In the 18th and 19th centuries Calcutta was known as the city of palaces. People still live in the crumbling skeletons of these palaces which can be found all over the city. Calcutta is a living museum of 300 years of architecture. It is also the intellectual capital of India.
Mark Twain described Calcutta’s weather as being hot and humid enough to make a door knob mushy. In fact, the air in West Bengal is so humid that every form of greenery, bananas, aubergines, marrows, flat beans and rice (which is the staple here) grow in abundance.