West Medinipur-3

West Medinipur-View-3

There are many other places which are the also the attraction of tourists;

Jhargram-This place is near Medinipur. This place is famous for the Raj Palace. Other than this place, there are some another attractions like Radha Krishna Temple, Kanak Durga Temple, Chilkigarh Palace; all these are located within 12 km distance of Jhargram. Excluding the above, there is the deer parks within 3 kms away from Jhargram town, a rose garden at Jangalmahal that is located in between Jhargram and Lodhasuli and also another attraction is Sabitri Temple where the image of Devi Sabitri was made naturally by approaching stone.

Dantan- This place is one important in Medinipur. The Samoleswar Mahadeb Temple is one of the attractions of this place and it is located very short distance more Dantan Market. Bidyadhar Puskarini is another attraction of Dantan. This a lake and it is approximate in size is 1600 ft in length x 1200 ft in width. Sarasanka Dighi is also another attraction of this place, most probably; this lake is noticeable largest lake among other lakes of Bengal.

In west Medinipur are having different structures of Muslim which is also attractions of the district, like, Tikia Masjid situated at Mirbazar, Dewan Khana Masjid situated at Aligunj. These are most famous structures of other Muslim structures of the district. Most probably, during the period of Aurangazeb, the famous emperor of India, these structure was made.

Vidyasagar Smiriti Mandir- is also a reputed structure of the district. Dr Radhakrishnan had placed the foundation stone of this building in the year 1938 and the opening ceremonial of this foundation had led by the famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Many historical remnants and residues were collected from various parts of the district are still preserved at Vidyasagar Smriti Mandir Other than these, most historical valuable copper-coins displayed the time of Raja Sasanka, statues of Jain and Buddhist age, terracotta works, manuscripts,etc are also kept here.

Nearly two hundred years, the British rulers were ruled in India, so naturally, churches, tombs were built by the British in this country. Thus they constructed John Pears' tomb, Church at Keranitola,Baptist Mission Church of America close to Abasgarh and all these were built nearly 18th to 19th century.

Malancha-This place is situated on north-west part of Kharagpur. The main attraction of this place is temples of different Hindu gods. Dakshina Kali Temple was constructed in the year 1634 by bricks and its decoration is of Terracotta style. Like this temple, other temples are Nandeswar Siva Temple, Balaji Temple; Siddheswari Temple etc. are also the center of attraction of the visitors. It is the belief of the local people that theses temples were built during the time of Bishnupur Dynasty.

Egra- is another town of Medinipur-west. Here is also having different temples. The most renowned temple is Hatnagar Mahadeb temple. This temple was designed and constructed on the base of architectural style of Orissa. The popular pond of Medinipur is also situated here, called Krishna Sagar. The local myth is that the famous Bengali Novel-Anandamath was written by the author Bankim Chandra Chattyopadhyay at this place and at that time he was the magistrate of this district under the British Government. 

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West Medinipur- view-2

Chandra Kona-This town is situated between Ghatal and Garbeta. The main attraction of this town is forts namely Ramgard, Lalgard. These forts were constructed at the time of Chauhan kings. The image of Raghunathji is setup at Ramgard fort in 1522. The image of Girdharji was set up at Lalgard fort in 1655. Other than these two forts, there are other forts like Raghunathgarh and another fort was also found in ruined condition, namely Dwasdash Dwari  Dwadash Dwari is Bengali term, it means is 12 doors ; the ruined fort had 12 entrances or doors.

There are different temples at Chandrakona town. All these different temples were dedicated to the various god and goddess name, like Malleswar Mahadev, Jagannath Mahadev, Raghunath Jiu, La Jiu, etc. The other important temple of Chandrakona are Navaratna Temple. This is situated at the lalbazar area. This temple is richly decorated with terracotta art.

Garbeta- According to the history, in 15th century, one Rajput, Gajapati Singha defeated the non-Aryan ruler of this place and set-up one new dynasty in Bagri area. He had also built one fort at the eastern side of Shilavati River at his time; but that fort is massively ruined in the long run. At the north side of this fort have a well structural temple called Ma Sarbamangalla as the same was dedicated to Devi Durga. There is also having other temples with attractive sculptures. The famous fair of this place are usually arranged at the time of Holi the festive of colors which generally come once in a year at the time of spring seasons.

