User-friendly guide with full background information on Indian history, culture and religions, and eating and accommodation tips. Includes the sights and monuments of Kolkata (Calcutta) and the richly varied state of West Bengal: Darjeeling, Hooghly and Plassey, the Islamic architecture of Gaur and terracotta temples of Bishnupur. This is a chapter from Blue Guide India: the best guide for the independent traveller to India’s art, architecture and history. Superb maps, detailed practical information. Written by the BBC’s Sam Miller. According to William Dalrymple who wrote the foreword: “I can vouch for its accuracy and novelty – the Indian guide which reaches the long-forgotten wonders ignored by other guides, and the best possible guide to off-the-beaten-track India.”