Holy Pilgrimage – Temples in West Bengal State (Introduction) -2

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Holy Pilgrimage – Temples in  West Bengal State





 







List of people from West Bengal

This is a list of famous and notable people from West Bengal, India. It includes those who are known to a large number of people and is not based on the extent of their popularity. Neither is the list viewed from the context of the present. Their fame could be brief. What matters is that they were well known during the peak of their popularity. This list does not include the significant number of prominent East Bengali Refugees from East Bengal who settled in West Bengal after the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947.

 

Literature

Founding Fathers and Major Figures

Children's story writers

Medieval Bengal Literary Scene

Other authors from Early Modern Period

Prominent Foreign Language Authors from Bengal

Other authors from early/mid twentieth century and some contemporary authors

Journalism

Language/Linguistics, Anthropology, History, and other Social Sciences

Renowned Scholars and Polymaths

Education

Pioneers

Post Independence

Others

Teachers

Philosophy

Pre Modern Period

Modern Age

Science

Physics

Religious Reformation

Pre-modern period

The Brahmo Samaj

Hindu Revival Movement

Mid-twentieth century religious figures

Social Reformation and Social Work

Major Figures

Derozians

The First Indian Women to break social barriers

  • Rani Rashmoni, Confronted with the British, First non-upper caste founder of Hindu Temple, Promoter of Ramakrishna in his initial days
  • Rassundari Dasi, first woman author from modern Bengal
  • Kadambini Ganguly, one of the first female graduates of the British Empire, and first woman physician
  • Chandramukhi Basu, one of the first female graduates of the British Empire, and the first head of an undergraduate college in South Asia (as principal of Bethune College, Calcutta)
  • Jnanadanandini Devi, first Hindu woman from respectable family to go abroad
  • Sarala Devi, first woman nationalist
  • Other Women from the Tagore family who were pioneers in many areas
  • Abala Bose, social worker
  • Amala Das, first woman from respectable Indian families to record songs on gramophone, among the foremost singers to sing in the Indian National Congress
  • Roma Chaudhuri, first Bengali woman to become a university Vice-Chancellor, of Rabindra Bharati University.
  • Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain

Art

Early Modern Period

From mid-twentieth century

Photography, Publishing/Advertizing, Film Editing and other areas of Art

  • Dulal Dutta, Associate of Satyajit Ray
  • Subrata Mitra, Cinematographer associated with Satyajit Ray
  • Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri internationally known as Indrani, Indian-Canadian director, photographer, and digital artist known for her work for celebrities, beauty firms, advertising agencies, and fashion magazines.

Music

Composers

Performers (Instrumental)

Performers (Vocal)

Classical

Songs of Tagore and his contemporaries

Bengali Modern

Movies

Directors

Actors

Actresses

(Alphabetical) Also see List of Bengali actresses

Dance

Drama/Theatre

Sovereignty, Administration, Fight for Freedom of India, Post-Independence Rule and Politics

PreModern Bengal

Colonial Period: Indian Civil Servants and Statesmen

Colonial Period: Lieutenants

Colonial Period: Freedom Fighters

Early Figures

Twentienth Century

Post independence figures

Others

Donation and Social Welfare

Old Calcutta/ Bengal legends

Sports

Chess

Cricket

Football

Lawn Tennis

  • Leander Paes, Former doubles world no. one with Mahesh Bhupathi and bronze-medallist at Atlanta Olympics, 1996

Squash

Swimming

  • Arati Saha, first Asian woman to swim English Channel in 1959.
  • Bula Choudhury, first Indian woman to swim the English Channel twice.
  • Mihir Sen, first Indian to swim across the English Channel in 1958.
  • Rashmi Sharma, first Indian woman to cross the English Channel three times.
  • Richa Sharma, Indian woman crossed English Channel

Table Tennis

Others

Industry/Business

Other Areas

 

Tourism in West Bengal

Tourism in West Bengal refers to West Bengal's tourism. West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous.  The state capital is Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). The state encompasses two broad natural regions: the Gangetic Plain in the south and the sub-Himalayan and Himalayan area in the north.
West Bengal, located on the eastern bottleneck of India stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south, presents some of marvelous landscape features and natural scenic beauty. Some of India's most preferred travel destinations like; the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the northern extreme of the state, the highest peak of the state Sandakfu (3,636 m or 11,929 ft)  and the Sundarbans mangrove forests in the extreme south.
During the British colonial era from 1700–1912, Kolkata enjoyed the privilege of being the capital of British India and witnessed a spate of frenzied construction of buildings, largely influenced by the conscious intermingling of Neo-Gothic, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Oriental and Islamic schools of design. Unlike many north Indian cities, whose construction stresses minimalism, the layout of much of the architectural variety in Kolkata owes its origins to European styles and tastes imported by the British and, to a much lesser extent, by the Portuguese and French.

