the Bengali term Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা) [ˈkɔlikat̪a], the name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, in the area where the city eventually was to be established; the other two villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur.[16]
There are several explanations about the etymology of this name:
The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô [ˈkalikʰːet̪rɔ] (Bengali: কালীক্ষেত্র), meaning "Field of [the goddess] Kali". Similarly, it can be a variation of 'Kalikshetra' (Sanskrit: कालीक्षेत्र, lit. "area of Goddess Kali").
Another theory is that the name derives from Kalighat.[17]
Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila (Bengali: কিলকিলা), or "flat area".[18]
The name may have its origin in the words khal [ˈkʰal] (Bengali: খাল) meaning "canal", followed by kaṭa [ˈkata] (Bengali: কাটা), which may mean "dug".[19]
According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun [ˈkɔlitɕun] (Bengali: কলি চুন) and coir or kata [ˈkat̪a] (Bengali: কাতা); hence, it was called Kolikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা).[18]
Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata [ˈkolkat̪a] (Bengali: কলকাতা) or Kôlikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা) in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.[20] (It should be noted that "Calcutt" is an etymologically unrelated place name found at several locations in England.)
History
The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.[21][22] Kolkata's recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator who worked for the company, was formerly credited as the founder of the city;[23] In response to a public petition,[24] the Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.[25] The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor; the jagirdari (a land grant bestowed by a king on his noblemen) taxation rights to the villages were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of landowners, or zamindars. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[26]:1
In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory.[27] Facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and tax evasion by the company. His warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked; he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[28] A force of Company soldiers (sepoys) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.[28] Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar, East India company was appointed imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province.[29] Declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.[30] In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took complete control of the city and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city and its public architecture.[31] Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade.[32]
By the 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and Dalhousie Square; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.[33] The city underwent rapid industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph connections and Howrah railway station. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[34] In the 19th century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens. In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association, the first avowed nationalist organisation in India.[35]
Bengali billboards on Harrison Street. Calcutta was the largest commercial centre in British India.
The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British.[36][37] The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911.[38] Calcutta continued to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement. The city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II.[39][40] Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors.[41] Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000.[42][43][44] The partition of India led to further clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[45]
During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes, and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.[46] The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless, that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.[47] During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a "dying city" in light of its socio-political woes.[48] In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the Left Front, which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian communism.[49][50][51] In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 2011, Left Front was defeated by the Trinamool Congress. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to institute pro-market reforms. Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base.[52]
Geography
Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the city's elevation is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft).[53] Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.[54] The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East Kolkata Wetlands, were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention (1975).[55] As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in origin. Kolkata is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin.[56] Bengal basin comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface.[56] The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is Quaternary, followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft) trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian-Carboniferous Gondwana rocks.[56] The quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt, and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds: the lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40 m (30–130 ft) in thickness.[57] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III.[58]
Urban structure
Howrah Bridge from the western bank of the Ganges
The Kolkata metropolitan area is spread over 1,886.67 km2 (728.45 sq mi)[59]:7 and comprises 3 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 39 local municipalities and 24 panchayat samitis, as of 2011.[59]:7 The urban agglomeration encompassed 72 cities and 527 towns and villages, as of 2006.[60] Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Nadia.[61]:15 Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi).[60] The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east—a span of 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi).[62] The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section the city into North, Central, and South Kolkata. East Kolkata is also a section.
North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture, dilapidated buildings, overpopulated slums, crowded bazaars, and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as Shyambazar, Hatibagan, Maniktala, Kankurgachi, Rajabazar, Shobhabazar, Shyampukur, Sonagachi, Kumortuli, Bagbazar, Jorasanko, Chitpur, Pathuriaghata, Cossipore, Kestopur, Sinthee, Belgachia, Jorabagan, and Dum Dum.[63]:65–66 The northern suburban areas like Baranagar, Durganagar, Noapara, Dunlop, Dakshineswar, Nagerbazar, Belghoria, Agarpara, Sodepur, Madhyamgram, Barasat, Birati, Khardah up to Barrackpur are also within the city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure).
