KNOW KOLKATA IN JUST 30 MINUTES! - At the “AMI KOLKATA” METCALFE HALL MUSEUM.
Updated: Jan 7, 2022
A normal dusky afternoon. It was 2.04 pm by my watch when I had almost decided to carry off Sumedha (my best friend) and keep my promise of taking her to the Metcalfe Hall. A preparation of "Catla maach" (fish) in a gravy of green chilies, turmeric and black cumin for lunch was pleasing enough as I had to quickly do it and reach Metcalfe Hall before sunset. Well both we ladies are super punctual I must tell you. Invariably late always Everywhere! So reaching the place by 4.30 pm, was a far-fetched dream as it was already 4.30 pm when we were at Elgin Road. But with many probabilities of the security guard turning us down saying that the museum is already closed, still made us give it a try. The poor Uber driver was asked to rush through the busy streets, honking more often to drop us however possible before 5pm. Rest was how I was to pitch my MBA skills ;). So 5.10 pm was the time for us to have reached when they were almost about to close. But nevertheless we took the bounteous pleasure of being the only two visitors in the entire museum, rolling in and around and delinquently clicking a myriad of pictures.
With the commencing winter, the sun desires to set down a little faster than the usual summer afternoons. But the city which yaps its rich culture and heritage has absolutely nothing to do with the changing season. Kolkata, which is also said to be the cultural capital of India, dramatically reflects the colonial past, especially in architecture splendor. Where, at one end, grand British buildings command its existence from the emigrant past, there at the end of the same lane stands a traditional two storied Bengali house. All traditional Bengali homes have a wide veranda where sarees and bed sheets are put to dry. Then remarkable big green wooden windows at one of which you might often get to see a lady sitting by, combing her long wet hair and staring down at those yellow taxis and vendors sporadically passing by. This is commonly accompanied by a lingering aroma of fish which has been put to fry after a quick marination with turmeric and salt. Such descriptions find a commonplace in novels written by Rabindra Nath Tagore, where I wonder how beautifully he connects the culture and tradition of Bengal.
So evidently different lanes with different tastes of ethnicity makes Kolkata a crossroad of various cultures. When different fabrics of such stories and depictions of such cultural sagas, from different lanes and streets of Kolkata are put together under a “one-roofed cultural edifice”, can you imagine the outlay? Well that is why I am writing this post, of how I have seen the whole of Kolkata under one roof. Many thanks to those master heads who have conceptualized this idea of bringing up Metcalfe Hall to us!
History of Metcalfe Hall:
Built between 1840-44, Metcalfe Hall initially served as a public library. It was named after sir Charles T Metcalfe, the then governor general of India in honour towards his contribution towards the freedom of press. This British building has been restored by the ASI into a heritage museum of Kolkata today!
Architecture of Metcalfe Hall:
The architecture is reflective of the British imperial architecture and visually similar to that of the ancient Greek temples. The design was prepared by the then magistrate C K Robinson. It is said to be a replica of the Greece's Temple of Winds, Athens. This majestic building stands on a 10 feet high solid ornamental basement with 30 Corinthian columns of 36 feet height rising from the base. Another interesting fact about the construction is the series of small Lion's heads arranged at equal intervals throughout the upper-most cornice of the hall, meant for the water outflow.
How to reach the Metcalfe Hall:
This ceremonious building, overlooking the Hoogly river is situated on the crossing of Hare Street and Stand Road. you may enter it from both the sides.
The nearest well known and most visited place is the Millenium park. Otherwise the whole of the city is very well connected. you may want to take a bus to reach here or possibly a cab if you wish to spend more on traveling.
Visiting hours of Metcalfe Hall:
Metcalfe Hall is open from Tuesdays to Sundays, from 10.am to 5 pm.
It remains closed on Mondays.
