Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is the capital of India's West Bengal state, and the country's third largest city.Typically described as a collision of India and colonial England, the city is a riot of colours, festivals, fabric markets, urban parks, fading Victorian splendour and 21st-century progress. A much misunderstood city, Kolkata is the nation's hothouse for artistic, intellectual and philosophical endeavours, with its own counter-culture community thriving alongside its gentrified residents and a booming middle class.