Eternal India Encyclopedia

ETERNAL INDIA encyclopedia

A GREAT DESTINATION

the Englishman Job Chamock who purchased three villages Sul- tanuti, Govindapur and Kolkata, and set up a house of business. Calcutta derives its name from the last. In 1756 Siraj-ud-daulah, the Nawab of Murshidabad attacked the town. In 1757 the British under Robert Clive retook Calcutta after the Battle of Plassey and laid the foundation of British rule in India. The Botanical Gardens has the 200-year-old banyan tree, the largest tree in the world. It covers an area of nearly 400 acres in circumference. Kali Temple ofKalighat : Dedicated to Shiva's wife, Kali. Accord- ing to legend, when her corpse was cut up, one of her fingers fell here. The temple was built in 1809. Sitambara Jain Temple : A place of pilgrimage for Jains. Dedicated to Sheetalnathgi, the 10th of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras. Nakhoda Mosque : Constructed in 1926 by Abdar Rahim Ozman ofKutch. Armenian Church : Constructed in 1707 or 1725. St. Paul's Cathedral: The first Episcopal church in the East, built in 1847. Indian Museum : One of the finest in Asia. Superb collection of exhibits including 4000 - year-old Egyptian mummy. Birla Planetarium : 2nd largest in the world. Victoria Memorial : Museum of the British rule in India Built in marble, it contains portraits and statues of British representa- tives of the crown who ruled India. National Library : Has 17,00,000 volumes and 500,000 docu- ments. Asiatic Society library : Has 20,000 books in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Hindi. Fort William : Completed in 1773. Tagore House in Jorasanko : Where Tagore was born and died. Now houses the Rabindra Bharat University. Dakshineshwar : Built in 1847, the Kali Temple here is where Sri Ramakrishna was a priest. Belur Math : Opposite the Kali Temple on the west bank of the Ganges. The headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission. AROUND CALCUTTA Diamond Harbour : Picnic place 48 kms from Calcutta on the Ganges. Haldia : New port, 96 kms south of Calcutta. Sagardweep : An island, the point where the Ganges joins the sea. Sundarbans National Park : Forest in the Ganges delta area. Royal Bengal Tigers, wild boar, deer, crocodiles etc. Train to Can- ning, 40 kms from Calcutta. From there by launch. Chandernagore : Former French settlement on the banks of Hooghly, 39 kms north of Calcutta. Hooghly : 41 kms north of Calcutta. Important trading port before Calcutta became important. Chansura : One km south of Hooghly. Dutch church and cemetery. Bandel : Two kms north of Hooghly Portuguese church and mon- astery.

Kamarpukur : 143 kms north-west Of Calcutta. Birthplace of Ramakrishna. Santiniketan : Near Bolpur. Site of the Vishwabharati university and Santiniketan school founded by Rabindranath Tagore. Nabadwip : 114 kms north of Calcutta. Ancient centre of Sanskrit studies. Many temples. Mayapur : Across the river from Nabadwip. Chandrodaya Temple of ISKCON, International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Bethuadahari: 127 kms from Calcutta wildlife sanctuary. Plassey : 172 kms north of Calcutta. Site of the battle which was a turning point in Indian history. Murshidabad : 197 kms from Calcutta. Capital of the last independ- ent Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daula. Hazarduari Palace built by the British for his successor has an armoury of 2700 weapons and library of 10,000 books. Malda : British built a fort here in 1771. Museum has a collection of archaeological finds. Gaur : Ancient capital of Bengal, on outskirts of Malda. Darjeeling : Queen of Himalayan hill stations. Highest spot is Tiger Hill, famous for its sunrises and views of Kanchenjunga. The journey to Darjeeling on the famous toy railway is an experi- ence that should not be missed. Darjeeling is a great place for trekking. Kalimpong : 51 kms from Darjeeling. Bazaar town. Gangtok, capital of Sikkim is four hours by road from here. Orchid - growing area.

UNION TERRITORIES

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

These are a group of 373 islands in the Bay of Bengal, of which only about 30 are inhabited . The administrative headquarters are at Port Blair which is 1255 kms by sea from Calcutta and 1193 kms from Madras. There are ship services as well as flights from Calcutta and Madras. Foreigners need permits. The best months are mid-November to mid-May. The aboriginal tribes who inhabit the islands fall into two main groups - the Negri which includes the Andamanese, the Onges and the Sentinelese. This group is found in the Andaman group of islands. The second group, Mongoloid in origin, includes the inhabi- tants of the Nicobar group, the Shompens and Nicobarese. The islands are a tourist's paradise. There are beaches galore, creeks and backwater canals. Apart from these natural delights, the places to see are : Cellular Jail : Known as the Bastille of India, it has 698 cells where freedom fighters were imprisoned by the British Raj. Anthropological Museum : Displays the Stone Age tools and implements of the aboriginal tribes. Marine museum : Over 350 species of sea life are preserved here.