West Bengal

Tradition and Culture of West Bengal:

West Bengal is known for the revival of the Indian Culture and is famous for its art, literature and revolutionary heritage. It is also known as City of Joy because of its vibrant culture. The major language of West Bengal is Bengali, but people speak Hindi and English as well. It has a mixture of all the religions mainly the Hinduism but other religions are also followed here. Festivals of all the religions are celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm. The main festival of Kolkata is Durga Puja and Kali Puja. The other festivals like Holi, Eid, Christmas etc. are also celebrated with same interest.

Fairs and Festivals of West Bengal:

The fairs and festivals in West Bengal is a mirror of the lifestyle of the people of West Bengal. These fairs and festivals attract a large number of visitors from all over the world throughout the year. Some of the major fairs and festivals of West Bengal are:

• Basant Utsav: Basant Utsav literally means the 'celebration of spring'. The beautiful tradition of celebrating spring festival in Bengal was first started by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, at Vishwabharati Shantiniketan, the University founded by him. Actually,
• Bera Utsav: West Bengal is a land of fairs and festivals. In fact, the culture of the state is characterized by the colorful celebrations that adorn it throughout the year. Almost every district of West Bengal plays host to at least one popular fair or festival in the entire year.
• Charak Puja: Charak Puja has its own special place in West Bengal, the state of festivals. It is a special folk festival, celebrated for bidding good-bye to the passing year. It is believed that the celebration leads to prosperity in the coming year, wiping out all the sufferings and pains of the current year. This festival is celebrated on the midnight of Chaitra Sankranti,
• Durga Pooja: Durga Pooja is the most important festival in West Bengal, celebrated with immense devotion and great pomp and show. This festival is also known by various names here, some call it 'Akalbodhan' - the untimely awakening of Durga, while others refer to it as 'Durgotsab' - the festival of Goddess Durga and even 'Maayer Pujo' - the worship of the Mother Durga.
• Ganga Sagar Mela: West Bengal is the state of fairs and festivals. A large number of festivities take place in this state throughout the year. Amongst them, one of the most famous fests is the Gangasagar Mela. It is held in the month of January-February, on the Ganga Sagar Island, at the mouth of the river Hooghly in Bengal.
• Jagaddhatri Puja: The culture of West Bengal is adorned by numerous fairs and festivals. Goddess Durga is one of the most religiously worshipped deities here and many of the festivals celebrated in the state are meant to pay regards to Her only. Jagaddhatri or Jagadhatri puja is one of the festivals observed by the devotees of 'Durga' - the Goddess of Power, who is also called Jagaddhatri i.e. 'the Protector of the World'.
• Jalpesh Mela: Jalpesh Mela is an interesting fair in the land of festivals and fairs, West Bengal. It is celebrated in the month of February-March, on the occasion of Shivratri, in Mainaguri town of Jalpaiguri district. It is almost a month-long fair, organized with great pomp and show. Not only the local population, but people from far-flung areas of India also come to participate in this fair.
• Jhapan: West Bengal is famous for its rich cultural heritage and the uniqueness of its traditions. There is a festival here for every season and every occasion. Jhapan is one of the most unique festivals celebrated in West Bengal. The festival is dedicated to Goddess Mansha, believed to be the daughter of Lord Shiva, who is also considered to be the Goddess of Snakes.
• Kenduli Mela:The people of West Bengal celebrate their cultural lineage with immense love and respect. In fact, the celebration of their art and craft forms an integral part of their cultural heritage. Kenduli Mela is one of those traditional celebrations that celebrate the unique musical art of Baul community, a group of mystic minstrels, in Bengal. This fair is organized in Kenduli city of Birbhum district, the native land of Bauls.
• Naba Barsho: Naba Barsho, also known as Poila Baishakh, marks the beginning of New Year in Bengal. It is celebrated on the first day of Baishakh, as per the Hindu calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, it falls either on April 14 or 15. It is a public holiday in West Bengal, with its celebrations dating back to the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. During Akbar's time, the last day of Chaitra (the month before Baishakh) was fixed to be the customary day for clearing all kinds of previous dues.
• Poush Mela: West Bengal is the land of fairs and festivals. Innumerable festivals are celebrated throughout the year in the state. Apart from traditional festivals, like Durga Pooja and Diwali, harvest festivals like Jhapan and tourism festival like Teesta Tea and Tourism Festival are observed here. Another festival that Bengali people relish is the 'Cultural Festival of Poush'.
• Rash Mela: Colorful festivals and fairs adorn the culture of West Bengal. Hundreds of festivities are held here every year, either to please the myriad deities worshipped by the Bengali people or to celebrate the glory and beauty of something important occurred in the past. Then, there are festivals organized to promote arts, tourism or even celebrate a good harvest.
• Rath Yatra: Rath Yatra, which involves taking out of the procession of Lord Jagganath's Chariot, is one of the oldest traditions in Hindu Society. It is celebrated with great effervescence and immense devotion in Orissa and Bengal. Being celebrated since 1397, this Rath Yatra of West Bengal is the second oldest chariot festival in India, after the Rath Yatra of Puri.
• Saraswati Puja: Maa Saraswati is the Hindu Goddess of Learning. She is worshipped in almost all the parts of the country with equal devotion. Saraswati Pooja is observed on 'Vasant Panchmi', which falls in the Phalgun month (January-February as per the Gregorian calendar). In almost all the households of West Bengal, Saraswati Pooja is celebrated with immense devotion.
• Teesta Tea & Tourism Festival: West Bengal is considered to be the state of festivals .The Bengali calendar is full of fairs and festivals, each of them celebrated for a different reason. There is a festival for every season, every region and every occasion. Each of these festivals has a unique logic behind its celebration.
• Vishnupur Festival: Vishnupur, situated in the Bankura district of West Bengal, is the seat of ancient culture of Bengal. Adorned by magnificent art and architecture, this city tells the tale of the golden era of the state. The city of Bishnupur encloses within its boundaries a number of glorious monuments, like Shyam Ray Temple, Jorbangla and Radhey Shyam Temple.

