City of Palaces

Kolkata has a nickname, the "City of Palaces".

During the British colonial era from 1700-1912, when Kolkata was the capital of British India, Kolkata witnessed a spate of frenzied construction activity of buildings largely influenced by the conscious intermingling of Gothic, Baroque, Roman, Oriental and Islamic schools of design. Unlike many north Indian cities, whose construction stresses minimalism, the layout in architectural variety in Kolkata owed its origins to the Occident.

The buildings were designed, and inspired by the tastes of the English gentleman around and the aspiring Bengali Baboo (literally a nouveau riche Bengali who aspired to cultivation of English etiquette, manners and custom as such practices were favourable to monetary gains from the British).

The numerous palatial mansions built all over the core city led to the city being called the City of Palaces.

Today many of these structures are in various stages of decay. Some of the major buildings of this period are well maintained and several buildings have been declared as heritage structures. Conservation efforts are patchy and are often affected by problems of litigation, tenant troubles, ownership disputes, old tenancy laws and a lack of funds.