Central Kolkata
Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains B. B. D. Bagh, formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the Esplanade on its east; Strand Road is on its west.[64] The West Bengal Secretariat, General Post Office, Reserve Bank of India, High Court, Lalbazar Police Headquarters, and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub is the area south of Park Street, which comprises thoroughfares such as Chowringhee, Camac Street, Wood Street, Loudon Street, Shakespeare Sarani, and A. J. C. Bose Road.[65] The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the "lungs of Kolkata"[66] and accommodates sporting events and public meetings.[67] The Victoria Memorial and Kolkata Race Course are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Other important areas of Central Kolkata are Park Circus, Burrabazar, College Street, Sealdah, Taltala, Janbazar, Bowbazar, Entally, Chandni Chowk, Lalbazar, Chowringhee, Dharmatala, Tiretta Bazar, Bow Barracks, Mullick Bazar, Park Circus, Babughat etc. Among the other parks are Central Park in Bidhannagar and Millennium Park on Strand Road, along the Hooghly River.
South Kolkata
South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as Ballygunge, Alipore, New Alipore, Lansdowne, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Dhakuria, Gariahat, Tollygunge, Naktala, Jodhpur Park, Lake Gardens, Golf Green, Jadavpur, Garfa, Kalikapur, Haltu, Nandi Bagan, Santoshpur, Baghajatin, Garia, Ramgarh, Raipur, Kanungo Park, Ranikuthi, Bikramgarh, Bijoygarh, Bansdroni and Kudghat.[16] Outlying areas of South Kolkata include Garden Reach, Khidirpur, Metiabruz, Taratala, Majerhat, Budge Budge, Behala, Sarsuna, Barisha, Parnasree Pally, Thakurpukur, Maheshtala and Joka. The southern suburban neighbourhoods like Mahamayatala, Pratapgarh, Kamalgazi, Narendrapur, Sonarpur, Subhashgram and Baruipur are also within the city of Kolkata (as metropolitan, urban agglomeration area). Fort William, on the western part of the city, houses the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army;[68] its premises are under the jurisdiction of the army.
East Kolkata
East Kolkata is largely composed of newly developed areas and neighbourhoods of Saltlake, Rajarhat, Tangra, Topsia, Kasba, Anandapur, Mukundapur, Picnic Garden, Beleghata, Ultadanga, Phoolbagan, Kaikhali, Lake Town, etc. Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are Bidhannagar, also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and Rajarhat, also called New Town and sited east of Bidhannagar.[16][69] In the 2000s, Sector V in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies.[70][71] Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipalities.[69]
Climate
Kolkata is subject to a tropical wet-and-dry climate that is designated Aw under the Köppen climate classification. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk".[58]
Temperature
The annual mean temperature is 26.8 °C (80.2 °F); monthly mean temperatures are 19–30 °C (66–86 °F). Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in May and June.[72] Winter lasts for roughly two-and-a-half months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9–11 °C (48–52 °F) in December and January. May is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from 27–37 °C (81–99 °F); January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from 12–23 °C (54–73 °F). The highest recorded temperature is 43.9 °C (111.0 °F), and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F).[72] The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season. Often, in April–June, the city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as kal bôishakhi (কালবৈশাখী), or "Nor'westers" in English.[73]
Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west summer monsoon[74] lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about 1,850 mm (73 in). The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings live to a stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,528 hours of sunshine per year, with maximum sunlight exposure occurring in March.[75] Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands.[76][77]
Environmental issues
Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata. As of 2008, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable suspended particulate matter levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze.[80][81] Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer.[82]
Economy
Kolkata is the main commercial and financial hub of East and North-East India[61] and home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange.[83][84] It is a major commercial and military port, and is the only city in eastern India, apart from Bhubaneswar to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced a steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant trade-unionism, which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties.[52] From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated.[52] The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet: the "dying city".[85] The city's fortunes improved after the Indian economy was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government.[52]
