Culture
Kolkata has long been known for its literary, artistic and
revolutionary heritage. As the former capital of India, Kolkata was the
birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought. Kolkatans
tend to have a special appreciation for art and literature; its
tradition of welcoming new talent has made it a "city of furious
creative energy".[87] For these reasons, Kolkata has often been dubbed
as the "cultural capital of India".
A characteristic feature of Kolkata is the para or neighbourhoods
having a strong sense of community. Typically, every para has its own
community club with a clubroom and often, a playing field. People here
habitually indulge in adda or leisurely chat, and these adda sessions
are often a form of freestyle intellectual conversation.[88] The city
has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from
outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures to
propaganda.
Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Gothic, Baroque, Roman,
Oriental and Indo-Islamic (including Mughal) motifs. Several major
buildings of the Colonial period are well maintained and have been
declared "heritage structures", while others are in various stages of
decay. Established in 1814, the Indian Museum is the oldest museum in
Asia and houses vast collection of Indian natural history and Indian
art.[89] The Victoria Memorial, one of the major tourist attractions in
Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National
Library of India is India's leading public library. Academy of Fine
Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions.
The city has a tradition of dramas in the form of jatra (a kind of
folk-theatre), theatres and Group Theatres. Mainstream Hindi films are
popular, as are films from the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed
"Tollywood". Tollygunj in Kolkata is the location of Bengali movie
studios. Its long tradition of filmmaking includes acclaimed directors
such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Ritwik Ghatak to
contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen and Rituparno Ghosh.
Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and macher jhol (fish
curry),[90] with rasagolla,sandesh and mishti doi (sweet yoghurt) as
dessert. Bengal's vast repertoire of fish-based dishes includes various
hilsa preparations (a favorite among Bengalis). Street foods such as
beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with
vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (deep fried
crêpe with tamarind and lentil sauce) and Chinese food from China Town
in the eastern parts of the city are quite popular.[91][92]
Bengali women commonly wear the shaŗi as per tradition and
global/western outfits. Among men, western dressing has greater
acceptance.
Durga Puja is the most important and the most glamourous event in
Kolkata.[93] It usually takes place in the month of October, although
it can also fall in September or November, depending on the traditional
calendar. Other notable festivals include Jagaddhatri Puja, Diwali,
Eid, Holi, Christmas, poila boishak (new year), Saraswati puja, Rath
Yatra and Poush parbon (harvest festival). Some of the cultural
festivals are Kolkata Book Fair, Dover Lane music festival, Kolkata
Film Festival and National Theatre Festival.
The city is also noted for its appreciation of Indian classical music
as well as Bengali folk music such as baul. In the nineteenth and
twentieth century, Bengali literature was modernized in the works of
authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt,
Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.
The rich literary tradition set by these authors has been carried
forward in the works of Jibanananda Das, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay,
Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay, Ashapurna Devi,
Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Buddhadeb Guha, Mahashweta Devi, Samaresh
Majumdar, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay among others.
From the early 1990s, there has been an emergence and popularization of
new genres of music, including fusions of Baul and Jazz by several
Bangla bands, as well as the emergence of what has been called
Jeebonmukhi Gaan (a modern genre based on realism) by artists like
Kabir Suman, Nachiketa,Anjan Dutta, and bands like Chandrabindoo,
Cactus, Lakkhichhara, Fossils and Insomnia. The first proper Indian
band, Mohiner Ghoraguli, was from Kolkata
