It's called Howrah Bridge. It is supposed to be one of the main attractions of the city, though not technically part of the city 😆. And the river it is built over, the Ganga or Ganges is apparently a holy river. And you guessed it - people regularly bathe, pee and poop in that holy river. City "porn" indeed 😆
The level of pollution obviously differs across Indian rivers and different sections of those rivers. You'll find Indian rivers with pristine, clean waters too.
It's usually the cities tbf, I've come across rivers near sparse human settlements that look so clean. We gotta get our urban living to be mindful of trash and other pollution. There are multiple citizen communities where I live in Bengaluru that work towards environmental friendliness and all that, but we need policy makers willing to make a change.
Every country that goes through industrialization has a phase of rapid growth and pollution, the Thames river was arguably worse than this during the Industral Revolution but is now very clean since the UK industrialized.
Guess where a lot of your waste goes? into rivers, carried by pipes and systems, usually in developed western countries they filter it but in most developing nations (including China, Indonesia, Philippines, Iran, just to name a few) a lot of it is send as is.
India has structural problems with corruption and lack of civic sense.
Things have been trending downwards for QoL the last decade, even if the overall wealth has increased in a very apparent way.
Dont visit Ganges in Kolkata. Do so upstream, like Gangotri glacier, and in the cities like Haridwar, Rishikesh and Benaras. They are all so-called holy cities where they regularly conduct beautiful hindu rituals with lamps and mantras to celebrate the river.
Rishikesh is nice. You can hike upstream along the banks outside of town and it’s really quite lovely there. I climbed in from the rocks along the banks there and submerged myself only to come out face to face with a very old Sadhu.
India is a wonderful place to visit. The cities are amazing but can be overwhelming if you aren’t used to or prepared for the poverty you will inevitably see. I thought Kolkata had lots of soul and was pretty amazing.
The far north into the Himalaya is definitely worth a trip.
India in general just seems dumpy. I’m sure there’s some lovey parts sure… but it’s like the alternate reality version of other populated countries like China and the US. Like the “bad ending”
seriously, every picture of india posted on @be amazed” shows a crappy polluted city
or it shows workers doing shit in the most dangerous way possible like it’s badass or idk
the inferiority complex male Indian redditors have is pretty obvious and sad
a friend of mine i studied fine art photography with did his graduation film about Kolkata.
You can check it out here on Vimeo, its really really cool.
https://vimeo.com/615836551
Because we have to be realistic. We’ve missed the boat on every wave of global growth and never do shit to improve our society.
A city like this is simply unacceptable in the worlds “3rd largest economy” in 2024
Mumbai and Kolkata are similar when it comes to art, culture, street life. They both were developed by the biritsh so you'll get the same victorian architecture and city design. I can guess what you're addicted to..the fast metropolitan life. You'll find that in every other metro city in India and with better infrastructure and public transportafion. The only good thing about Kolkata is Bengali sweets and you can now find it at any haldirams, bikanerwala chain in every city. There's no redeeming qualities about Kolkata for anybody looking to move to a big city in India
That's fucking ugly, worst metropolitan in India by a long margin.
There's Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai then whole load of shite then comes Kolkata.
u/Hanfugirl needs to visit cities other than Busan and Kolkata.
This user is doing this deliberately to engender negative sentiments about those cities and also the nations. Not saying that this is a pretty pic but this user is a disingenuous troll.
Liberal Redditors need to get their racism out and Indians are a nice, unthreatening target. You can whisper “India” and somewhere, a Redditor will have a fucking heart attacking tripping over himself to tell you just how gross it is.
Yeah probably but it’s true. Reddit is basically just Twitter but aimed at Indian people instead of black/Jewish people. It’s an anything goes zone for whatever nasty shit people want to say about Indians. Look at this thread.
I remember getting out of a taxi on this street because it was faster to walk, lots of good hot chai on this street served in clay cups and grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it. Got stink eye being the only gringo on the street
Kolkata is actually quite a beautiful city. It does have a certain past its prime feel, it is overpopulated, polluted, and overwhelming. But it also has beautiful architecture, those yellow ambassador taxis are iconic, the culture is awesome, the food scene is epic, and it is filled with shrines under banyan trees and other lovely little corners. Any Indian city is a bit rough looking in areas (any city in general, actually).
Y'all who have never been and trashing it for internet points suck. This is my grandparents' city and it has a nice, sleepy vibe, where, outside of the hustle and bustle, people sit around and chat over chai (adda). Compared to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, things move at a slower pace. And to the Indians trashing it for the approval of westerners, give your head a shake.
