West Bengal tourism

West Bengal lying in the eastern part of India is mostly famous for its festivals, pre-independence infrastructure, sweet dishes and Bengal tigers. The state is a cultural hub of eastern India, where one will find India’s tradition spread in every lane. In every part of Bengal, one will discover the Bengali life style and tradition. Everything beginning from the clothing to food, every other thing like accommodation, festivals and accents all are Bengal influenced.  It is this influence that attracts tourists towards the state. Why only tradition, it is also naturally surrounded by a wide range of flora and fauna. The mangrove forest in West Bengal is the reason why it has become a place of reserve for the rare Bengal tigers. There are a lot of things to explore in west Bengal. From the natural endowments to the cultural heritage, the tourist will get many things to uncover in West Bengal.

Kolkata

The oldest city of India has received great influence from the British colonialism. Everywhere in Kolkata one will find the ancient model of infrastructure founded by the British colony of India. The Howrah Bridge, the Victoria Memorial, Presidency College are the results of British colonialism that have added modernism to this culturally grown city. These places are a must visit. Why only the infrastructure, Kolkata is also famous for the festivals and local cuisine that one can hardly ignore. Durga Pujo at Kolkata is the thing of heritage and culture and that must be studied to know the Bengali culture. In the Durga Pujo one can discover half of West Bengal in few moments. That is a great occasion in Kolkata one must visit.

Darjeeling

The hill town of Darjeeling is one of the beautifully crafted cities and is naturally filled with a large variety of flora. Darjeeling is mostly famous for its tea plantation and its natural sightseeing. The most attractive places in Darjeeling are a botanical garden, Zoo, Monasteries and Darjeeling-Rangeet rope way.  One can enjoy sightseeing by walking along the roads of Darjeeling. While walking along the road one can have the splendid view of the villages, tea plantations and forests. Tourists visit this place in summer as this is famous as a hill station in eastern India.

Sundarban

The muddy land with much mangrove forest is known as Sundarban in West Bengal.  This place maintains wide variety of bird and animals in the ecosystem of west Bengal.  For its large content of fauna, it has been declared as a national park. It is the rare type of national park seen in the world.  The mangrove forest is spread over 54 islands and spread towards the Bangladesh border. It can be only accessed by boat along the Hooghly River and exploring this national park is the thing that most tourists love. One can hardly see any tigers though it has been declared as a tiger reserve. The tigers remain silent in the forest spread along the river.

Shantiniketan

Shantiniketan also known as “abode of Peace” is the representative of a great pattern of education. Being founded by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, it enjoys a great status in the world of education. It is now famously known as Vishya Bharati University. The place is also a center of craft and art. One can rightfully enjoy Bengali folk culture here towards late December as Poush Mela is held during this time of the year. That is an occasion to explore art and culture of Bengali folk.

Belur Math

It is the headquarter of Ramakrishna Mission and is founded by Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda founded it in memories of his saintly master Ramakrishna Paramhans. It is a great work of art and architecture.  One can find the influences of many religions here that have been made to support unity of religions. It is situated on the bank of river Ganga. This is considered as a holy place by Hindus.

Nabadwip

It is a pilgrimage center in Nadia District of West Bengal. Many vishnavs visit this place to see Mahaprabhu Chaitanya’s birth place. Near Mayapur, one will find many beautiful temples of Lord Krishna. The most famous is the Sonargouranga temple that has a golden statue of Chaitanya. The pilgrims rush to this place throughout the year.