City-information
for Calcutta
Population: 11 million,
Calcutta was mainly a British creation over the last 300 years. It was the capital of India under the British until they moved the capital to Delhi in 1931. It is the biggest city in India.
It is said that Calcutta got its name from when Sati killed herself after her father insulted her husband, Lord Siva. Lord Siva arrived after his wife's body was already burning. He tore the body from the fire and started his dance of cosmic destruction. All the other gods wanted him to stop, so they asked Lord Vishnu to help. In order to get Siva to stop, Lord Vishnu cut Sati into 51 pieces. Her toe is said to have fallen at Kali Ghat in the south part of Calcutta. Therefore the city was called Kalikata and later Calcutta.
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