The settlers and their style, Kolkata

About this place

Step away from the Calcutta of the 1800s and into the twentieth century — a city expanding rapidly and almost unrecognizably. New money was being made, new frontiers were being colonized, and space had never been more precious. It was in this changing city that new neighbourhoods, roughly aligned with what we know today as “Cafe Para,” began to emerge. Alongside them came a new architectural language for a new age: Art Deco. On this walk, explore one such neighbourhood through the rich fabric of memories belonging to its own residents. Carefully crafted from social and oral histories, The Settlers and Their Style traces the story of the Lake Temple neighbourhood through four defining threads: the development of Rabindra Sarobar, the arrival of the neighbourhood’s early settlers, the community ties cemented through Durga Puja, and, finally, its quiet but proud legacy of Art Deco residential homes. Come discover how a neighbourhood took shape — one settler, one memory, one celebration and one striking home at a time.