Capital :
Kolkatta
Language : Bengali and English
Airport : Calcutta, Bagdogra(Siliguri)
Tourist
season : October to March.
Climate : Winter 14° C - 34° C; Summer
25° C - 36° C
West
Bengal is the gateway to the east having special
blend of the ancient and the modern. It's landscape
is a variety of hills, plains and coastal areas.
The state is long and narrow and is made up of
the delta of the lower Ganges and the other rivers
in the south and the mountainous region in the
north. The state is home to some of the finest
poets, writers and film makers
Tourist Attraction of
West Bengal
CALCUTTA : the human city
The Ganges (called the Hooghly in Calcutta) is
still the inspiration, as it was to Job Charnok,
East India Company agent, who reached the shores
in August 1690, to found the city. Calcutta, after
London, was the British Empire’s second city.
Calcutta is a city of baffling paradoxes, a city
that leaves its stamp on one's mind ... forever.
Darjeeling
Darjeeling, centre of India's most celebrated
tea growing district, has possibly the most picturesque
views among all Indian hill resorts. Outside the
monsoon season (June to September), the views
across the snowy peak of Kanchenjunga and other
mountains down to the swollen rivers in the valley
are, simply magnificent. Darjeeling has the unique
feature of a toy train, which takes you from Jalpaiguri
to Darjeeling through the steep mountainsides.
Sunderbans National Park
& Tiger Reserve
Located in the Ganga delta in West Bengal, spanning
the Hooghly in the west and Teulia river in the
east, Sunderbans was declared a National Park
in 1984. Sunderbans is home to the magnificent
Royal Bengal tiger, the park holding more tigers
than any other tiger reserve. More than 400 tigers
were recorded during the mid-1980s. Crocodiles
and the Gangetic dolphin are to be found aplenty
in the Raimgangal river. The Sajnakhali sanctuary,
famous for its rich avian population, is regarded
as a part of the Sunderbans National Park.
Digha
187 km south east of Calcutta on the coast of
the Bay of Bengal, Digha is a popular beach resort
with a 6 km long beach. Fringed by graceful casuarina
trees, Digha offers an enchanting view of the
sunrise and sunset. The sea is calm and shallow
for about a mile from the beach, making it quite
safe for swimmers.
Bakkhali
132 km from Calcutta, quiet Bakkhali is the second
popular sea resort of West Bengal.
Sagar
Site of the Gangasagar Mela, the largest fair
in West Bengal, held on the occasion of Makara
Sankranti, it draws lakhs of pilgrims from all
over India. Sagar is 100 km from Calcutta.
Shantiniketan
Perhaps the only university of this kind in the
world, Shantiniketan was the brain child of the
great genius Rabindranath Tagore. This open air
International University has emerged as a universal
centre of excellence for scholars and students
of Oriental culture. Despite a distinct slant
towards humanities and performing arts, the university
also has an excellent faculty for post graduate
and research studies in science. Shantiniketan
is 136 km from Calcutta.
