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Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Established in 1814, this was the first such museum in Asia. Among its famous collection is the urn that held the ashes of the Buddha (though this is generally not on display), a Pillar of Ashoka (the three-lion symbol which became the official emblem of the Republic of India) and numerous rare antiques. A varied collection of exhibits include unique fossils, Buddhist Gandhara art and an Egyptian mummy. The Indian Museum has a library of excellent historical value, with a special focus on the British Raj and Kolkata.
The Indian Museum is a grand museum in Central Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is the ninth oldest museum in the world and the oldest, as well as the largest museum in Asia, by size of collection. It has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies and Mughal paintings. It was founded by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, in 1814. The founder curator was Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist.
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Sudder Street Church
The oldest library in Kolkata, with hundreds and thousands of books, journals and microfiche in various languages, along with a collection of different images. The main reading room has an internet facility, where you can search for books online. Its collection includes the Edict of Ashoka in granite from 250 BCE, a Brahma statue in black basalt stone from the 12th century, Maitryavyākaraṇa from 940, and Ashṭasahasrikā Prajnāpāramitā from 1231.
A single-screen cinema known for its Art Deco architecture. The semicircular building with three viewing levels was originally an opera house, which was converted to a cinema in the 1940s. It has been a cultural hub of Central Kolkata for decades.
Whiteways and Laidlaw Building
It was a famous department store in Kolkata during the British period. This neo-baroque emporium—with domes, a clock tower and arched recessed windows—exemplifies fashionable shopping during the British Raj.