West Bengal the Epitome of India

West Bengal is a state where you have the choices of enjoying your time in a sea beach like Digha, visit adventure wild life and meet the great Royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarban or see the sights of The Himalayan rain forest. If you wish to visit any historical places and museums then go for world famous Calcutta Museum, Mursidabad. Want to explore the beauty of Hill station then West Bengal presents Darjeeling, Kurseong, Lava and Lolegaon.

 Read this article to get the basic information of the places. 

HILL STATIONS

Darjeeling

It is said that among top ten hill stations of India, Darjeeling ranked first in beauty. It is also famous for its lush tea garden. You will be definitely attracted by Kanchenjunga, the world’s third largest peak. In addition you can have a ride to longest cable car in Asia to get the panoramic view of nature and toy train, officially known as Himalayan Railway. And the most popular attractions are monitories, Botanical Garden, zoo, Sandakphu, and waving fogs below your feet. Don’t miss the Sunrise at Tiger hills. Just keep in mind before planning. Don’t visit in monsoon. During monsoon Darjeeling becomes one of the wettest regions in India.

Kurseong

Kurseong is said to be the land of the White Orchids. The place is famous for its pleasant weather throughout the year. Some natural place to visit here are Eagle’s Craig, Deer Park or DowHill Park, The Water Falls. There are lots of Temples to visit like The Ambhotia Shiva Temple, Giddapahar Durga Mata Mandir,Jagdish Mandir , St. Paulseak Church, Buddhist Gompa in Montieviot, Juma Mosque etc. if you are interest in Museum then visit Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Museum and N S C Bose Institute of Asiatic Studies.

Kalingpong

Kalimpong is one of the eco-region among the 3 in India. Neora Valley National Park is one of the best attractions for tigers.. Deolo Hill, Zong Dhog Palri Fo Brang monastery are some more tourist spot here. You may visit to Lava and Loleygaon. Lava is about 30 KM away from Kalingpong. The place is grab attention for Neora Valley National Park and its beautiful scenic view of the Jelep La and Rechi La passes. Loleygaon is a small town 12 Km away from Lava. Don’t miss the Chhangey falls in Lolegaon. In addition, there is a supper Canopy walk footbridge inside the heritage forest. Be careful during monsoon; Lava is known for leaches. 

WILD LIFE 

Sundarbans

Sunderban is known for world magnificent mangrove forest. The famous species Royal Bengal Tiger is present in sunderban. The journey is only accessible by boat which can be most thrilling experience. My personal experience says cruising from Kolkta. Hooghly River can be a memorable voyage. You may be the lucky one to see threatened animals like Estuarine Crocodile, Common otter, Fishing Cat, Gangetic Dolphin, Snubfin dolphin, Water Monitor lizard, and River Terrapin. You must taste or buy honey. The retail market collects it from the poor villagers to sell in high price.  Same here! Try to avoid monsoon. 

Duars

Duar is a word which means Door in languages of Assamese, Nepali, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Bengali. It is the gate way of Bhutan. There are lots of wildlife sanctuaries like Manas National Park in Assam, Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, Buxa National Park, Gorumara National Park, Chapramari Wildlife Reserve and the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. The forest of Duars is quite adventurous. You can stay in bunglows and enjoy the adventure. The rare species of animals like tiger, rhinoceros, and elephant, of deer, bison, birds and reptiles are found here.

Jaldapara

Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the foothills of Eastern Himalayas in Alipurduar Sub-Division of district Jalpaiguri. The main attraction is Asiatic one-horned rhinoceros, bisons, wild pigs, and different species of deers like deers, sambhars, barking deers, spotted deers, and hog deers. Birds like Crested Eagle, Pallas’s Fishing Eagle and shikra, besides Jungle fowl, peafowl, patridges, Bengal Florican and lesser Pied Hornbill. Python, monitor lizards, kraits, cobras, geckos and about 8 species of fresh water turtles have also found sanctuary here. Don’t miss the view of river Torsa.

HISTORICAL PLACES

Kolkata

Heart of east India, the Kolkata itself speaks a long history. Apart from this tourist attractions are Fort William, Victoria Memorial, Eden Gardens (Stadium), Birla Planetarium, Howrah Bridge, Marble Palace, , Saheed Minar, National Library, Botanical Gardens, Science City, MP Birla Planetarium, Indian Museum, Alipur Zoo.

The sitting capacity of Eden garden is the largest in India and third largest throughout the world.

 Kolkata National Library is the largest library in India.

 The famous Banynan tree which is more than 330 meters circumference is reckoned to be largest and oldest Banyan tree of the world is present in Howrah Botanical Garden.

Another attraction is Howrah Bridge the world’s busiest and 6^th longest cantilever bridge. 

The Indian Museum is the largest one in India has rare collections of antiques, armours, fossils, ornaments, paintings etc.  It presents exhibit everything from Egyptian mummies to Bengali folk art.

The light and sound of Victoria memorial will provide you an experience of thrilling touch from historical stories. 

Santiniketan

Santiniketan, is located over 200 KM from Kolkata. A school in Shantiniketan established by Noble Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1901. The concept of the school was to teach pupils under central premise, where learning in a natural environment would be more enjoyable and fruitful. Later it develops as Visva Bharati University. The main attraction is Uttarayan complex where Tagore lived. It has an art gallery and museum. Shantiniketan is also known for its traditional handicrafts like batik, pottery, weaving, and embroidery. One of the most attractions is Poush mela, the 3 days festival. The festival stars in late December during Holi. It is famous for folk dance and songs.

*Shantiniketan- abode of peace

Mursidabad

History reminds Mursidabad for the ferocious battle Pallesey; fought between Nawab Siraj-Ud-Daula and Lord Clive, of East India Company in 1957.

The Hazarduar Palace is the major attraction for tourists. The palace was built by Duncan McLeod for Humaun Jah, descendent of Mir Zafar in European architectural style. The three storey palace has 1000 doors, 114 rooms and 8 galleries. The area of the palace is 41 acres. There is a museum which has the historical collection of armoury, splendid paintings, portraits of the Nawabs, various works of arts, and beautiful works of ivory. One of the major attractions is the sword used by Shiraj-ud-Daulla and his grandfather, Nawab Alivardi Khan can be seen here. Other attractions are Vintage Cars and Fittan Cars used by the Nawabs and their families. Furthermore it is said that the weather of Mursidabad is soothing for health.

MAIN FESTIVAL

Bengals major and largest festival is Durga puja. To get the spirit, you must visit Kolkata in Sept/Oct. Some pandals, lights and decorations have total budget of $2.5 million (Rs.1 crore). The idols of goddess Durga and family are worshiped for nine days. The clayed life-sized idols are created by the potters which are decorates gorgeously.

*Durga Puja Festival of Kolkata and West Bengal, 9 Days/8 Nights- September 27th to October 5th, 2014.

Other Fairs and Festivals 

Tista ten & tourism festival,

 Ganga Sagar mela,

Jelpesh mela,

Kenduli mela,

Rash mela,

Charak mela