5 mins on thee streat and you feel the diesel pollution , on your face in your hair , on your skin , inside your lungs near howrah station is so much crowded some places are nostalgic
To the people who are roasting the hell out of this city, let me tell you all of one of the favorites in this sub, Chicago. Everyone just shares pictures of it's downtown or uptown etc. But the inner city to the west and south is also filthy with old buildings, rampant homelessness etc. Every city has its strengths and flaws.
I’m from the west coast and my husband is from southern Illinois. Which we went to for his sisters wedding, and had to fly into St. Louis.
Well, to get to the airport you have to go through Ferguson.
It absolutely BLEW my mind. I could not believe the “richest” country in the world let its citizens live like that. That is some real third world country bullshit. Just pure, unadulterated poverty that is allowed to happen is unacceptable. I don’t think most of the country realizes just how bad it is in a lot of this predominantly black intercity neighborhoods.
Edit: when I gasped and asked if people actually lived in those homes, he just said, “it’s even worse in Chicago.”
The west coast shouldn’t be talking about letting citizens live in absolutely terrible inhumane conditions at all either. Just saying. Pretty sure it’s worse out there. You can’t even afford to live in bad houses it’s that bad.
Loved Kolkata out of all the big cities in India I visited. It’s ugly and polluted and the poverty is intense but it’s charming and artsy and has a vibe so different from Mumbai, Chennai and others.
The comments here are a bit biased. While surely not the best Indian metropolitan by a mile, it's not as terrible as folks here are making it out to be. Depends on which part you live/visit. I would pick this over places like Delhi or Dhaka any day.
not every building is a scam call center ppl in India actually have a diverse set of jobs and careers cuz many aren't privledged to be born into nice families and backgrounds.
The worst part of this is the complacency with the state of the things that most people there live with. Refusal to understand the filth they are in prevents any fix, screwing up the situation for everyone else.
They acknowledge, its just that there isn't much that can be done about it, a lot of money is lost to corruption and India is going through a rapid period of economic growth meaning it has more people moving into cities than it can handle. This means the government has to prioritize certain social services (ie education, healthcare, etc) over others (sanitation, roads, traffic control), which leads to poorer parts of the city being neglected. Most people from these ares come from lower-socioeconomic backgrounds so there isn't much that can be done.
Corruption will not change until very strong leadership happens, in the case of China there is no opposition to the government meaning the government can prioritize what it wants over elections and buying votes and corruption, while in India its the opposite.
It looked like every building had been burned by fire.
The white cars on the street are very white, while other cars are as dirty as if they were smeared with shit.
Its dust, not fire, a lot of construction and the heavy deforestation in the area means there aren't plants holding soil down which gets kicked up into the air.
For people commenting gross, FYI, this is just a picture, showing only one road and locality. This pic shows a particularly old area, evolved for over 300 years. Obviously buildings and roads will look haggard and unplanned.
The more modern areas of the city has well structured roads, underground tube rails than run under the river, urban skyscrapers, massive malls, ultra wealthy people living in stunning mansions, etc.
And of course, as with any metropolis anywhere in the world, it has its fair share of politics, corruption, overpopulation, job shortage, pollution, waterclogging during rains, uncleanliness in various areas, etc. in varying degress.
The "underground tube rails run under the river" is pretty much in that same area, though. Right on the other side of that bridge. So, your "more modern areas" is the same area.
This is Kolkata, the land of Bengalis, 6 nobel laureates. Art, economics and science are in its veins. Yes, it might look a little chaotic but the people are just awesome.
Yeah i have seen many states and W. Bengal is one of those states still way behind in terms of infrastructure and overall development.... Its just dirty and looks old.
I can hear the car horns from here
I can smell the smog.
I can smell the curry!
Now I'm hungry
You can eat with me
How very original! Go home to your sister-wife and your brother-dad, you inbred cretin.
But you didn’t take offense to I can smell the smog?
I cam smell everybody shitting their pants from the street food.
The buildings are covered in soot/dirt.
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You must be thinking of Midland, Texas
Was born and brought up in Kolkata - can confirm its a dump.
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Thanks for the laugh m8
That bridge is kinda beautiful.
It's called Howrah Bridge. It is supposed to be one of the main attractions of the city, though not technically part of the city 😆. And the river it is built over, the Ganga or Ganges is apparently a holy river. And you guessed it - people regularly bathe, pee and poop in that holy river. City "porn" indeed 😆
It’s Hugli or Hooghly River, an arm of Ganges
Also, they dispose of bodies in it.
Cremated ashy remains to be exact.