The state of West Bengal is rich in both architectural and natural heritage. The capital of the state, Kolkata is also known as the "City of Palaces  West Bengal is famous for its terracotta temples of Bishnupur .
Some like the Victoria Memorial, Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) and the Second Hooghly Bridge (Vidyasagar Setu) are iconic of Kolkata. Except colonial and heritage buildings there are also high rising monuments and skyscrapers in the city. There are also a couple of cemeteries established by the British when Kolkata was the capital of British India. These include the South Park Street Cemetery and Scottish Cemetery.
The River Ganga also flows through the state World heritage sites in West Bengal include the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Sundarbans National Park. Neora Valley National Park, which is one of the richest biological zones in the entire Northeast situated in the Kalimpong subdivision under Darjeeling District is in West Bengal.
The Ganges Delta (also known as the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta,  the Sunderbans Delta, or the Bengalla Delta) is a river delta in the South Asia region of Bengal, consisting of West Bengal and its neighbouring country of Bangladesh. It is the world's largest delta, and empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is also one of the most fertile regions in the world, thus earning the nickname "The Green Delta". The delta stretches from the Hooghly River on the west to the Meghna River on the east. It is approximately 350 km (220 mi) across at the Bay of Bengal Kolkata and Haldia are the principal Indian seaports on the delta.
The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden or Calcutta Botanical Garden (previously known as Indian Botanic Garden)  is the largest and oldest reserve of greeneries of its kind in South East Asia. It is also a premier Institution for botanical and horticultural research in India. The Garden is situated on the West bank of River Hooghly in Shibpur, Howrah nearly 8 km from center of city Kolkata. Located here is the Great Banyan Tree. It was the widest tree in the world in terms of the area of the canopy and is estimated to be about 200 to 250 years old. It became diseased after it was struck by lightning, so in 1925 the middle of the tree was excised to keep the remainder healthy.
West Bengal also has some more geographical indications like Nakshi Kantha(Handicraft), Darjeeling tea (Agricultural), Santipore Saree (Handicraft), Shantiniketan Leather Goods (Handicraft), Fazli Mango (Agricultural), Khirsapati or Himsagar Mango (Agricultural), Laxman Bhog Mango (Agricultural), Baluchari Saree (Handicraft), and Dhaniakhali Saree (Handicraft)

Sea beaches

 
West Bengal stretches to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The coastal strip of West Bengal, extending from the Gangetic Delta to the border of Orissa has some beautiful coastal settlements namely Digha, Shankarpur, Mandarmani, Bakkhali, Gangasagara, Tajpur and more others. Some of these have, hard beaches on which cars can drive through. It is a fact that some decades ago, even aeroplanes were able to land in the beach of Digha.

Hill stations

There are many hill stations in North West Bengal, of which Darjeeling is world famous. Others are Kurseong, Kalimpong, Rimbick, Lava & Loleygaon, Mirik and Sandakfu.

Wildlife sanctuaries and national parks

 
West Bengal has 3.26% of its geographical area under protected areas comprising 15 wildlife sanctuaries and 5 national parks  Sundarbans National Park, Buxa Tiger Reserve, Gorumara National Park, Neora Valley National Park, Singalila National Park, and Jaldapara National park. West Bengal also has wildlife sanctuaries and bird sanctuaries like Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary and Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary.

Pilgrimages

West Bengal also attracts tourist for pilgrimages to the holy places of different religions.
Hinduism
People from different sections of the world come to West Bengal for holy pilgrimages as Kolkata is one of the four adi Shaktipeethas. Among the other 52 shaktipeethas some are located in West Bengal. They are as follows:
Only one Maha Shaktipeethas known as Pradyumna, existed. This temple is currently non-existent. Only ruins are found in these places. Instead, Sringeri in Karnataka is believed to be the Shakti Peeth of this aspect of the Goddess.
Other than the shaktipeethas many other famous temples also exist. They are the famous Belur Math, Mayapur ISKCON Temple, Hangseshwari Temple, Tarakeshwar Temple and Dakshineswar Kali Temple.

 

Seven Wonders of West Bengal

 NDTV along with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India conducted a nationwide campaign for searching the "Seven Wonders of India in 2008-09. The campaign started with shortlisting 200 places from all of the Indian states and then inviting public to cast their vote for their favorite places. It also included seven wonders of particular states. In West Bengal a total 13 were selected of which the "Seven Wonders of West Bengal" were shortlisted. The list of the 30 selected places are as follows:
The shortlisted list, compiling of the "Seven Wonders of West Bengal" as per the votings is as follows:








Om Tat Sat
                                                        
(Continued...)                                                                                                                              



(My humble  salutations to the great devotees ,  wikisources  and Pilgrimage tourist guide for the collection )

Posted by gopalakrishna Thursday, March 7, 2013
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