The Illumination Tour reimagines Kolkata through storytelling and after-dark charm

The world may call the City of Joy slow, but don’t you think, sometimes, slow is all we want? Kolkata is a beautiful city, for sure, but night-time Kolkata is ten times more stunning. Even if you are not fond of the architecture or history of the city, you will still pause for a moment to stop by and enjoy the view of a well-lit GPO, the Maniktala Dome or even the New Market Clock Tower, and click a snap or two.

How the Illumination Tour shows Kolkata in a new light!

A lot of credit definitely goes to Mudar Patherya and his Illumination Project, who have taken the initiative to light up these heritage buildings. But what brought it closer to us is the Illumination tour. Doesn’t it sound interesting? So, on a spring evening, we toured Kolkata on a bus with Sujoy Sen and Aditi Ganguly’s Travel Together Everywhere, who showed us the city in a new light — quite literally!

This was another great option for night-time entertainment as Mudar puts it, “It does not just show you the illuminated buildings but also builds a sense of romance. People are either going to clubs or restaurants for entertainment. We finally introduced a third element, opening a new dimension. It is something that many people haven’t heard of. The scientific route map and a four-hour engagement are something that the city definitely needs.”

Echoing Mudar’s words, Sujoy said that what really sparked this was the gap between the effort behind the Illumination Project and how little time people actually spent engaging with it. “The beautifully lit buildings were becoming part of the night skyline, but most people were just driving past without knowing the stories, the thought process, or even the scale of work involved. We felt the stories needed to be told,” added Aditi.

The curated tour took off from a central location, and the pace was incredibly easy, with the route thoughtfully planned to avoid rush-hour congestion. While it was designed to be informative and visually engaging, it was also accessible even to those who might not usually join heritage walks. We saw the intricate work on Kalachand Temple, the 200-yearold Long Saheber Girja, or the Holy Trinity Church, and passed by the All India Institute of Hygiene & Public Health, Sen Bari, St Andrew’s Church, Returned Letter Office, Standard Life Insurance Building, Royal Insurance Building, GPO, AG Bengal, and Aayakar Bhaban, Eastern Railway Headquarters, Raj Bhawan, St John’s Church, Akashbani Bhavan, and St Paul’s Cathedral. We halted at the Victoria Memorial East Gate to get down and click a few photos of the stunning view.

The Greek Orthodox Church, one of the last relics of the Greek legacy in Kolkata, didn’t look a century old. So was the 162-year-old Jora Girja or St James Church. If you are a romantic like us, you might as well start imagining the then Calcutta with these buildings standing tall.

Maniktala Dome was the last stop of our tour before we moved on to our drop-off location. For us, this wasn’t just a sightseeing activity. It’s about reconnecting people from all walks of life, who think they already know the city yet explore it through a new lens.

Price for one: INR 1,000-1,500.

One can book a tour by connecting Travel Together Everywhere via their Instagram handle.

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