West Bengal Tourism

Mirik: The land of Oranges.

Babu — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:33:41 +0000

49kms from Darjeeling and 52kms from Siliguri lays a small yet beautiful place called Mirik, people call it the land of Oranges. Mirik is not a famous destination as Daejeeling and Siliguri, which makes this heavenly strip of land more significant. Unexplored nature is always the best place to spend peaceful vacations. This beautiful destination is surrounded by forests and flowers. Lake Somendu in Mirik is one of the major attractions there, it is a small lake surrounded by roads. While boating through this beautiful lake, you can get a good view of Mt. Kanchenjunga. The forest surrounding is filled with long arrays of Oak, Chestnut and Maple trees. Walking or horse riding around the lake is highly recommended. There are plenty of tea estates, cardamom and orange orchards in Mirik. Mirik Buddhist monastery is also a good place to visit. Kawlay Dara view point is another attraction here, enjoy the sun rise and sun set enjoy the view of snow clad mountains from here.

Bagdogra is the nearest airport and New Jalpiaguri is the nearest railway station. Mirik is assessable by road from the near by states. There are also a couple of hotels and resorts in Mirik.

Uttarayan Complex – A must see in Santiniketan

Babu — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:19:47 +0000

Santiniketan is a small town in the Birbhum district of West Bengal which is 136 km from Kolkata. The Uttarayan Complex is a famous place in Santiniketan as the poet Rabindranath Tagore was living there. It is situated in the north of Santiniketan Ashram. It consists of several buildings in a distinct architectural style. Konarka was the first brick house at Uttarayan and thereafter Shyamali, Punachha, Udayan and Udichi were built up one by one. There is also a prayer hall founded in 1863 where Brahmo prayers are held on Wednesday.

Apart from the houses which were built up one by one there some other places found in Uttarayan Complex. They are Rabindra Bhavan known as Bichitra which is in left side of the main entrance of Uttarayan consists of a library and a museum, Chitravanu Cave House situated at the south of Uttarayan which was the office of Ravindranath, Chatimala, Sanitiniketan House, Glass house, Aamra Kunja, Natun Bari, Hindi Bhavan, Patha Bhavan, Deholi, Salbithi, Ghanta Tala, Kala Bhavan, Sangeet Bhavan and many more. Kolkata airport is well connected with wide network of flight from all parts of the country. the city is accessible by air, rail and road.

There are also plenty of hotels and resorts in Kolkata for tourists who wish to visit Shantiniketan.

Kalimpong: Totally exotic!!!

Babu — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:39:19 +0000

There are very few places in the country or even the world that looks as heavenly as Kalimpong. Most of the people don’t even know such a place exist in India.

Kalimpong is a small town that lies on the border of Bhutan-Tibet-Sikkim. It was one of the major trading centres between Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan in olden days, a place where all the better parts of the three cultures merged. Later even the British fell in love with this beautiful town. There are several imperial houses and cottages built during the British era like the Graham house, the Morgan house, golf course etc. the other sightseeing attractions in and around Kalimpong are, Durpin Dara, Pedong monastery, Flower nurseries, Mangal Dham etc. The famous hill station Darjeeling is just 56 km and Gangtok is 85km away from Kalimpong.

The nearest airport is Bagdogra near Siliguri which is 70km away from Kalimpong. Jalpaiguri railway station is also almost the same distance away. There are around 30 hill resorts and general resorts in Kalimpong ready to care of the needs of the tourist coming from distant places and countries to capture the beauty of this hill station.

Digha

Babu — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:55:38 +0000

Digha is one of the most popular beach in West Bengal. From Kolkata it takes five hours to reach Digha Beach. It is also known as Beerkul. The delightful sunset with the golden gleam sea. There are some major attractions you can find in Digha beach. They are New Digha which is the extension of Digha, Shankarpur which is a fishing harbour project, Chandaneshwar which is a site of old Shiva temple and Junput which gives a beautiful sea view and lines of caesarian trees.

As Digha is a hard beach where one can drive during low tide. Digha is well connected by roads to Kolkata. West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation provides a good accommodation in Digha with some nice resorts and cottages. Also there are some private hotels found in this Digha beach.

Sunderbans: Nature untouched!

Babu — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:10:22 +0000

West Bengal is one of the most fertile plains in the country; it ends in the Ganges’s delta where the beautiful Hoogly River flows. The estuary is known as the Sunderbans, the world’s largest Mangrove forests. It is now added in the UNESCO world heritage site list. In Sunderbans we can see a network of canals and creeks in between more than 54 small islands. Sunderbans is also listed in Project Tiger, a humble effort to save some 200 Royal Bengal tigers from extinction. The tigers in Sunderbans have adopted themselves in living in such a watery environment over the year; they are now not only excellent swimmers but at times hunt and catch fishes as well. Sunderbans have some of the most beautiful swamps in the country.

