Conference City
Kolkata, the City of Joy, the city of aspirations and hope for many, formally known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly river, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India. As of 2011, the city had 4.5 million residents; the urban agglomeration, which comprises the city and its suburbs, was home to approximately 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has established local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature that have gained wide audiences. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas, while Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighborhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum, and the National Library of India. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports. Kolkata believes in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – the whole world is a family.
- State: West Bengal
- Summer temperature: 30° C - 40° C
- Winter temperature: 30° C - 10° C
- Metropolitan Area: 1380 sq. km. (1991)
- Languages spoken: Bengali, Hindi, Urdu and English
- Altitude: 17 ft above sea level
- Best time to visit: October to March
- STD Code: 033
- Major tourist attractions: Victoria memorial, Fort William, Eden gardens, Birla planetarium, Howrah bridge, Belur math, Botanical gardens, Writer's building & Science city
- Educational Institutes: St. Xavier’s College Kolkata, IIM Calcutta
- Major festivals: Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Saraswati Puja, Poila Baisakh, Makar Sankranti, Vishwakarma Puja
& Lakshmi Puja. - Major fairs: Calcutta book Fair, Poush Mela & Joydev mela
