If You've Never Been To Kolkata, Explore Its Finest Gems With This Photo Guide!

I visited Kolkata in October, for the first time to witness the amazing divine Durga Puja. The vibes of the entire city and people were so high and awesome.

This is the Sindoor khela dance during the festival. It is so vibrant and beautiful, to see all the gorgeous ladies, dancing to the tunes of Dhols and applying Sindoor to all

The Divine Durga May and all the beautiful ladies doing the Puja.

This is at the Princep Ghat, along the Hooghly river. A wonderful place to spend evenings, go for a boat ride or just take a stroll at the beautified waterfront.

This is the famous Victoria Memorial, which is a large white marble building. It was built between 1906-1921 and was dedicated to the memory of Queen Vitoria. The memorial has around 25 galleries inside complete with Arts, rare books, Portraits, oil paintings, etc.

I spent a beautiful and a quiet evening at the Ghats. It is in my opinion, a Photographer's paradise. Not just Photographer, but any Artist such as a painter, writer, poet will gain inspiration from here, from Kolkata.

I made this beautiful portrait of my friend in one of the Gallis in Kolkata. I had Tagore's brilliant poetries in my mind while making the pictures here.... the Vibes are such....!!

One could actually walk here the entire day, as there is so much to explore and see. I was in Kolkata for about 4 days and it just isn't enough!

This is in one of the Pandals. Each Pandal has a theme and the aesthetics are built around that. The creativity, the concepts, the visualisation and the final execution is way beyond brilliant.

We had to, just had to roam around in one of the oldest forms of Transportation in Kolkata - The Trams!! It was pure joy to ride in one of these. Unfortunately, out of the initial 25 plus lines that were built, only around 6 are operational now.

And he stood still for many minutes together, such an Artist. He can be seen right outside the entrance of the Victoria Memorial.

And I just couldn't stop making photos here.....

It is said that like tea, trams, cricket and Gothic architecture, the hand pulled rickshaw is Kolkata's colonial treasure. The hand rickshaw pullers have been doing this since years, since the time they can remember.

The most famous and incredible Howrah Bridge! Suspended over the Hooghly river. This was opened to public in 1943.

These are the famous, metered, yellow, iconic Ambassadors manufactured by the Hindustan Motors (out of production now). Oh what a joy, to ride in these!

A focussed sculptor making statues of Durga Maa...

And here I am, Sindoor being applied to me by a gorgeous lady at the Puja...

Thanks to my friend, who captured me in action, during the Sindoor Khela.

One of the amazing Pandals I visited. The ceiling is an entire inverted Kolkata city!! as I mentioned earlier, the creativity and execution is par excellence!!!

Thanks to my friend, who captured me in action, during the Sindoor Khela.