The Lanes of Calcutta : St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral was established by Bishop Wilson in 1839.Although the original structure was destroyed by the 1934 earthquake it was rebuilt in the Indo-Gothic style with stained glass and frescoes. I am no architecture major so I will just use the one word when I saw the church - Wow. It is beautifully constructed with the long windows and the intricate work.



















Although located in the heart of Calcutta,right beside Birla Planetarium, when you walk in there you feel as if you stepped through a portal into a land of peace and serenity.

Now I am not at all religious and neither did my inner self seek god as in entered the cathedral. It was,
simply put, peaceful to be away from all the noise, the rush and the mad race of a city life. To just sit back on the wooden chairs, close your eyes and let your mind wander and be free from the stress of the mad, mad race to the top makes you realize how important it is to spend some time with yourself.

Lost With Time

People say the world has progressed.Technology being the obvious proof of it.
Are iphones, tabs what makes the world progress ?
What about art and culture ? architecture ?
People make modern buildings,the taller the building the more beautiful it is.
The more expensive it is,the more awe in inspires.
The more apps a phone can support the more beautiful it is.
People are running towards a future,too greedy,too impatient without savouring the present and completely forgetting the beauty created in the past.

People don't appreciate art anymore.People don't appreciate the architecture of the temples and the palaces.Palaces are crumbling to dust all over India and the Goverment and neither the people could care less.

People are more interested in fancy hotel,breakfast in bed,sunbathing and shopping.People are more interested in standing in front of these temples and clicking pictures so that they can upload it on Facebook,make it their DP or cover picture.


I don't see anyone standing in front of an old temple and just admiring the work,the tenacity,the beauty created by thousands of artisans who carved the entire temple out of stone,their bare backs bent,working day and night.What sheer magic they created,created with their bare hands,just like the ones you use to type away on your phone with.They told tales of kings and queens and courtesans,of prince and princesses,gods and goddesses,love and wars,life and death.Stories and legends of a time long gone have been weaved and carved in stone so that they remain alive for future generations to see.
But alas did they realize that the future generation may have technology but they have no soul.

Case in point - Konarak Temple in Orissa.
The carvings are getting destroyed.Its breaking in parts and there are no artisans who can recreate or at least repair the crumbling works.So the Goverment is breaking all the remaining works and replacing it with flat bland stone with no carving,no work,nothing.

Such is the state of the world.
I do not know how it has become so.
What did those artisans have so many years back that we don't ?
We have better technology.More manpower.Better tools.And we still have the same human hands.But we cannot make temples with carving out of stone anymore.So what is it that they had,that enabled them to create such magnificent structures of beauty,beauty that we can now see only in photographs or history book?
What was their secret ?
I fear it is now lost with time.

Golden Glory

Soaking in the last golden rays of the sun,
The tranquility all around,
The boat gently rocking and swaying.

Beauty that never gets old , no matter how many times one has seen the sunset.

The Lanes of Calcutta : Marble Palace

Despite what people say I love my city - Calcutta. Not Kolkata but Calcutta. The word is just enough for me to fall in love with my city again and again. while some parts of the city has moved on with the times (Sector V),there are other parts that are happily laid back in time.it is that part of the city that pulls me and makes the city come alive.

A few days back i went to the old part of Calcutta and visited The Marble Palace.

It is a nineteenth century mansion built by Raja Rajendra Mullick in 1835.the mansion has marble floor and ceilings in intricate designs,mimicking Oriental rugs.it is said that there are 90 different kinds of marble all imported from all over the world.since i do not know much about architecture (except that the marble palace is exquisitely beautiful with very detailed work on all floors,ceilings,wall-panels,table tops,doors,window panes,pillars and every other possible area) i will just paste the description from a reliable site :

"The house is basically Neoclassical in style, while the plan with its open courtyards is largely traditional Bengali. The three-storey building has tall fluted Corinthian pillars and ornamented verandas with fretwork and sloping roofs, built in the style of a Chinese pavilion."

