University of Calcutta, Public university in Kolkata, India.
The University of Calcutta is a public university in Kolkata, West Bengal, spread across fourteen locations throughout the city and encompassing multiple academic faculties and research centres. The institution covers a wide range of study programmes from humanities through sciences to technical fields.
The education institution came into being in 1857 modelled after the University of London with Scottish educator Alexander Duff as a key advocate. It initially served as an examining body for affiliated colleges across South Asia before developing its own teaching departments in subsequent decades.
The campus retains the mix of Gothic architecture and Indian detailing typical of nineteenth-century Bengal education institutions. Students and faculty use the colonnaded courtyards and reading rooms where teaching and academic discussion take place in Bengali and English.
The campus areas lie scattered across central Kolkata and many are reachable via the city's main roads and metro stations. Visitors should note that some buildings and libraries may require academic identification or be accessible only during term time.
The institution holds a rare collection of Sanskrit manuscripts including twelfth-century palm-leaf texts kept in the special manuscript repository. Rabindranath Tagore personally designed the university badge and coat of arms when he studied here in the 1880s.
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