Calcutta
1 Flower power
Marigolds in the form of Mala garlands, gladioli, dahlias, roses and sunflowers form part of an eye-catching kaleidoscope of colour at Calcutta's Mullick Ghat Flower Market. Situated below the Howrah Bridge - one of only two that cross the wide Hooghly River - it's a wholesale market where shopkeepers go to stock up on fresh flowers from the countryside. Jostle your way through the crowds, honking trucks and men balancing large baskets of flowers on their heads. Men and women cut, arrange and sell colourful blooms while the older workers, in the shade of rusty roofs on faded wooden shacks, weave blossoms into long garlands for religious offerings .
2 On the move
3 Mirrors and stones
Located in the old section of Calcutta, the Pareshnath Jain temple was built in 1867 by Ray Badridas Bahadur, a wealthy art connoisseur. The temple is decorated with an elaborate collection of mirrors, coloured stones and glass mosaics. Inside, an eternal lamp burns with ghee. Surrounded by gardens with statues, plants and fountains, it's a serene refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city. Jainism is one of the oldest living religions of India. Based on cosmic laws, it doesn't condone the concept of a superhuman god as creator of the universe.
4 Ten-armed goddess
5 Memories of the British Raj
Stroll through one of the largest city parks in the world, the Calcutta Maidan. At 400 hectares and 3km in length, the Maidan is larger than New York's Central Park. At one end stands the Victoria Memorial, built in honour of Queen Victoria with white marble from the same source used to build the Taj Mahal. The queen is represented by a large outdoor statue, and a museum comprising 24 galleries holds a collection of Raj memorabilia, including a piano Queen Victoria played as a child and a collection of paintings depicting the history of the city, a former capital of India.
6 St John's Church
Established in 1787, St John's Church was one of the first public buildings to be erected by the East India Company after Calcutta became the capital of British India. Like many British churches in the country, it's based on James Gibbs' St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, and contains a stained-glass panel of the Last Supper, in which the 12 disciples bear the faces of British personalities in Calcutta at the time. Near the church is the mausoleum of Job Charnock, an English merchant credited with founding Calcutta in 1690.
7 Luxury hotels and shopping
8 Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity is an eye-opener. When the late Albanian nun (1910- 1997) set up the order of the Missionaries of Charity, little did she know that it would become one of the symbols of the city. Her coffin resides at Motherhouse, which also has a small museum in her honour. If you feel like giving a child a cuddle, head next door to the orphanage. You'll find no shortage of overseas volunteers willing to use some of their time (often several months at a go) playing with and caring for these underprivileged children.
9 Spot the tiger
10 Sweet treats
Calcutta has a vast number of mishtir dokan (sweet shops) selling distinctive, pastel-coloured pyramids of milky Bengali specialities. Must-tries include rasgulla (cream cheese flavoured with rosewater and sticky syrup), a popular fried creation called the Lady Keni (named after the wife of Lord Canning, former governor-general of India), sandesh (dry sweetened curds formed into diamond shapes and topped with edible silver), nadu (grated coconut stir-fried with sugar and shaped into a ball), and pitha (Bengali pancakes made from powdered rice or flour).