Flexible production has been the norm in Kolkata, which has an informal sector that employs more than 40% of the labour force.[16] One unorganised group, roadside hawkers, generated business worth ₹ 8,772 crore (US$ 2 billion) in 2005.[86] As of 2001, around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in the secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the tertiary sector (service industries).[61]:19 As of 2003, the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.), and 22.2% were casual labourers.[87]:11 About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed.[87]:11 According to one estimate, almost a quarter of the population live on less than 27 rupees (equivalent to 45 US cents) per day.[88] As of 2010, Kolkata, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity of 150 billion dollars, ranked third among South Asian cities, after Mumbai and Delhi.[89] Kolkata's GDP in 2014 was Rs 1.84 trillion, according to a collaborative assessment by multiple universities and climate agencies.[90] As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average.[52] The 2000s saw a surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; several large shopping malls and hotels were launched.[91][92][93][94][95] Companies such as ITC Limited, CESC Limited, Exide Industries, Emami, Eveready Industries India, Lux Industries, Rupa Company, Berger Paints, Birla Corporation and Britannia Industries are headquartered in the city. Philips India, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of three major public-sector banks: Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, and the United Bank of India; and a private bank Bandhan Bank. Reserve Bank of India has its eastern zonal office in Kolkata, and India Government Mint, Kolkata is one of the four mints in India.
Panoramic view of the Down town Sector V one of the major IT hubs of Kolkata as seen from the lakes surrounding Bidhannagar. Major Buildings such as Technopolis, Godrej Waterside, TCS Lords, Eden and Wanderers Park, Gobsyn Crystal, South City Pinnacle, RDB Boulevard, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WEBEL) Bhawan can be seen.
Demographics
See also: Ethnic communities in Kolkata
A skyline consisting of several high-rise buildings
Residential high-rise buildings in South City
A slum area of the city
The demonym for residents of Kolkata are Calcuttan and Kolkatan.[96][97] According to provisional results of the 2011 national census, Kolkata district, which occupies an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi), had a population of 4,486,679;[98] its population density was 24,252/km2 (62,810/sq mi).[98] This represents a decline of 1.88% during the decade 2001–11. The sex ratio is 899 females per 1000 males—lower than the national average.[99] The ratio is depressed by the influx of working males from surrounding rural areas, from the rest of West Bengal; these men commonly leave their families behind.[100] Kolkata's literacy rate of 87.14%[99] exceeds the national average of 74%.[101] The final population totals of census 2011 stated the population of city as 4,496,694.[8] The urban agglomeration had a population of 14,112,536 in 2011.[9]
Bengali Hindus form the majority of Kolkata's population; Marwaris, Biharis and Muslims compose large minorities.[102] Among Kolkata's smaller communities are Chinese, Tamils, Nepalis, Odias, Telugus, Assamese, Gujaratis, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Greeks, Tibetans, Maharashtrians, Konkanis, Malayalees, Punjabis, and Parsis.[26]:3 The number of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and other foreign-origin groups declined during the 20th century.[103] The Jewish population of Kolkata was 5,000 during World War II, but declined after Indian independence and the establishment of Israel;[104] by 2013, there were 25 Jews in the city.[105] India's sole Chinatown is in eastern Kolkata;[103] once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, its population dropped to around 2,000 as of 2009[103] as a result of multiple factors including repatriation and denial of Indian citizenship following the 1962 Sino-Indian War, and immigration to foreign countries for better economic opportunities.[106] The Chinese community traditionally worked in the local tanning industry and ran Chinese restaurants.[103][107]
Kolkata urban agglomeration population growth Census Total %±
1981 9,194,000 —
1991 11,021,900 19.9%
2001 13,114,700 19.0%
2011 14,112,536 7.6%
Source: Census of India[9]
Others include Sikhism, Buddhism & Other religions (0.03%)
Religion in Kolkata[108]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
76.51%
Islam
20.60%
Christianity
0.88%
Jainism
0.47%
Others
1.54%
Bengali, the official state language, is the dominant language in Kolkata.[109] English is also used, particularly by the white-collar workforce. Hindi and Urdu are spoken by a sizeable minority.[110][111] According to the 2011 census, 76.51% of the population is Hindu, 20.60% Muslim, 0.88% Christian, and 0.47% Jain.[112] The remainder of the population includes Sikhs, Buddhists, and other religions which accounts for 0.45% of the population; 1.09% did not state a religion in the census.[112] Kolkata reported 67.6% of Special and Local Laws crimes registered in 35 large Indian cities during 2004.[113] The Kolkata police district registered 15,510 Indian Penal Code cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country.[114] In 2010, the crime rate was 117.3 per 100,000, below the national rate of 187.6; it was the lowest rate among India's largest cities.[115]
As of 2003, about one-third of the population, or 1.5 million people, lived in 3,500 unregistered squatter-occupied and 2,011 registered slums.[87]:4[116]:92 The authorised slums (with access to basic services like water, latrines, trash removal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation) can be broadly divided into two groups—bustees, in which slum dwellers have some long term tenancy agreement with the landowners; and udbastu colonies, settlements which had been leased to refugees from present-day Bangladesh by the Government.[116][87]:5 The unauthorised slums (devoid of basic services provided by the municipality) are occupied by squatters who started living on encroached lands—mainly along canals, railway lines and roads.[116]:92[87]:5 According to the 2005 National Family Health Survey, around 14% of the households in Kolkata were poor, while 33% lived in slums, indicating a substantial proportion of households in slum areas were better off economically than the bottom quarter of urban households in terms of wealth status.[117]:23 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding and working with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata—an organisation "whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after".[118]
