The Photograph of a Courtyard: North Kolkata’s Thakurdalans
How to read, find and respectfully photograph the courtyards and thakurdalans of north Kolkata’s great houses, from Shobhabazar Rajbari to Jorasanko.
Kolkata’s Ghats at Dawn: Mullick Ghat to Babughat
A dawn walk along the Hooghly’s ghats in Kolkata, from the Mullick Ghat flower market under Howrah Bridge to the colonnaded pavilion of Babughat.
Heat, Rain and Rooms with Fans: Kolkata’s Cool Interiors in May
Where to wait out a Kolkata May afternoon: the Indian Museum, the Victoria Memorial galleries, the National Library grounds, the Marble Palace and the Coffee House.
The Hooghly in the Evening: Ferries and Prinsep Ghat
When the heat breaks, Kolkata goes to its river. Prinsep Ghat at sunset, a ferry under Howrah Bridge, the old ghats and the temples upriver at Dakshineswar.
A North Kolkata Walk: Shobhabazar to Jorasanko
A morning on foot through old north Kolkata: Shobhabazar Rajbari, the Marble Palace, Tagore’s house at Jorasanko and the bookstalls of College Street.
Kolkata in May: The City When It Is Honest
Kolkata in May is hot, humid and stormy, and it is the month the city stops performing for visitors. How to shape your days, what to eat and why it is worth it.
Editor’s Letter: Kolkata, May 2026
Why we went to Kolkata in its hottest, most honest month, and what is inside Issue 85: courtyards, ghats, Kumartuli, trams, food rooms and more.
Kolkata Index: The City by the Numbers
The dates, bridges, festivals and figures that define Kolkata, from 1690 and Howrah Bridge to the trams, the Metro and Durga Puja’s UNESCO listing.
Kumartuli Off Season: A Day in the Idol-Makers’ Lanes
In May, months before Durga Puja, Kumartuli’s idol-makers have time to show how a goddess is made, from bamboo frame and straw body to river clay.
Kolkata’s Food Rooms: Cabins, Sweet Shops and Kitchens, Not a Top-Ten
A field guide to how Kolkata eats: the cabin, the coffee house, the sweet shop, the street stall, the pice hotel, the Chinese breakfast and the home kitchen.
