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West
Bengal is located in the northeastern
part of the country. West Bengal is
one of the most culturally and
ethnically diverse states of India.
West Bengal, is bounded on the north
by Bhutan and the state of Sikkim , on
the east by Bangladesh and the state
of Assam , on the south by the Bay of
Bengal, on the southwest by the state
of Orissa & Jharkhand, on the
northwest by Nepal and the state of
Bihar and on the south by Bay of
Bengal.
This state shares international
boundaries with Bangladesh, Bhutan and
Nepal. Calcutta, three hundred years
old, traces its history to the landing
of Robert Clive on the banks of the
Hooghly beside three villages. The
capital of West Bengal, Calcutta is
the major entry point. Poets, thinkers
and film directors of international
renown hail from this city.
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Its
capital, Kolkata is one of the largest and
most developed cities in India. The
mysterious land of West Bengal has many
reasons to attract the tourists. The land of
rich culture and heritage has a unique
feature: it is the only state in India,
which has historical sites, forests,
beaches, snow-capped mountain ranges and
rare wildlife. West Bengal is a land of
incessant beauty, each region different from
the other.
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Community of West Bengal
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The vast
majority of the people in West Bengal are
the Bengalis. The other communities in the
state are Santals, Oraons, Munas, Lepchas,
and Bhutias, Sherpas, Gorkhas and Paharis,
than one-tenth of the total population of
West Bengal.
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Society and Culture of West Bengal
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West
Bengal has about 76% Hindus and great
majority of the people in West Bengal is
Bengali. Muslim population constitutes about
22% of the state In and more than 85% people
speak Bengali, but small tribal populations.
Other languages which can be heard are
Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, English and many tribal
languages. English, however, is the language
of administration and a lingua franca for
business purposes. Calcutta has been the
birthplace of or home to many well known
personalities from all fields of life. You
can have Rabindra Nath Tagore(1861-1941)
Nobel prize-winning poet, Bengal also boasts
of three other Nobel prize winners, Mother
Teresa, Amartya Sen and Satyajit Ray William
Thackeray (Novelist); Merle Oberon
(actress), Mother Teresa, Subhash Chandra
Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Jamini Roy, Uday
Shankar, Bimal Mitra and Tarashankar
Banerjee all belong to this culturally rich
land. Fish, rice and a plethora of sweets
are Bengali specialities.
This strong Bengali presence is what
prevails in nearly every facet of West
Bengal's culture. In much the same way,
Bengali music, Indian music only began
developing significantly 200 years ago.
Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul Geeti fostered
this growth. Though West Bengal is the 2nd
most densely populated state in India, the
rural settlements which are compact and
nucleated, are quite scattered.
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West
Bengal Fairs & Festivals
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Prayer
festivals tend to be the most important
observances of the Bengali year.
Saraswati Puja, Lakshmi Puja,
Janmashtami, Rathayatra, Kali
Puja, festival of lights (Diwali), Dol
Jatra (Holi), Ganga Sagar Mela at Sagar
(January /February), the Muslim
festivals of Id and Ramzan, Baisakhi -
Bengal's New Year's day, Rabindranath
Tagore's birth anniversary, Christmas
and New Year
all include special celebratory
festivities. An essential part of this
preparation includes every person
acquiring new clothes for the puja...
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 Durga
Puja & Deepavali
The
most important and the most popular of
all Bengali the largest festivals is
Durga Puja held in the Bengali month of
Ashwin (October). It is celebrated
throughout the state, but with great
grandeur in Kolkata. Durga puja is
celebrated in the autumn months of
September / October. According to the
Hindu solar calendar. After the four-day
ceremony, West Bengal celebrates
Dussehra as Durga Puja craftsmen make
beautiful idols of Goddess Durga. The
festival that follows is Deepavali, the
festival of lights. The worship of
goddess Kali is marked by display of
fireworks and crackers. The Goddess is '
Shakti ' the cosmic energy.
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Dol
Purnima
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Dol
Purnima more popularly known as Holi is
a festival of colours and the city
celebrates it with the traditional
gaiety. Holi is also known as the Dol
Yatra in Bengal. It is celebrated by
people of all walks of life both young
and old by smearing each other with
colored powder especially red. The ever
enthusiastic group enjoys by drinking
bhang which is a mild-milk beverage
laced with marijuana. Social barriers
are broken. This is a time when
lower-cast plays with the upper-cast and
poor may play with the rich.
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Rathayatra
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Rathayatra
(June-July) at Mahesh near Serampore is
a week-long festival. It is celebrated
in the honour of Lord Jagannath an
avatar of Vishnu. Processions are
organised in Kolkata by the ISKON and in
Serampore, north of Kolkata.
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GangaSagar
Mela
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Gangasagar
Mela is the largest fair celebrated in West
Bengal. This fair is held where the Ganga
and the Bay of Bengal form a nexus.
Gangasagar Mela is a three-day event held in
mid-January, on the occasion of Makar
Sankranti, at Sagar Dwip. Lakhs of pilgrims
come for a holy dip at the confluence of the
Ganga and the Bay of Bengal.
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Climate
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West
Bengal experiences three distinct
seasons over the course of the year.
Winter (more accurately described as the
cool season, considering the lack of
significantly cold temperatures) lasts
from October to February. Snowfall is
limited to the Himalayan regions. When
March comes along, the state begins to
see its hot and dry period, which
continues on through early June.
Finally, from late June to early
September, West Bengal falls under its
monsoon season. In terms of lifestyle
choices, the monsoon season makes the
largest impact on West Bengal life.
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Temperature
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Yearly
Rainfall (average)
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In
Summer : 24c
to 40c |
175
cms
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West Bengal