Government and public services
Civic administration
Main article: Civic administration of Kolkata
A red-and-yellow building with multiple arches and towers standing against a backdrop of blue sky and framed by trees
Calcutta High Court
Kolkata is administered by several government agencies. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, or KMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 15 boroughs, which together encompass 141 wards.[109] Each ward elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee of councillors, each of whom is elected to represent a ward. By means of the borough committees, the corporation undertakes urban planning and maintains roads, government-aided schools, hospitals, and municipal markets.[119] As Kolkata's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor, a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC.[120] The functions of the KMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation.[119]
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation was ranked 1st out of 21 Cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 4.0 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3.[121]
The Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government, manages the city's river port. As of 2012, the All India Trinamool Congress controls the KMC; the mayor is Firhad Hakim, while the deputy mayor is Atin Ghosh.[122] The city has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, which presides over various city-related functions and conferences.[123]
Kolkata's administrative agencies have areas of jurisdiction that do not coincide. Listed in ascending order by area, they are: Kolkata district; the Kolkata Police area and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, or "Kolkata city";[124] and the Kolkata metropolitan area, which is the city's urban agglomeration. The agency overseeing the latter, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, is responsible for the statutory planning and development of greater Kolkata.[125]
As the seat of the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata is home to not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the West Bengal Legislative Assembly; the state secretariat, which is housed in the Writers' Building; and the Calcutta High Court. Most government establishments and institutions are housed in the centre of the city in B. B. D. Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square). The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William which was established in 1774. The Calcutta High Court has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Kolkata has lower courts: the Court of Small Causes and the City Civil Court decide civil matters; the Sessions Court rules in criminal cases.[126][127][128] The Kolkata Police, headed by a police commissioner, is overseen by the West Bengal Ministry of Home Affairs.[129][130] The Kolkata district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, and 11 representatives to the state legislative assembly.[131]
Utility services
A telecommunications tower belonging to services provider Tata Communications
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation supplies the city with potable water that is sourced from the Hooghly River;[132] most of it is treated and purified at the Palta pumping station located in North 24 Parganas district.[133] Roughly 95% of the 4,000 tonnes of refuse produced daily by the city is transported to the dumping grounds in Dhapa, which is east of the town.[134][135] To promote the recycling of garbage and sewer water, agriculture is encouraged on the dumping grounds.[136] Parts of the city lack proper sewerage, leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal.[75]
Electricity is supplied by the privately operated Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, or CESC, to the city proper; the West Bengal State Electricity Board supplies it in the suburbs.[137][138] Fire services are handled by the West Bengal Fire Service, a state agency.[139] As of 2012, the city had 16 fire stations.[140]
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, or BSNL, as well as private enterprises, among them Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Teleservices, Virgin Mobile, and MTS India, are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city.[141]:25–26:179 with Kolkata being the first city in India to have cell phone and 4G connectivity, the GSM and CDMA cellular coverage is extensive.[142][143] As of 2010, Kolkata has 7 percent of the total Broadband internet consumers in India; BSNL, VSNL, Tata Indicom, Sify, Airtel, and Reliance are among the main vendors.[144][145]
Military and diplomatic establishments
The Eastern Command of the Indian Army is based in the city. Being one of India's major city and the largest city in eastern and north-eastern India, Kolkata hosts diplomatic missions of many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Srilanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. The U.S Consulate in Kolkata is the US Department of State's second oldest Consulate and dates from 19 November 1792.[146]
Transport
Public transport is provided by the Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kolkata Metro, trams, rickshaws, and buses. The suburban rail network reaches the city's distant suburbs.