Karnagarh-This is the name of a fort which is situated probably 10 km distance from the Medinipur town. This ancient fort is still the center of attraction of the tourists. This stone-made fort is almost ruined as the time passed. Still the remaining portion of this fort is attractive for all and according to the history; this fort and its temples, water tanks, etc. ware made at the time of Keshri dynasty.

Medinipur Town-This is very old town. Nearly 500 years ago it was set-up by the Mughal dynasty and then it was under the Jaleswar Sarkar. Probably, in 1783, it was declared as the headquarters of this district. In other opinion, Medinikar, the local lord was discovered this place as the name of Madhukosh and thereafter according to these names together came Medinipur after his expiry i.e.13th century most probably.

Partha-This place is situated at the north bank of Cossye River and it is 8 k.m. distances from Medinipur town. This place is famous for 32 approximate temples that was made of Terracotta arts. Few years ago, one Lord Vishnu idol was discovered at the time of digging  the earth and according to archeological point of view this idol is nearly 1000 years old. The idol is now in the Ashutosh Museum.

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West Medinipur

Medinipur is one of the most important districts of West Bengal in India. Earlier it was one single big district. In the long run,after many years, this district was divided into two parts, East Medinipur and West Medinipur. This division was done for smooth functioning of administrative works.

This district is important as the first swadeshi self-declared government was setup at Tamluk at that time when entire India was under the rule of British Government. The name of that swadeshi government was Tamralipta government. Medinipur is also Bengal-Orissa border district.

Following places of West Medinipur are famous for the visit;

Khirpai- In earlier, i.e. in 18th and also in 19th centuries, this town was famous as trading center. Cotton and handicrafts of this area were very famous at that time and these items were exported to foreign countries. Khirpai was also famous for indigo plantations by the British businessmen. They forcibly compelled Indian farmers to cultivate this indigo, because this kind of indigo plantation damage the soil and after cultivation of indigo, the particular land are not eligible for cultivation of any other crops like rice. Now this town has not enough impotency in trading with such cotton and crafts. It is small town and its area is now 12 sqrs. Kilometers approximately and number of dwellers is not much. The main attraction of this place is the Pancharatna temple, this temple is very ancient. The architectural of this temple are very memorable and the images of Krishnalila, Dasavatars of Lord Krishna and also the battle between Ram and Ravana, all these ideas were collected from famous Hindu epics like Ramayana, Mahavarat.Many other famous ancient temples are also existing here and these are also the center of attraction of tourists of whole over the world.

Khargeswar Shiv Mandir- this temple was built in the year of 1861. This Khargeswar Shiv Mandir is located on the north side of Radhamadhab Mandir. This Shiv Mandir is made of Tin roof of atchala style. Atchala means assembling of eight tin roofs and designed as hut.

Umapati Shiv Mandir- This mandir (temple) is also built as atchala style and in the century 19th, this temple was built. The image of Sun is set-up here. This image most probably were made of black stone and the age of 10th or 11th century.

Dalan Mandir- This temple was most probably built in 1746 and this oldest temple of Khirpai. This temple is devoted to Singhabhini (Goddess Durga).

Kankrajhor- This place is near by the north-west part of Jhargram sub-division. This place is mostly covered with various trees like Sal, Teak, Mahua, Kendua, etc. some animals like deer, bear, rabbits, etc. are commonly seen here. The famous temple of goddess Kali is seen here. It is also myth that Kapalkundala, the famous novel by the author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was written here. This place Kankrajhor is famous for its full moonlight view. In winter and spring seasons, the beauty of this place in full moon light is really amazing and memorable.

Many other places are in west-Medinipur to be visit. I will write in brief about those places in my coming episode of the part of this blog. 

Mukutmanipur

Mukutmanipur Dam

Mukutmanipur is a famous urban city of Bankura district of West Bengal. This urban city is situated at the convergence of the two rivers namely Kangsabati and Kumari. These two rivers are very close to the Bengal-Jharkhand border.

