Kalighat has its own underground station, Kalighat, on the Blue Line (North-South corridor) of Kolkata Metro, giving direct access to central Kolkata and south to Kavi Subhash. A tram route also runs past the station.

Rashbehari Avenue, one of South Kolkata's key arterial roads, passes through the locality, connecting it to Gariahat, Tollygunge and the Bhowanipore-Alipore belt. The metro ride from Kalighat to the Esplanade interchange in central Kolkata covers under 6 km of track.

Kalighat is historically known as the home of Kalighat pat (patachitra) painting, a 19th-century folk-art tradition of hand-painted scrolls that grew up around the temple to serve pilgrims and went on to influence the later Bengal School of art.

Small workshops tied to this artisan painting tradition, along with temple-linked trade in flowers, prasad and ritual goods, remain part of the area's traditional local economy.

Kalighat is dominated by the Kalighat Kali Temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas of Hindu mythology and one of eastern India's most visited pilgrimage sites, drawing large crowds through Kali Puja, Poila Baisakh, Snana Yatra, Durga Puja and daily worship. The temple's ath-chala Bengal-style architecture underwent a large-scale restoration completed in 2024, jointly funded by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Reliance Foundation, which restored its terracotta work and gilded its spires.

The area is also the birthplace of Kalighat pat painting.

Kalighat falls under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for civic administration.

It has its own dedicated police station, Kalighat P.S., part of Kolkata Police's South division, with jurisdiction covering the temple precinct and surrounding residential lanes bounded by Rashbehari Avenue, Hazra Road and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road.