Must Visiting Places In West Bengal:

• Victoria Memorial: It is one of the most renowned historical buildings of India made of large marbles in between the year 1906 – 1921. It was built in the memory of Queen Victoria. It has been converted to Museum now and one of the major tourist spot of Kolkata.
• Fort Williams: Fort Williams was built in the year 1696 in the name of King William III. It took around ten years to complete the construction. It has two parts the Old and the New. The old was built in 1696 and the New in the year 1780 as the East India company found that there are some loopholes in the old and it cannot protect the fort from the enemies.
• Belur Mutt: It was built by Swami Vivekananda the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa on the banks of river Hooghly. It is the headquarter of the Ramakrishna Mutt and Mission. The uniqueness of the building is its architecture which is built in Hindi, Islamic and Christian style and shows the unity of all religion.
• The Indian Museum: This is one of the major tourist visiting places of Kolkata as it is one of the oldest Museum of the world having the only Mummy in India. It also has the collection of most famous ornaments, ornaments, fossils, skeletons, antiques, armors and stunning Mughal paintings.
• The Botanical Garden: The botanical gardens of India was founded by Robert Kyd in the year 1787. It has the oldest banyan tree of the world which has a circumference of 330 meters. This garden is spread over an area of 109 hectares.
• Sundarban National Park: Situated at a distance of 49km from the city centre is one of the largest Delta and has the largest number of Sundari trees. It is famous for the Royal Bengal Tiger which is only found here and is one of the endangered species. Other endangered species in the Bioreserve are Batagur baska, King Crabs, Olive Ridley and Turtle. You can also find the jungle fowl, giant lizards, spotted deer, wild boar and crocodiles in these forests.
• Shantiniketan: It is a small town located in Birbhum district of West Bengal and was the home of Rabindra Nath Tagore. The famous Viswa Bharti University is located here. It was started by Sri Devendra Nath Tagore father of Rabindra Nath Tagore and later it was promoted by him to bring a change in the education system of India. Student from different part of the country as well as the world come here to get education.
• Dooars: The name has been derived from the word Door as it is the Gateway to Bhutan and is spread from river Teesta in the East to river Sankoshi in the west. Dooars comprises of several towns and districts in this region including Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Siliguri, etc. Geographically, Dooars is blessed with such brilliance in its relief, imagine, the mighty range of mountains of the Eastern Himalayas in the backdrop, a band of thick forests, rich in species of Flora and Fauna, continued with tea gardens, and cut here and there by water body. Somewhere in the middle of all this is Dooars.
• Tazpur: Situated at a distance of 104 kms from the city center it is one of the secluded beaches of the country.
• ISKCON Chandrodaya Temple: It is situated around 6km from the city centre, it was built by Lord Mahaprabhu dedicated to Lord Krishna.
• Chand Kazi’s Samadhi: It is situated around 7km from the city centre. He was the magistrate of Nabadwip who opposed the Harinam Sankirtan but later became one of the best disciples of Lord Mahaprabhu. This samadhi is the symbol of his transformation.
• Shri Chaitanya Math: Situated at a distance of 8km from the city centre the math is dedicated to Shri Radha Govinda and was built by Shri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Maharaja.
• Mandarmani Beach: It is one of the famous tourist attraction of this town and stretches upto 13km and the speciality of this beach is the Red Crab which is only found here.
• Durgapur Barrage: Situated at a distance of 5km from the city centre this is one of the famous tourist attraction of Durgapur. It was built to control the overflowing water of Damodar during monsoons and also connects Durgapur with Bankura.
• New Digha Beach: Situated at a distance of 2km from the old beach it is a man made beach and is much bigger and attractive than the old one.
• Joyrambati: Situated at a distance of 33km from the city it is a small village in Bankura district and is famous for the birthplace of Shree Sharada Devi wife of Shree Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
• The Shrine of Sarvamangala: It is one of the most prominent religious place of Bardhamanas it contain the remain of Sati’s body part the Umbilicus.

Cuisines of West Bengal:

West Bengal is world famous for its cuisine specially sweets. The staple food over here is Fish and Rice. There are variety of dishes of fish which can be found here. The mouth-watering Rosogullas, Chomchom, and Rasamalai, the super tasty Sorshe Ilish and Chingri Macher Malai Curry and but a few of the mouth watering and tempting food of the highly illustrated and exquisite Bengali cuisine.