Kangsabati Dam was planned in the year 1956 by the former chief-minister of Bengal at Bankura district. It is about 12 kilometers distances from Khatra town of Bankura.Then it was planned that this gigantic and such a long dam would supply its storage water to surrounding 8 thousand kilometers area of cultivation fields and overextended it upto Bnakura,Purulia and West Medinipur and also upper Hoogly district.
Mukutmanipur and Jhilmil are the main tourists' spots of Bankura.The nature beauty of these places is remarkable.This dam project has promoted the tourism and improved the financial condition of the tribal artists for their craft work of bamboo sticks and one different kind of grass called saboi grass.Within 2 kilometers away from these places are having Bangopalpur Reserve Forest.This is the home of vegetation plants and creatures. About 4 kilometers distances between this dam are having another ancient town Ambikanaragar and this town is very significant place of pilgrimage for Jains believers.Most of the significant of this town were destroyed by the fatal flood of the year 1898.

Jhilmil is about 15 kilometers distances from Mukutmanipur.Ranibandh to Jhilmil travel is a memorable journey;the wonderful experience when pass through the road and both sides enormous forest views and thus at last reach at the top of the mound.

Bus Service is available from Esplanade of Kolkata to Mukutmanipur, it will take near about 8 to 9 hours. A/C and Non-A/c,both types of buses are available from Kolkata.

Train Service is also available from Howrah station to Bankura. It will take four and half an hours to reach upto Bankura. From Bankura, city bus service is available upto Mukutmanipur, this journey will take nearly 2 hours. Booking car or by personal car can be reached directly to Mukutmanipur and it will take approximate 6 hours.Hotel facility is also available at Mukutmanipur within the budget.

The following hotels are well known there;

Peerless Resort/Ahla Lodge/Hotel Aparajita/Hotel Amrapali/Hotel Green Park. 

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Shankarpur Beach

The following nearby places of Digha are very attractive;

Shankarpur is another imminent sea beach. It is located 14 kilometers away from Digha. There is having one temple of Lord Shiva at Chandaneshwar and this temple is 6 kilometer west sides of Digha. In Bengali month Chaitra, a popular annual fair is arranged at this temple. 

Udaipur Beach

Udaipur is a spectacular beach . This beach is located much kilometer west of Digha. This beach is located in Bengal-Orissa border. Though this beach is not being traveled much , but this beach is very beautiful.
Marine aquarium and research center was established in 1989. The main purpose of this center is to show the marine biological diversity of this region and communicate its value to the local people and explore them the research activities. This research center has an inbuilt aquarium which is the largest aquarium in the country. This is also the attraction of the marine center. Every day huge visitors comes here to see this attraction. This aquarium and marine center are open for public 9.30 am to 6 pm in working days.

Junput Beach

Junput is a famous fishing spot and nice-looking sea coast. It is 40 kilometers far from Digha.Here is also a government fisheries department. The light-house and the temple of Kapalkundala is also another attraction of this place. Subarnarekha River is also located 12 kilometers away from Digha; this is the place where this river of sweet water mixed with Bay Of Bengal Sea. This is also attractive destination of tourists of Digha. Talsari is a small channel on Bay of Bengal is located 6 kilometer distances from Digha. This is peaceful places and close to spot of mixing place of sea and Subarnarekha River. Mandarmani is a small beach. This is only very short distance from Digha. This Mandarmani sea-beach is a small fishing and developed tourist spot. Recently, this is very lovely place for spending weekend with families. There are so many other sites are to visit like Science Center, Amravati Lake, Kajo dighi, etc.

From Digha, tourists can visit all the above places and enjoy their holidays. This total trip can be taken for one-week.
There are many beautiful hotels in Digha which are affordable and within budget, like,

 Amantran Hotel, Hotel Sea Hawk, Hotel Aditya International, Hotel Bhalobasha,Hotel Orbit Residency,Hotel Dolphin, Hotel Greenland Inn, hotel Rajeet, Hotel Rohini International, Hotel Sea Coast, Hotel Seagull.

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New Digha

Old Digha

 Digha is a famous seaside of West Bengal as well as India. As per the sitemap it is situated in East Midnapur district of West Bengal and northern end of Bay of Bengal. This is very popular seaside of the world; every year huge foreign tourists come here and enjoy the beauty of the nature surrounding this place . This is also very choice-able weekend for the people of Calcutta.

Digha is approximate 183 kilometres far from Calcutta and Howrah if we go via Mecheda roadway. If we go via Kharagpur from Calcutta/Howrah then the distance is approximately 234 kilometres. Digha-Calcutta distance is also connected to railway links. In earlier days, there was no direct train of Digha, and then people would go Tamluk by train and from there by bus or private cars up to Digha. In 2004, direct train links between Calcutta-Digha was started from new railway station Kolkata-Rail-Station.

