Kolkota

Calcutta is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Its original name was Kalikata and is, in higher literature, still referred to as such.

Speakers of the region's native language of Bengali have always known it as Kolkata and there is consequently no phonetic equivalent of 'Calcutta' in Bengali. It was officially changed to Kolkata as of 2001, though the British appelation is still widely used in the rest of the world. It has two well-known nicknames: City of Joy and City of Palaces.

Calcutta is the "City of Palaces".

During the British colonial era in the period from 1700-1912, when Calcutta was the capital of British India, Calcutta witnessed a spate of frenzied construction activity of buildings largely influenced by the conscious intermingling of Gothic, Baroque, Roman, Oriental and Islamic schools of design. Unlike many north Indian cities, whose construction stresses minimalism, the layout in architectural variety in Calcutta owed its origins to the Occident. Thus it was possible to walk on a street in the European sector in Calcutta in the 1900s and confuse it for Saville Row , Southall or Pont des Artes.

The buildings were designed , and inspired by the tastes of the English gentleman around and the aspiring Bengalee Baboo (literally a noveau riche Bengali who aspired to cultivation of English etiquette, manners and custom ).

This spate of construction by the Bengalis to rival the English did not go unnoticed. It was fully appreciated and fostered by the British who went on to construct some of the most aesthetically visible monuments in the city.

Nirad C. Chaudhuri has remarked that the Victoria Memorial was the only original architectural design by the British in Calcutta and not, as is believed by the Bengalis, a copy of the Taj Mahal of Agra.

Calcutta's skyline was European in form; in content it was Indian --thus earning the appelation of the City of Palaces.