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WEST BENGAL
›› General
Information |
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GENERAL INFORMATION (WEST BENGAL) |
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At the time of Partition, Bengal was split into East and West Bengal. East
Bengal became the eastern wing of Pakistan and later, with the disintegration of
that country, Bangladesh. West Bengal became a state of India with Kolkata as
its capital. The state is ling and narrow, running from the delta of the Ganges
River system at the Bay of Bengal in the south to the heights of the Himalaya at
Darjeeling in the north.
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There is not a great deal of interest in the
state apart from these two extremes Kolkata, with its bewildering
maelstrom of noise, culture, confusion and squalor at one end and
Darjeeling, serene and peaceful, at the other. |
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Outside these two centers the intrepid traveler
will find a number of places to consider visiting, either south of Kolkata
on the Bay of Bengal or north along the route to Darjeeling. Few foreign
tourists visit the ruined mosques of Malda, the palaces of Murshidabad,
the temples of Vishnupur of the Sunderbans Wildlife Sanctuary. If you do,
the friendly Bengalis will make you feel all the more welcome for being an
exception to the rule.
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History of West Bengal
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Facts and Figures |
| Capital |
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Kolkata |
| Population |
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74.5 million |
| Language |
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Bengali |
| Area |
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87,853 sq km |
| Literacy Rate |
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50% |
| Best time to visit |
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October
to March |
| Airport |
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Dumdum,
Kolkata |
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Boundaries |
| East |
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Bangladesh and
Assam. |
| West |
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Orissa, Bihar and Nepal |
| North |
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Sikkim and Bhutan |
| South |
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Bay of Bengal |
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Important Museums
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| Kolkata |
: Indian Museum, Rabindra Bharati Museum, Birla
Academy of Art and Culture, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, Ashutosh
Museum of Indian Art, Nehru Children's Museum, Victoria Memorial Hall Museum. |
| Darjeeling |
: Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Museums and Natural History Museum. |
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Pilgrim Centres
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| Bakreswar |
: Bakarnath Shiva Temple and Mahisasurmardini
Temple. |
| Bansberia |
: Temples of Haneswari and
Vasudev. |
| Belur Math |
: Headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission founded by Swami
Vivekanand. |
| Kolkata |
: Temple of Kali. |
| Dakshineshwar |
: Kali temple associated with Ramakrishna
Parmahansa. |
| Ganga Sagar |
: Famed for Ganga Sagar Mela in January and for Kapil Muni
Temple. |
| Kamarpukar |
: Birthplace of Saint Ramakrishna. |
| Mayapur |
: Temple of Gourange. Headquater of
ISCON. |
| Nabadwip |
: Birthplace of Sri
Chaitanya. |
| Tarapith |
: Temple of Tara Devi. Acentre of Tantrik culture. |
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Hill Resorts |
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Darjeeling
(2127m) Railhead - Darjeeling.
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Kalimpong
(1450m) Railhead - Siliguri 68 km, New Jaipaiguri 77 km.
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Kurseong
(1450m) Railhead - Darjeeling 32 km.
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Mirik
(170m) Railhead - Darjeeling 49km - Siliguri 52 km.
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