What first strikes you when you enter the grounds the path which was once used for horse drawn carriages,the lush overgrown lawn and the  innumerable sculptures of lions in various positions of sleeping,sitting,awake,prowling,statues of Buddha, Jesus,The Virgin Mary and Hindu Gods and an elegant, and intricately carved marble water fountain at one end of the garden.

The house has a huge collection of sculptures,paintings by both Indian and European artists,furniture,objects like ornate chandeliers,clocks.there were floor to ceiling Belgian mirrors,10 feet wide and almost 25 feet high with detailed hand carved gold leaved frames,vases,urns from the far East.there was one sculpture of Queen Victoria carved from a single bark of wood that leaves one awestruck.and the clocks can still tell time.there is one clock that chimes every fifteen minutes.Not to miss the statues of Sophocles,Thalia,Melpomene,Apollo,Mercury.

The reception hall has 4 statues depicting the 4 seasons,busts of various kings and Queens,2 statues of napoleon at 2 ends of the room and an ivory tusk.

The courtyard has four statues depicting the four continents – Europe, Africa, America (pre-Columbian) and Asia,a number of garden chairs.The family still celebrates Kali Pujo there.

The paintings are housed on the first floor.even the stairs leading to the first floor has a number of masterpieces hanging.Upstairs there are two paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds - The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpent and Venus and Cupid- and two paintings by Rubens - The Marriage of St. Catherine and The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian.There are paintings by other artists like the great Italian painter Titian and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo,John Opie, Rembrandt, Jan Josephszoon Van Goyen,Winterhaulter and our very own Raja Ravi Varma and Bijoy Chandra.

The palace is still privately owned so photography is prohibited. Entry is free but one has to obtain a permit from the West Bengal Tourism Information Bureau 24 hours beforehand however bribes rule so no need for pre-obtained permit.The Marble Palace is open from 10 am to 4pm everyday except Mondays and Thursdays.

for animal lovers,there is a small zoo housing a number of rare birds including our national bird,a variety of hornbills,toucans,storks,cranes and barking deer,spotted deer. It is supposedly the first zoo in India.

One can see the sheer opulence and the grandeur that once existed but the palace is not well maintained.the paint is coming apart.its dusty.and half the things are scattered about as if they couldnt find a proper place to display them.and a number of Victorian furniture are covered with dusty cloth.the guides dont know much and dont let you enjoy the beauty at your own pace.they keep telling you to hurry up.but despite the obvious drawbacks your jaw will drop open as you feast your eyes on the various artefacts and the sheer richness and beauty of works of art.it is a tribute to the beauty mankind can achieve.

Once you leave through the gates the beauty,the elegance,the splendor of an age long gone,the decadance of the palace slowly starts to sink in.its almost perfect.

Follow the Signs Please

What is it about Indians and their inability to read signs that says "crossing the railings around the historical monument is prohibited” ?

There is a quite a high railing around the entire monument but the Indian ego is not satisfied till he breaks some rules and feels like the alpha male of the pack. .

Such boiling anger and distaste for a certain category of Indians comes from my recent experience when i had gone to the Konark Temple near Puri in Orissa where dads in Tommy Hilfiger shirts and Swatch watches climbing over the railing and explaining to their darling daughters in pink about the history of the temple whistle blatantly ignoring the huge sign inches from them that screams "DO NOT CROSS OVER THE RAILING". They inadvertently forget the fact that teaching their daughters to follow the rules mentioned in public places is more important that telling them scraps of facts they remember from their history classes in school.

I really want to ask them - are you frigging blind?

I think not since they happen to walk around without bumping into lamp posts. but mentally they are. Blind to the fact that such sign boards are put up in historical places because we should read and follow them.

Everyone claims to hate corrupt politicians etc. but excuse me, do you mind being Indians first before you pass comments on other Indians? Some of them are honestly doing something for their country. Its time you realized your sense of basic duty (and decency) towards India and did your bit.