Howrah Bridge is getting a stunning new light show, letting Kolkatans project personal birthday, wedding and anniversary greetings onto the iconic 82-year-old landmark.
Kolkata's most photographed silhouette is getting a glow-up. The Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, the custodian of the 82-year-old cantilever bridge, has rolled out a new architectural lighting system across the structure. Nearly 3,825 luminaires drawing 385 KW of power now trace the bridge’s structural profile, turning the everyday commute over the Hooghly River into a joyride for tourists and photographers.
For 10 days every year, Kolkatans will get to choose the colours lighting up the bridge, along with a song or even a personal voice message to accompany the display. The audio will play out at Millennium Park, and a mobile app is planned so people can tune in from anywhere in the city. Officials haven't decided yet whether this window will be free or come with a fee.
Beyond those 10 days, the system will also let people project personal greetings onto the landmark itself. Think birthday wishes, wedding declarations, or anniversary messages for someone special, beamed onto the bridge for the whole city to see. Pricing for this hasn't been announced yet, but the idea is unmistakably inspired by Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which pioneered the spectacle of turning a skyline landmark into a giant, glowing greeting card. The lighting is also designed to mark national occasions and festivals.
Built by the Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop Construction Company, the bridge was opened to the public in 1943. It was, at the time, the third-longest cantilever bridge in the world—a riveted steel structure famously built without a single nut or bolt. The first vehicle to cross it was a tram, and in the decades since, it has become central to the city's identity. In 1965, it was officially renamed Rabindra Setu in honour of Rabindranath Tagore, though Howrah Bridge remains the name every Kolkatan actually uses. Today, it is the busiest cantilever bridge on earth, carrying thousands of vehicles and pedestrians daily.
The Kolkata Port Trust first experimented with music-synced lighting back in 2020 as part of its 150th-anniversary celebrations. Those shows were designed to be visible from Millennium Park on the riverbank and were even synced to a mobile app so people could listen from anywhere in the city. Now, for the first time, the port trust is offering ordinary Kolkatans a chance to display their own messages on a beloved landmark.
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(By Pratyusha Pan)