According to a 2013 survey conducted by the International Association of Public Transport, in terms of a public transport system, Kolkata ranks among the top of the six Indian cities surveyed.[147][148] The Kolkata Metro, in operation since 1984, is the oldest underground mass transit system in India.[149] It spans the north–south length of the city and covers a distance of 25.1 km (16 mi).[150] As of 2009, five Metro rail lines were under construction.[151] Kolkata has four long-distance railway stations, located at Howrah (the largest railway complex in India), Sealdah, Chitpur and Shalimar, which connect Kolkata by rail to most cities in West Bengal and to other major cities in India.[152] The city serves as the headquarters of three railway Zone out of Seventeen of the Indian Railways regional divisions—the Kolkata Metro Railways, Eastern Railway and the South-Eastern Railway.[153] Kolkata has rail and road connectivity with Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.[154][155][156]
Buses, which are the most commonly used mode of transport, are run by government agencies and private operators.[157] Kolkata is the only Indian city with a tram network, which is operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company.[158] The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city. Water-logging, caused by heavy rains that fall during the summer monsoon, can interrupt transportation networks.[159][160] Hired public conveyances include auto rickshaws, which often ply specific routes, and yellow metered taxis. Almost all of Kolkata's taxis are antiquated Hindustan Ambassadors by make; newer air-conditioned radio taxis are in service as well.[161][162] In parts of the city, cycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws are patronised by the public for short trips.[163]
Due to its diverse and abundant public transportation, privately owned vehicles are not as common in Kolkata as in other major Indian cities.[164] The city has witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles; 2002 data showed an increase of 44% over a period of seven years.[165] As of 2004, after adjusting for population density, the city's "road space" was only 6% compared to 23% in Delhi and 17% in Mumbai.[166] The Kolkata Metro has somewhat eased traffic congestion, as has the addition of new roads and flyovers. Agencies operating long-distance bus services include the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, the South Bengal State Transport Corporation, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, and various private operators. The city's main bus terminals are located at Esplanade and Babughat.[167] The Kolkata–Delhi and Kolkata–Chennai prongs of the Golden Quadrilateral, and National Highway 34 start from the city.[168]
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, located in Dum Dum some 16 km (9.9 mi) north-east of the city centre, operates domestic and international flights. In 2013, the airport was upgraded to handle increased air traffic.[169][170]
The Port of Kolkata, established in 1870, is India's oldest and the only major river port.[171] The Kolkata Port Trust manages docks in Kolkata and Haldia.[172] The port hosts passenger services to Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; freighter service to ports throughout India and around the world is operated by the Shipping Corporation of India.[171][173] Ferry services connect Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah, located across the Hooghly River.[174][175]
The route from North Bengal to Kolkata is set to become cheaper and more efficient for people travelling by bus. Through April 2017 to March 2018, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) will be introducing a fleet of rocket buses equipped with bio-toilets for the bus route.[176]
Healthcare
See also: Health care in Kolkata
A big building in cream colour with many columns and a portico
Calcutta Medical College, the second institution in Asia to teach modern medicine(after 'Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry')
IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata is the largest hospital in West Bengal and one of the oldest in Kolkata.