I think I have provided you with some basic information about the heritage building, now let's start with the tour. stay tuned & enjoy Kolkata with me! Once you enter the hallway, you would be welcomed by a beautiful floor design called “Alpona” in Bengali. Alpona is a paste of rice and flour which is drawn with hands on the floor, mostly in front of the doors or yards of Bengali houses and on auspicious occasions of Bengal. It is a welcome gesture for all the guests entering the house. So the entire walkway of the hall was drawn with alpona of different motifs symbolizing Kolkata in its own way. From Victoria Memorial to motifs of fish and boys playing football, the “alpona” spoke it all in a gist of how Kolkata would welcome you.
On the right hand side of the hallway there is a big gallery which has pictures of ancestry buildings of Kolkata which were put up by the Britishers. Most of which includes the General Post Office, the Kolkata High Court, St. John’s Church and so on. It reflects upon the Victorian era once ruled by the East India Company & hence this grand gallery room is called the “Colonial Calcutta”
This hallway ushers to a huge space which has a prolific overhead decoration, the enlarged shadow of which fluently falls on the ground making beautiful patterns on it. Under this overhead hanging décor there is a white projector screen which displays amazing hand shadowgraph videos of the city of joy! This story projection is sure to astound you and so it is named as the “City Of Surprises”.
Next walking further to your right you would discover the iconic hand pulled rickshaw. These hand pulled rickshaws have been a traditional mode of transport in Kolkata. Although modern modes of conveyance have replaced these traditional ones quite rapidly, these hand drawn rickshaws are often found to be seen in the streets of North Kolkata. So what I loved the most here was the concept of "a note to Kolkata"- “Kolkata Bhalobashi” behind making it more special. The rickshaw was filled with round sticky notes which had reviews of different people writing off their love notes to Kolkata.
Beside that you would find a flight of wide wooden stairs like ones seen in old Bengali mansions or often seen in old Bengali movies. A huge black & white wall poster had the pictures of two famous Bengali film artists posing in front of Victoria Memorial. The next set of stairs had a beautiful blend of old movie posters hung on the right wall creatively arranged in a modern collage. Glancing through which would immediately take you off to the black & white world of old Bengali cinemas. It is sure to make you realize the love Bengalis have for cinema and theatre. Now if you dote on “Feluda” and love movies like “Sonar Kella” “Aparajito”, “Debi” “Apur Songshar” you are likely to know the immense contribution Satyajit Ray made towards Bengali cinemas. These stairs actually take you down the memory lane and hence this gallery is rightly named as “ The City Of Memories”.
The first room on the first floor houses a wooden boat kept at the center of the room. A marvelous paperwork done overhead of the boat portends the waves. The boat also has a digital touch screen which plays stories of different kinds relating to Kolkata and is known as the “ City Of Stories”
The next room welcomes you to the “City Of Influence”! It again has a video session where quite a bit has been shown about the city and mostly on a few citizens of Calcutta who have influenced the city universally. Some of these eminent personalities are Rabindra Nath Tagore, Ramkrishna Mahaprabhu, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, mother Teresa, Raja Ram Mohan Roy and so on.
The next gallery has slices of the city life! Most interestingly in spite of being the apotheosis of traditions Kolkata is a cosmopolitan city. “No experience of this city is complete without a walk through its streets.” as every corner of a street has residents from different communities practicing different cultural habits. Be it Indians from different states or foreigners. Yet it is an amalgam of happiness and celebration! So it is rightly quoted that “Kolkata is a melting pot of cultures, of people, cuisines & architecture.”
One of the oldest communities living in Kolkata are the Jews. People who have been to Hogg Market would know about Nahoums, which is a 119 year old Jewish bakery, one of the oldest bakeries in Kolkata. The picture posted above shows a glance of the Nahoums Bakery. Also, the Ezra street of Kolkata is named after the Jews. The Teretti Bazar in Kolkata is a food lovers paradise especially for authentic Chinese street food. You will find the Chinese selling their indigenous food items with a big welcoming smile. But if you want to get an experience of proper Chinese cuisine then ChinaTown, which is an accumulation of many Chinese restaurants in Tangra, is the best place to explore. Kolkata has many assorted “para” or localities one of which has been named after the Armenians called the “Armani Para ''. Interestingly the “Afghans” are called “kabuliwala” in Kolkata as they were famous for selling dry fruits here. Rabindra Nath Tagore has written an exceptional story titled “kabuliwala” centering about an Afghani dry fruit seller and Mini, a four year old little girl. Apart from the Anglo Indians, Tibetans and Iraqis are other communities dwelling in Kolkata. Where Iraqis are famous for their leather work found in Topsia and Park circus. Tibetans are famous for selling their woolen collections found mostly in Wellington Square.