This place was discovered by one English tourist John Frank Smith in 1923 and he was started to live there. He was most probably writer and his writings provided the good experience of this place. Lately, after independence of India in 1947, he tried to induce the first chief minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Roy to develop this place as tourist spot.

Mainly in three seasons like summer, monsoon and in winter this place is become overcrowded. In summer seasons, the average maximum temperature is within 37 degree Celsius between April to June of every year. But continue breezing into sea-wind keep the atmosphere almost pleasant. In the monsoon, within July to September last, the climate is full of humidity ; but rainfall gives something relief. Winter season is almost starting from the end of October and till continue up to February. This time the temperature is within 24 degree Celsius. The most preferable time to stay at Digha is October to March, because this time the weather is pleasant and enjoyable.

There are frequent bus services from Esplanade area of Calcutta and it takes almost five hours of Calcutta. Private and Government, both type of bus services are available from Esplanade. Other than Calcutta bus services are also available from other districts like Midnapur, Asansol, Bankura, Bardwan, Howrah and even from adjacent state like Orissa via Cuttack and Balasore.

The old sea-beach of Digha was wide in past days' but now it is not wide as it was in earlier days due to heavy soil attrition. The tidal sea waves have dazed the land of sea-beach and this is one of the main reasons for shorten of the width of Digha's old sea-beach. The state government has been taken various steps like big stones setting, concrete slabs setting, etc. to protect the land-erosion from the spontaneous tidal waves. Though this kind of protection is few bits protected the land-erosion, but not much to receive the overcrowded load especially in winter seasons.

The state government has developed a new beach within two kilometres distances between old beach of Digha called New Digha. This new beach is bigger than old one and this man-made beach is well constructed and well maintained. It is also out of the overfilled locality and fully decorated with Tamarisk plantations and other natural beauty. All the hotels are situated within walking distance. New Digha is well comfortable with tourists. 

Nearby Places of Kolkata-I

Sundari Trees

Royal Bengal Tiger

Sundarban: The Sundarban is the largest mangrove forest in the world. This forest is world heritage forest declared by the UNESCO and most of which portion is under the jurisdiction of the Bangladesh country and less part is in India. The Sundarban National Park is mainly Royal Bengal Tiger reserve Park. The entire forest is covered with dense mangrove trees.The name Sundarban is Bengali name and its English translation is beautiful forest. Sundar=beautiful and ban=forest.This sundar (beautiful) has come from the name of Sundari trees. This kind of trees is huge in numbers.

According to history, this area was traced to 200 and 300 AD. In earlier place was under control of pirates of different places. In 1860's, this forest was again tracked down the East India Company and in 1875 the large portion of mangrove forest declared reserve forest as per the Forest preservation Act 1865. In the year 1911, It was come to the notice that this forest has not been neither had been tracked nor had been census. The area liked 165 miles or 266 Km added with this forest as it was raised from water.

Sundarban is a water-logged jungle. Here other than Bengal Tiger, lots of wild beasts are flourished. This forest is lies in the channel of Bay of Bengal and confluence of three rivers like Padma , Brahmaputra and Meghna across of southern Bangladesh. This mangrove trees are the main protector of this forest. This forest is covered ten thousand square kilometers, out of which six thousand square kilometer is in Bangladesh. This salt-tolerant mangrove forest is connected to waterways of every corner and boat is only the vehicle.

Other than Royal Bengal Tiger, there are also various types of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and also various types of snake. Mangroves of Sundarban are not only protecting the forest area, but also protecting the nearest villages from cyclones.

There are many ways to reach to Sundarbans . From Diamondharbour to Kakdwip and Namkhana . Boats are available from Gangadharpur . Sonakhali Tourist Lodge is best places to stay. For more detail, www.helptourism.com; recently, permit is required for foreign nationals.

Only for enjoying the beauty of Sundarban without adventure, then West Bengal Government package tour of two-three nights. For enjoying adventure, then local bhutbhuti (Motorboat) can be hired and stay whole night in the canals of dense forest. This is only to watch Royal Bengal Tigers that came to the river banks to drink water. From Calcutta, Motor-Lunch can be taken from Calcutta directly and strait to Sundanban. Best time to visit Sundarban is November - March of every year.

Kingfisher Bird

Largetooth Swafish