Sunderbans is formed by the union of three of the great rivers ‘Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna’. Foreign tourists require special permits for visiting Sundarbans and should get in touch with the tourism authorities.

Kolkata airport is 112kms from Sunderbans, the nearest railways is in Canning, 48 kms from the National Park there are good network of road service to reach the destination. There are two main wildlife resorts to spend the nights.

Darjeeling: On the laps of Himalaya

Babu — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:15:49 +0000

Forget about famous Darjeeling tea; forget Darjeeling Himalayan toy train, still this place has so much of tourism value. Darjeeling is the best Hill stations in the country and hence it is called the queen of all hill stations. This slice of land is unique for its natural beauty, flora and fauna, amazing climate and what not. Darjeeling is beautiful in all four seasons. There are several must see places in Darjeeling such as, Tiger hill from where Mt. Everest can be viewed, The Batasia loop where the world heritage site Darjeeling Himalayan railway is located. The Japanese Peace Pagoda built by the Japanese monks is a new landmark added to this beautiful hill station. There are several Buddhist monasteries, tea gardens, Museums, observatories, parks etc. Darjeeling is also famous for camping, trekking, water rafting and other adventure activities.

Bagdogra is the nearest airport to reach Darjeeling and Darjeeling has its railway station with Toy train services. The roadways are well connected to Bagdogra, Siliguri, Gangtok etc. Staying in Resorts is the best option as there are some very good resorts in Darjeeling.

Diamond Harbour

Babu — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:29:00 +0000

Diamond Harbour is situated in the delta region at a distance of about 48 km from Kolkata. The region provides as a nice getaway from the crowded metropolitan city. The name Diamond Harbour was given by the British Power. It is an ideal tourist spot for the tourists. The town provides river cruises facility for tourists, so they can spend entire day on the gently lapping Hoogly. Walking along the riverbank, one can also reach the pilgrim centre Sharisha Ramakrishna Mission Ashram. The region of Diamond Harbour is also a launch pad for the Sagar Island, where famous Ganga Sagar Fair is held. One more attraction is the old lighthouse.

Nearby is the town of Joynagar, where visitors can see manuscripts, terracotta figurines and black stone images of Buddha, Mahavir and Vishnu, belonging to the 11th century. Bakkhali is famous for its beach resort.

Bandel Church, an oldest church

Babu — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:10:07 +0000

Bandel which is located about 41 km from Kolkatta. Bandel, the name came from the Bengali word “bandar” which means “port”. The church is considered as oldest church built in 1660 by Gomez De Soto. The Bandel Church was among the first public buildings to be erected by the East India Company after Kolkata became the effective capital of British India.

A ship’s pole stands in front of the Church which was presented by the captain of a vessel which had encountered a storm in Bay of Bengal and save by the grace of Virgin, the center of attraction. At the center of the Bandel church there is a statue of “One lady of Happy Voyage”. The church has three altars (communion table), a small organ & several tomb stones.

Durpin Dara Hill, a breathtaking view

Babu — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:58:15 +0000

Durpin Dara Hill is 5 km to the southwest of Kalimpong, which is the highest point in the region. The Durpin Dara Hill offers a breathtaking view of the plains below.

Some of the beautiful places that can be viewed from here include the Teesta and Rangeet rivers, western Sikkim, the Tiger Hill, the Kanchenjunga range, Peshoke and Lopchu tea estates, Nathu-la pass and the towns of Siliguri and Kurseong.

The fresh air and the breathtaking view that surrounds you is sure to be a once in a lifetime experience.

Howrah, second largest city of West Bengal

Babu — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Howrah is located on the west bank of the Hoogly River. It is a twin city of Kolkata, is the second largest city of West Bengal in terms of both area and population. The two cities are connected by the Howrah Bridge (also known as Rabindra Setu). The city is an important industrial and trading center.

It is also the headquarters of the jute-manufacturing industry. Major steel plants are found in the colliery belt of Durgapur.

Important industries include engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, automobiles, railway coaches, and wagons.

Nearby places of interest in Howrah:

One of the main tourist attractions of the city is the Indian Botanical Gardens, in south Howrah. The banyan tree here has one of the largest canopies in the world.

Other places of interest are the Howrah Bridge, which is constructed on river Hoogly, The Belur Math, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, is situated in Belur, north Howrah.