Tourist Destinations in West Bengal

Tourism in West Bengal allures Tourists from all corners. with its rich combination of lofty Himalayan Ranges, entertaining Sea Beaches and magnificent rivers washing the feet of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve,

West Bengal, the Eastern Coastal State of India is divided into two broad natural terrains: the sub-Himalayan and Himalayan area in the north and the Gangetic Plain in the south. Bangladesh neighbouring in the east and Nepal and Bhutan in the north, West Bengal connects itself with with five Indian states namely Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Sikkim and Assam. The State Tourism Depaartment termed as WBTDCL is well developed all over the terrain of the State.

The Hill Stations

The Himalayan Ranges in the Darjeeling District covers an area of 3,149 km2 where there are exotic hill stations like Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Lava Lolegaon, Mirik, Ghoom, Monpong, Sandakphu, Dooars and Neora Valley, Samsing and many more.

The Delta Plane

Travel down along the River Teesta and you reach the Delta plane of Bengal. Here's the rippling Hooghly river flowing through the state tributary to the sea Bay of Bengal. On the river banks there are a number of places to visit, where you get to see the Culture, Art & Craft and small Cottage Industries of Bengal like Malda, Murshidabad, Coochbehar, Bishnupur and Shantiniketan.

The Wildlife Sactuaries

West Bengal has a wide area covered with thick forest home to rare wildlife species, especially the Tiger for which the Tiger species is named after as the Royal Bengal Tiger. The Gorumara Forest, the Neora Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Jaldapara National Forest, Buxa Tiger Reserve and the Sunderbans.

The Beaches

The most popular sea beaches in West Bengal are Digha, Sagar, Bakkhali, Shankarpur, Mandarmani.

Travel Tips

West Bengal climate is as diverse as its terrain. So if you are planning to go to the Hill Stations, you need good amount of woolens, and if you're planning to have a sea side weekend trip, you can keep your luggage lightweight, as generally the climate remains humid except the winter seasons.
In almost all the Wildlife Santuaries, you get facilities like jeep rides and elephant rides, and in many cases it is recommendable to keep the jeep for making your transport easier, though mostly you get local transports at each prominent spots.
The rush season in Bengal is the month of summer and October. So if you are planning your trips in any of these time, it is better to book your tickets and accommodation as early as possible to avoid the rush.

How to Reach

By Air:
Netaji Subhash International Airport, Bagdogra Airport and Coochbehar Airport. The Bagdogra airport is the connecting airport to all the hill stations in the Darjeeling District, the Coochbehar airport would land you in the middle of the Delta Plane whereas the Netaji Subhash International Airport is in Kolkata that connects the state with all other states as well as other countries.

By Road:
West Bengal is well connected with the network of National Highway of India criss-crossing the state and connecting it with the other states and cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Madras, Hyderabad and so on.

By Railways:
Howrah and Sealdah are the two major Railway junctions of West Bengal and to reach the hill stations you need to go to the Siliguri or New Jalpaiguri station that take you to the northern part of the state and yet further to Assam and Sikkim.

Activities

You get a variant of activities that would sweep away your travel time in this state. Kolkata the Capital itself has a lot of places to visit and enjoy.
The magnificent Howrah Bridge would welcome you to the City of Joy, Kolkata which is on the wide river Hooghly.
There are a number of Heritage sites in the city like the Victoria Memorial Hall, the Botanical Garden, the Indian Museum, Nehru Children's Museum.
There are a number of Play Theatre Halls in the city like RavindraSadan, Sisir Mancha, Madhusudan Mancha, Academy where you get to see the group theaters performing amazing Plays representing the current society and culture of Bengal.
The Hill stations, Sea Beaches, the Wildlife Sanctuaries are places to trek, travel, watch and spend a great time with your near and dear ones.
Industries like the Terracotta, Bengal Silk in districts like Birbhum, Bankura, Murshidabad, are wort visiting where you can get good gift items for your loved ones.

Timings & Season

West Bengal is a state of all seasons. But as a tropical region it remains humid in majority of the times. The summer is hot and sultry that starts at the end of March and continues till the end of June. In this period, it is only the hill stations that can relieve you from the brunt of summer.
Winter though coming for a shorter period from November till the end of February, is quite intense in Bengal, but that is the ideal time to hang around the Delta Plane and especially in Kolkata. There would be a number of fares held during this time which are worth participating. The July-August time frame are best for the rain lovers and it rains cats and dogs all over the states that cleanse away the pollution and heat of the summer and welcomes the winter to softly land the state.

In March, the state becomes romantic with its spectacular Vasantotsav in Shantiniketan which is famous for the Viswabharati University established by the Famous Laureate of Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore.

History

The historical backdrop of Bengal goes way back four millennia. The area was known to the Greeks and Romans as Gangaridai as river Ganges and the Brahmaputra flows within.

The range's initial history highlighted a progression of Indian realms, inside quarreling, and a tussle amongst Hinduism and Buddhism for predominance. Old Bengal was the site of a few noteworthy Janapadas (kingdoms), while the most punctual urban areas go back to the Vedic period. The region wasreigned by Mauryans and Guptas and later the Gauda Kingdom of the Buddhist Pala Empire in 8th to 11th century and Hindu Sena Empire from 11th–12th century gave rise to the Bengali dialect, script, writing, music, craftsmanship and engineering.

The thirteenth century saw the Bengal Sultanate, Hindu Rajas and Baro-Bhuyan proprietors having a tough competition amongst themselves. Later, the state was under the sweep of Mughal Empire. and lastly the Capital of British East India Company was established in Kolkata, earlier known as Kolikata.

In 1947 Bengal was isolated into two separate substances West Bengal—a condition of India—and East Bengal—a part made with the Dominion of Pakistan that later turned into the autonomous country of Bangladesh in 1971.

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