As of 2011, the health care system in Kolkata consists of 48 government hospitals, mostly under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, and 366 private medical establishments;[177] these establishments provide the city with 27,687 hospital beds.[177] For every 10,000 people in the city, there are 61.7 hospital beds,[178] which is higher than the national average of 9 hospital beds per 10,000.[179] Ten medical and dental colleges are located in the Kolkata metropolitan area which act as tertiary referral hospitals in the state.[180][181] The Calcutta Medical College, founded in 1835, was the first institution in Asia to teach modern medicine.[182] However, These facilities are inadequate to meet the healthcare needs of the city.[183][184][185] More than 78% in Kolkata prefer the private medical sector over the public medical sector,[117]:109 due to the poor quality of care, the lack of a nearby facility, and excessive waiting times at government facilities.[117]:61
According to the Indian 2005 National Family Health Survey, only a small proportion of Kolkata households were covered under any health scheme or health insurance.[117]:41 The total fertility rate in Kolkata was 1.4, The lowest among the eight cities surveyed.[117]:45 In Kolkata, 77% of the married women used contraceptives, which was the highest among the cities surveyed, but use of modern contraceptive methods was the lowest (46%).[117]:47 The infant mortality rate in Kolkata was 41 per 1,000 live births, and the mortality rate for children under five was 49 per 1,000 live births.[117]:48
Among the surveyed cities, Kolkata stood second (5%) for children who had not had any vaccinations under the Universal Immunization Programme as of 2005.[117]:48 Kolkata ranked second with access to an anganwadi centre under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme for 57% of the children between 0 and 71 months.[117]:51 The proportion of malnourished, anaemic and underweight children in Kolkata was less in comparison to other surveyed cities.[117]:54–55
About 18% of the men and 30% of the women in Kolkata are obese—the majority of them belonging to the non-poor strata of society.[117]:105 In 2005, Kolkata had the highest percentage (55%) among the surveyed cities of anaemic women, while 20% of the men in Kolkata were anaemic.[117]:56–57 Diseases like diabetes, asthma, goitre and other thyroid disorders were found in large numbers of people.[117]:57–59 Tropical diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya are prevalent in Kolkata, though their incidence is decreasing.[186][187] Kolkata is one of the districts in India with a high number of people with AIDS; it has been designated a district prone to high risk.[188][189]
As of 2014, because of higher air pollution, the life expectancy of a person born in the city is four years fewer than in the suburbs.[190]
Education
Kolkata's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Urdu and Hindi are also used, particularly in central Kolkata.[191][192] Schools in Kolkata follow the "10+2+3" plan. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the ICSE, or the CBSE.[191] They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available.[191] Some Kolkata schools, for example La Martiniere Calcutta, Calcutta Boys' School, St. James' School (Kolkata), St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Loreto House, have been ranked amongst the best schools in the country.[193]
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
As of 2010, the Kolkata urban agglomeration is home to 14 universities run by the state government.[194] The colleges are each affiliated with a university or institution based either in Kolkata or elsewhere in India. Aliah University which was founded in 1780 as Mohammedan College of Calcutta is the oldest post-secondary educational institution of the city.[195] The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, is the first modern university in South Asia.[196] Presidency College, Kolkata (formerly Hindu College between 1817 and 1855), founded in 1855, was one of the oldest and most eminent colleges in India. It was affiliated with the University of Calcutta until 2010 when it was converted to Presidency University, Kolkata in 2010. Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) is the second oldest engineering institution of the country located in Howrah.[197] An Institute of National Importance, BESU was converted to India's first IIEST. Jadavpur University is known for its arts, science, and engineering faculties.[198] The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, which was the first of the Indian Institutes of Management, was established in 1961 at Joka, a locality in the south-western suburbs. Kolkata also houses the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, which was started here in the year 2006.[199] The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences is one of India's autonomous law schools,[200][201] and the Indian Statistical Institute is a public research institute and university. State owned Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (MAKAUT, WB), formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) is the largest Technological University in terms of student enrollment and number of Institutions affiliated by it. Private institutions include the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute and University of Engineering & Management (UEM).
