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 6th 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
