This brilliantly antiquated gunmakers' shop has operated since 1948 and while it now sells mostly imported sporting rifles, the old teak cabinets display several museum pieces, including a flintlock and a pirate's scimitar. A series of old bayonets is too dangerous to sell, as their original makers soaked them in snake venom to make them deadlier. The friendly management usually obliges in sharing historical facts about displayed items.
ML Bhunja
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.99 MILES
The incredible Victoria Memorial is a vast, beautifully proportioned festival of white marble: think US Capitol meets Taj Mahal. Had it been built for a…
4.23 MILES
Despite being an awkward journey by public transport, Kolkata’s lovely 109-hectare Botanical Gardens makes for a great place to escape from the city’s…
4.16 MILES
Set very attractively amid palms and manicured lawns, this large religious centre is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, inspired by 19th-century…
2 MILES
Countless clay effigies of deities and demons immersed in the Hooghly during Kolkata’s colourful pujas (offering or prayers) are created in specialist…
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0.8 MILES
Built in 1835 by a raja from the prosperous Mallick family, this resplendent mansion is as grand as it is curious. Its marble-draped halls are overstuffed…
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0.95 MILES
The stately 1784 family mansion of Rabindranath Tagore has become a shrine-like museum to India’s greatest modern poet. Even if his personal effects don’t…
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0.98 MILES
India's biggest and oldest major museum celebrated its bicentenary in February 2014. It's mostly a lovably old-fashioned place that fills a large…
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1.65 MILES
A vast expanse of green in the heart of the city's brick-and-mortar matrix, the Maidan is where Kolkata's residents congregate for walks, spirited cricket…
Nearby Kolkata (Calcutta) attractions
0.13 MILES
Hidden almost invisibly behind BBD Bagh, this Protestant church is Kolkata's second-oldest place of Christian worship, dating to 1770.
0.17 MILES
Peep through the crack between the often-locked doors of this distinctive 1924 two-storey building to spy a meditative Buddha statue glowing in the half…
0.18 MILES
Crowned by a fine Wren-style spire, St Andrews was built in 1815. It still holds distinctive Scottish-Presbyterian services and also has responsibility…
0.19 MILES
The relatively modern Shree Cutchi Jain Temple makes a useful landmark on atmospheric Ezra St.
0.2 MILES
This perfume-maker's shop conjures up images of the Raj era. It's an atmospheric place, although the perfumes can be of the strong concentrated variety…
0.23 MILES
Home to the Reserve Bank of India until 1937, the stabilised ruins of the once-magnificent Currency Building now houses a small exhibition about the…
0.26 MILES
Once a grand Jewish school building, this post office offers some curious photo ops, given its location in the heart of a busy market area.
0.26 MILES
Literally meaning 'House of God', this atmospheric synagogue's front facade looks a little like a 1930s cinema. Within the building (dating back to 1856),…