Notable scholars who were born, worked or studied in Kolkata include physicists Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha,[202] and Jagadish Chandra Bose;[203] chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy;[202] statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Anil Kumar Gain;[202] physician Upendranath Brahmachari;[202] educator Ashutosh Mukherjee;[204] and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore,[205] C. V. Raman,[203] and Amartya Sen.[206]
Kolkata houses many premier research institutes like Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) and Indian Centre for Space Physics. Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman did his groundbreaking work in Raman effect in IACS.
Culture
Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.[207] Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy"[208] as well as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".[209][210] The presence of paras, which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of the city.[211] Typically, each para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.[211] Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.[212][213] The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.[214][215]
Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures";[216] others are in various stages of decay.[217][218] Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the Indian Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art.[219] Marble Palace is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The Victoria Memorial, a place of interest in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library of India is the leading public library in the country while Science City is the largest science centre in the Indian subcontinent.[220]
The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.[221]:99[222] Group theatres of Kolkata, a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;[223] group theatres use the proscenium stage to highlight socially relevant messages.[221]:99[224] Chitpur locality of the city houses multiple production companies of jatra, a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.[225][226] Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed "Tollywood" for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are located.[227] Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film directors such as Academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose and Rituparno Ghosh.[228]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised through the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.[229] Coupled with social reforms led by Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance.[230] The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by the Kallol movement, hungryalists and the little magazines.[231] Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around College Street, "... a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement", selling new and used books.[232]
Kalighat painting originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.[233] The Government College of Art and Craft, founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and Nandalal Bose.[234] The art college was the birthplace of the Bengal school of art that arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalent academic art styles in the early 20th century.[235][236] The Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of Rabindra sangeet (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and Indian classical music, with important concerts and recitals, such as Dover Lane Music Conference, being held throughout the year; Bengali popular music, including baul folk ballads, kirtans, and Gajan festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language adhunik songs.[237][238] Since the early 1990s, new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock Bengali bands.[237] Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ("songs about life"), is based on realism.[221]:105 Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and a fish curry known as machher jhol,[239] which can be accompanied by desserts such as roshogolla, sandesh, and a sweet yoghurt known as mishti dohi. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ilish, a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from Chinatown are popular.[240][241][242][243]
Though Bengali women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.[244] Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important and largest festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations and artistic decorations.[245][246] The Bengali New Year, known as Poila Boishak, as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are Kali Puja, Diwali, Holi, Jagaddhatri Puja, Saraswati Puja, Rathayatra, Janmashtami, Maha Shivratri, Vishwakarma Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Ganesh Chathurthi, Makar Sankranti, Gajan, Kalpataru Day, Bhai Phonta, Maghotsab, Eid, Muharram, Christmas, Buddha Purnima and Mahavir Jayanti. Cultural events include the Rabindra Jayanti, Independence Day(15 August), Republic Day(26 January), Kolkata Book Fair, the Dover Lane Music Festival, the Kolkata Film Festival, Nandikar's National Theatre Festival, Statesman Vintage & Classic Car Rally and Gandhi Jayanti.