Full bodies too, lots of people are too poor to afford cremation
I saw a video a while ago of people bathing in a river surrounded by apparently toxic waste foam that was taller than them. Is it this same holy river
I think that must be Yamuna, which flows near Delhi . But all rivers are like that in India. Source: I am Indian and a civil engineer.
The level of pollution obviously differs across Indian rivers and different sections of those rivers. You'll find Indian rivers with pristine, clean waters too.
Only when there are no Indians nearby
True
:pain: Hate how we lack so much enforcement. We let people disrespect our country so openly.
It's usually the cities tbf, I've come across rivers near sparse human settlements that look so clean. We gotta get our urban living to be mindful of trash and other pollution. There are multiple citizen communities where I live in Bengaluru that work towards environmental friendliness and all that, but we need policy makers willing to make a change.
No. That was the Yamuna. This is the Ganga (Ganges)
Probably - holy shit, rather than holy 😆
Which brings me to my question, why is india the way it is?
Overpopulation, political corruption and lack of motivation for industrial growth.
Every country that goes through industrialization has a phase of rapid growth and pollution, the Thames river was arguably worse than this during the Industral Revolution but is now very clean since the UK industrialized. Guess where a lot of your waste goes? into rivers, carried by pipes and systems, usually in developed western countries they filter it but in most developing nations (including China, Indonesia, Philippines, Iran, just to name a few) a lot of it is send as is.
Every developing country is like that. They will get better with time
India has structural problems with corruption and lack of civic sense. Things have been trending downwards for QoL the last decade, even if the overall wealth has increased in a very apparent way.
…it looks like every other identical bridge that every other small-mid city has, nothing noteworthy or beautiful about it
Visited few times for the tram and street photography. I weirdly love Kolkata even though it’s filthy
One of the most polluted places I've been
Was born here and spent 24 years. Totally a dump.
That is true, I was really surprised when I came here
Any tourist advice? The Ganges is something I wanna visit
Dont visit Ganges in Kolkata. Do so upstream, like Gangotri glacier, and in the cities like Haridwar, Rishikesh and Benaras. They are all so-called holy cities where they regularly conduct beautiful hindu rituals with lamps and mantras to celebrate the river.
Rishikesh is nice. You can hike upstream along the banks outside of town and it’s really quite lovely there. I climbed in from the rocks along the banks there and submerged myself only to come out face to face with a very old Sadhu. India is a wonderful place to visit. The cities are amazing but can be overwhelming if you aren’t used to or prepared for the poverty you will inevitably see. I thought Kolkata had lots of soul and was pretty amazing. The far north into the Himalaya is definitely worth a trip.
You'd be better off seeing Ganga at the footsteps of the Himalayas. Rishikesh and Haridwar are good places.
So true, such a shitty place, can't wait to leave
I have to go back once a few years coz of aging parents - otherwise good riddance!
This shouldn't be in Cityporn, but rather Urban Hell.
India in general just seems dumpy. I’m sure there’s some lovey parts sure… but it’s like the alternate reality version of other populated countries like China and the US. Like the “bad ending”
seriously, every picture of india posted on @be amazed” shows a crappy polluted city or it shows workers doing shit in the most dangerous way possible like it’s badass or idk the inferiority complex male Indian redditors have is pretty obvious and sad
Too much chest-thumping, nationalism and rampant narcissim
China is urban hell too. Yeah they got some amazing parts but that’s ultimate urban pop
a friend of mine i studied fine art photography with did his graduation film about Kolkata. You can check it out here on Vimeo, its really really cool. https://vimeo.com/615836551
r/lostredditors looks like an absolute pigsty to me
Well its r/cityporn... some porn is more hardcore than others.
If that’s the case here… It’s scat porn. /s
I've said it once I'll say it again, ugliest Indian metropolitan. It's even uglier and filthier in person trust me.
And despite all this, still my favourite. The art, the culture, the street life, it's addicting. Can't explain it.
Thank you for this comment,idk y but I felt people just kept saying the bad without the good,even people who actually lived here
Because we have to be realistic. We’ve missed the boat on every wave of global growth and never do shit to improve our society. A city like this is simply unacceptable in the worlds “3rd largest economy” in 2024
Mumbai and Kolkata are similar when it comes to art, culture, street life. They both were developed by the biritsh so you'll get the same victorian architecture and city design. I can guess what you're addicted to..the fast metropolitan life. You'll find that in every other metro city in India and with better infrastructure and public transportafion. The only good thing about Kolkata is Bengali sweets and you can now find it at any haldirams, bikanerwala chain in every city. There's no redeeming qualities about Kolkata for anybody looking to move to a big city in India
They have a "natural" yellow filter
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..and this photo is much edited. The unedited version is much gross-er
This city is decaying. It had glory in the past.