The picture above gives you a glance of various important cultural buildings of Kolkata or the then Calcutta, such as the writer's, the ghori (watch) para, the Grand hotel dating from the 1880's, which is still one of the esteemed hotels in Kolkata today, to the infamous Indian Coffee House of College Street or "Boi (book) para. This café has attracted the city's intelligentsia for decades. It is the same place where the famous Bengali song "Coffee House er shei adda ta" had been composed and beautifully sang by Manna Dey. Stands as an evergreen Bengali song even till date. On the same light college street is the largest book market in India & Asia and the largest secondhand book market in the world!
So a layering of sensory experiences, of cultures & communities of Calcutta then and Kolkata now, makes it ~ “A City Of Confluence!”
There are two other installations which welcome you to the “City of Celebration”. One has a semi finished clay idol of goddess Durga and the other has a huge “Topor” (headgear) worn by Bengali grooms in weddings. The idol of Durga substantiates the importance of Durga Pujo, the biggest ten days festival of Bengal where the whole city is decorated to celebrate the homecoming of the goddess. Whereas, the raw idol epitomizes the importance of Kumortuli, the hub for Kolkata’s traditional potters for sculpting impeccable idols of Hindu deities.
The last gallery houses all those ways in which Kolkata rants itself to be the cultural capital of India! Be it food, art, yellow taxi, cinema, Howrah bridge, theatre or Coffee house. There is a wall with Patachitra paintings which illustrate a general day-to-day life of Kolkata. From coffee house to “Puchkas” (pani-puri), from singing to playing carrom in the locality clubs, from buying “mishti”
(sweets) to buying fish in the fish market. Well I must share that Benaglis have a lot of stories related to buying fish from the fish market everyday. Mostly men who claim to have a good day if they have bargained a fresh fish with the best deal. There is also a little bit of boasting which goes on to their wives and neighbors about how the best fish in the whole market would be cooked at home today. Apart from that they also love indulging in the little intellectual stories with other men who have come to buy fish or even a little market information from the fish seller. well, if you wish to have a hunch about the food culture of Bengal then you can have a quick read on my post "Bengali Cuisine".
Above the paintings a 3d art is made depicting the famous Victoria Memorial, Howrah bridge and others along with the different modes of transport in Kolkata, such as the iconic yellow taxi, trams, buses, autos and so on.
The larger room from this gallery has everything related to writing, poetry, music, drama, art and even cinema. I really loved the different types of typewriters kept there which were the medium through which the artists created their masterpieces!
All of these integrate together to bring the real essence of Kolkata to be the "City Of Culture".
To know some more about Rabindra Nath Tagore you can also read my post "Tagore's Himalayan Abode".
Finally exploring the museum comes to an end with a walk through the sound corridor. Here you get to listen to the famous sounds of Kolkata, like the sound of pouring tea, hand-pulled rickshaws, vendors, busy roads, the bell of trams and so on.
Here I come to the end of my grand tour of the best museum in the city. Visiting which made me more proud to have been born & brought up in a city which is exceptionally well put with its rich culture, tradition & heritage. I hope I could inspire you to visit the Metcalfe Hall soon with my virtual tour.
I have shared my cup of story and now its your turn! You are welcome to share your experiences in Metcalfe Hall or in Kolkata here in the comment section or you can also connect with me on Instagram.
Just a small note! all pictures of mine has been taken by Sumedha (I hope reading this line makes you feel good), so a big cheers to all her efforts.
Thank you Folks!
See you in my next blog.
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brilliant effort. a very unique way of writing and photography. never knew so much about Kolkata.