Media
See also: Kolkata in the media and List of Bengali-language television channels
A five storied building in cream colour with multiple columns in front
Akashvani Bhawan, the head office of state-owned All India Radio, Kolkata
The first newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette started publishing from the city in 1780.[247] Among Kolkata's widely circulated Bengali-language newspapers are Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal, Dainik Statesman and Ganashakti.[248] The Statesman and The Telegraph are two major English-language newspapers that are produced and published from Kolkata. Other popular English-language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express, and the Asian Age.[248] As the largest trading centre in East India, Kolkata has several high-circulation financial dailies, including The Economic Times, The Financial Express, Business Line, and Business Standard.[248][249] Vernacular newspapers, such as those in the Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, and Chinese languages, are read by minorities.[248][103] Major periodicals based in Kolkata include Desh, Sananda, Saptahik Bartaman, Unish-Kuri, Anandalok, and Anandamela.[248] Historically, Kolkata has been the centre of the Bengali little magazine movement.[250][251]
All India Radio, the national state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several AM radio stations in the city.[252] Kolkata has 12 local radio stations broadcasting on FM, including two from AIR.[253] India's state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels,[254] while a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English, and other regional channels are accessible via cable subscription, direct-broadcast satellite services, or internet-based television.[255][256][257] Bengali-language 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, Tara Newz, Kolkata TV, 24 Ghanta, News Time and Channel 10.[258]
Sports
See also: Football in Kolkata, Kolkata Marathon, and Kolkata derby
Salt Lake Stadium during Indian Super League opening ceremony
The most popular sports in Kolkata are football and cricket. Unlike most parts of India, the residents show significant passion for football.[259] The city is home to top national football clubs such as Mohun Bagan A.C., East Bengal F.C., Prayag United S.C., and the Mohammedan Sporting Club.[260][261] Calcutta Football League, which was started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia.[262] Mohun Bagan A.C., one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only organisation to be dubbed a "National Club of India".[263][264] Football matches between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, dubbed as the Kolkata derby, witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.[265]
A Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors during Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens
As in the rest of India, cricket is popular in Kolkata and is played on grounds and in streets throughout the city.[266][267] Kolkata has the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders; the Cricket Association of Bengal, which regulates cricket in West Bengal, is also based in the city. Kolkata also has an Indian Super League franchise known as Atlético de Kolkata. Tournaments, especially those involving cricket, football, badminton, and carrom, are regularly organised on an inter-locality or inter-club basis.[211] The Maidan, a vast field that serves as the city's largest park, hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.[268]
Eden Gardens, which has a capacity of 68,000 as of 2017,[269] hosted the final match of the 1987 Cricket World Cup. It is home to the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The multi-use Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, is India's largest stadium by seating capacity. Most matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup were played in the Salt Lake Stadium including both Semi-Final matches and the Final match. Kolkata also accounted for 45% of total attendance in 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with an average of 55,345 spectators.[270] The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[271][272]
Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium served as host of the 1981 Asian Basketball Championship, where India's national basketball team finished 5th, ahead of teams that belong to Asia's basketball elite, such as Iran. The city has three 18-hole golf courses. The oldest is at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the first golf club built outside the United Kingdom.[273][274] The other two are located at the Tollygunge Club and at Fort William. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club hosts horse racing and polo matches.[275] The Calcutta Polo Club is considered the oldest extant polo club in the world.[276][277][278] The Calcutta Racket Club is a squash and racquet club in Kolkata. It was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest rackets clubs in the world, and the first in the Indian subcontinent.[279][280] The Calcutta South Club is a venue for national and international tennis tournaments; it held the first grass-court national championship in 1946.[281][282] In the period 2005–2007, Sunfeast Open, a tier-III tournament on the Women's Tennis Association circuit, was held in the Netaji Indoor Stadium; it has since been discontinued.[283][284]
The Calcutta Rowing Club hosts rowing heats and training events. Kolkata, considered the leading centre of rugby union in India, gives its name to the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the Calcutta Cup.[285][286][287] The Automobile Association of Eastern India, established in 1904,[288][289] and the Bengal Motor Sports Club are involved in promoting motor sports and car rallies in Kolkata and West Bengal.[290][291] The Beighton Cup, an event organised by the Bengal Hockey Association and first played in 1895, is India's oldest field hockey tournament; it is usually held on the Mohun Bagan Ground of the Maidan.[292][293] Athletes from Kolkata include Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, who are former captains of the Indian national cricket team; Olympic tennis bronze medallist Leander Paes, golfer Arjun Atwal, and former footballers Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee, and Subrata Bhattacharya.