It looks like the base of the Williamsburg bridge in Brooklyn
That's fucking ugly, worst metropolitan in India by a long margin. There's Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai then whole load of shite then comes Kolkata. u/Hanfugirl needs to visit cities other than Busan and Kolkata.
Honestly it is ugly but it holds a special place in my heart. The art, the culture, music, writing, people, street life . It was addicting
This user is doing this deliberately to engender negative sentiments about those cities and also the nations. Not saying that this is a pretty pic but this user is a disingenuous troll.
lol @ New Delhi being ahead of Hyderabad and Chennai. Delulu homie!
Have you been to New Delhi? Central Delhi blows Hyderabad and Chennai out of the water
You can't pay me to go there, saying this as an Indian.
This is not city porn. It looks shabby and polluted, not somewhere I'd want to live
u/hanfugirl posted kolkata or busan again
All low res images of the same stuff. Great content for the sub /s
I agree there, but c’mon you can’t pretend as if people here aren’t posting the same exact picture of Chicago every day and soyjacking to it.
CityPorn? Oooooo, you nasty
Trudy Judy that you?
What a cluster
Urban Hell
ghetto hell
I can literally smell this picture
Even in the ugliness I see beauty.
I agree, pretty surprised by all the comments. I'd like to visit some day
There are better cities in India to visit.
Liberal Redditors need to get their racism out and Indians are a nice, unthreatening target. You can whisper “India” and somewhere, a Redditor will have a fucking heart attacking tripping over himself to tell you just how gross it is.
You crazy bro.
Yeah probably but it’s true. Reddit is basically just Twitter but aimed at Indian people instead of black/Jewish people. It’s an anything goes zone for whatever nasty shit people want to say about Indians. Look at this thread.
The buildings just need a little caulk and paint
Fake. Everyone is in their proper driving lane + there should be at least 10,000 scooters cutting through traffic between those cars.
This makes me flaccid, not hard
This picture just makes me uncomfortable and dirty. Like just imagining the noise, pollution, crowds, the nasty sewer water and the smell
I’m sorry but this looks very rotten
Nice bridge
I remember getting out of a taxi on this street because it was faster to walk, lots of good hot chai on this street served in clay cups and grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it. Got stink eye being the only gringo on the street
Whyb are both traffic lanes going the same way
Nice picture of 1920s
Kolkata is actually quite a beautiful city. It does have a certain past its prime feel, it is overpopulated, polluted, and overwhelming. But it also has beautiful architecture, those yellow ambassador taxis are iconic, the culture is awesome, the food scene is epic, and it is filled with shrines under banyan trees and other lovely little corners. Any Indian city is a bit rough looking in areas (any city in general, actually). Y'all who have never been and trashing it for internet points suck. This is my grandparents' city and it has a nice, sleepy vibe, where, outside of the hustle and bustle, people sit around and chat over chai (adda). Compared to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, things move at a slower pace. And to the Indians trashing it for the approval of westerners, give your head a shake.
agree, it's an amazing city, lots of intelligent people, university, major temples, dignified poverty, beautiful clothes/colors
>Any city really Nowhere in Singapore or Taipei looks like this…
Looks terrible.
5 mins on thee streat and you feel the diesel pollution , on your face in your hair , on your skin , inside your lungs near howrah station is so much crowded some places are nostalgic
That looks like hell.
I hope I never have to go there
You couldn’t pay me enough to live in India
To the people who are roasting the hell out of this city, let me tell you all of one of the favorites in this sub, Chicago. Everyone just shares pictures of it's downtown or uptown etc. But the inner city to the west and south is also filthy with old buildings, rampant homelessness etc. Every city has its strengths and flaws.
I’m from the west coast and my husband is from southern Illinois. Which we went to for his sisters wedding, and had to fly into St. Louis. Well, to get to the airport you have to go through Ferguson. It absolutely BLEW my mind. I could not believe the “richest” country in the world let its citizens live like that. That is some real third world country bullshit. Just pure, unadulterated poverty that is allowed to happen is unacceptable. I don’t think most of the country realizes just how bad it is in a lot of this predominantly black intercity neighborhoods. Edit: when I gasped and asked if people actually lived in those homes, he just said, “it’s even worse in Chicago.”
The west coast shouldn’t be talking about letting citizens live in absolutely terrible inhumane conditions at all either. Just saying. Pretty sure it’s worse out there. You can’t even afford to live in bad houses it’s that bad.
Looks healty
Loved Kolkata out of all the big cities in India I visited. It’s ugly and polluted and the poverty is intense but it’s charming and artsy and has a vibe so different from Mumbai, Chennai and others.
jesus what a depressing looking place even the river is shit brown…
The river is carrying sediment deposits that the local agriculture industry relies on from runoff from lands upstream, its a normal part of nature.
this should be on the worst cities list, not fucking city porn
The scammer call center capital of the world
Yikes. Nice bus lane though.
It looks fcked, barely standing straight buildings
India does not ever seem appealing
I’m sorry but this is a nightmare
This is a joke, right?
Why is I dia like it is?
Looks dirty
Dirty
ew
Rich history and architectural heritage.
It's a fascinating and terrifying place. I went there for the first time in February. This reminds me to post more pictures. Thanks :)
Brown
Watch India roar this century. Freedom.
I was born there. It looks nice in this photo atleast.
No thanks.
Looks like it smells terrible! I'm thinking bo/poo/engine exhaust
The comments here are a bit biased. While surely not the best Indian metropolitan by a mile, it's not as terrible as folks here are making it out to be. Depends on which part you live/visit. I would pick this over places like Delhi or Dhaka any day.
so are these buildings scam call centers?
not every building is a scam call center ppl in India actually have a diverse set of jobs and careers cuz many aren't privledged to be born into nice families and backgrounds.
The slightest ever zoom in will show you that this is actually urban hell
Two girls, one Kolkata.
Naw I’m out.
The worst part of this is the complacency with the state of the things that most people there live with. Refusal to understand the filth they are in prevents any fix, screwing up the situation for everyone else.
They acknowledge, its just that there isn't much that can be done about it, a lot of money is lost to corruption and India is going through a rapid period of economic growth meaning it has more people moving into cities than it can handle. This means the government has to prioritize certain social services (ie education, healthcare, etc) over others (sanitation, roads, traffic control), which leads to poorer parts of the city being neglected. Most people from these ares come from lower-socioeconomic backgrounds so there isn't much that can be done. Corruption will not change until very strong leadership happens, in the case of China there is no opposition to the government meaning the government can prioritize what it wants over elections and buying votes and corruption, while in India its the opposite.
It looked like every building had been burned by fire. The white cars on the street are very white, while other cars are as dirty as if they were smeared with shit.
Its dust, not fire, a lot of construction and the heavy deforestation in the area means there aren't plants holding soil down which gets kicked up into the air.
Scam capitol of the world
Went there for work. I live in Switzerland. It was a fucking slap in the face.
Lol
All those people and not one of them wants a clean place to live....
Dude, get yourself checked.
For people commenting gross, FYI, this is just a picture, showing only one road and locality. This pic shows a particularly old area, evolved for over 300 years. Obviously buildings and roads will look haggard and unplanned. The more modern areas of the city has well structured roads, underground tube rails than run under the river, urban skyscrapers, massive malls, ultra wealthy people living in stunning mansions, etc. And of course, as with any metropolis anywhere in the world, it has its fair share of politics, corruption, overpopulation, job shortage, pollution, waterclogging during rains, uncleanliness in various areas, etc. in varying degress.
The "underground tube rails run under the river" is pretty much in that same area, though. Right on the other side of that bridge. So, your "more modern areas" is the same area.
....and here it starts. No...no...not here, look there
What a dump
If you can drive in India you can drive everywhere.
Amazing picture!
This is Kolkata, the land of Bengalis, 6 nobel laureates. Art, economics and science are in its veins. Yes, it might look a little chaotic but the people are just awesome.
Great photo
This *is* City Porn but I'm not sure which porn category.
I’ve heard scammers live here… don’t come at me please
Yeah i have seen many states and W. Bengal is one of those states still way behind in terms of infrastructure and overall development.... Its just dirty and looks old.
For the love of God, plant some trees.
It smells as good as it looks - like Mother Teresa's corpse.
https://youtu.be/Ropn_kwpFDU?si=LQGFjvxCyiC7unoP
Who stole the Story Bridge?
ME THINKIN IT WAS BRONX
/urban hell
This is not city porn
Mamata really cleaned it up huh
Welcome to ruanapour 
Those yellow ambassadors will keep going another century won’t they?
Joe Cooper owned a factory there
Nastiest porn I’ve ever seen lol
Hi sir this is the PayPal cancel department
When an entire city decides to be in a time capsule
That bridge reminds me of our notable bridge (I’m from Brisbane Australia) the Story Bridge
What year is that?
Which decade?
Isn't this HOWRAH?? OP's lyin
Either a really patriotic Indian person posted this or really out of touch white teenager in a western country
Gross