Golpatar jungle: A day out from Kolkata

A bit unknown to the people in the city, unmarked in the Google maps, this place around 80kms away is an ideal weekend gate away to the people in the city of joy, Kolkata.

As the name suggests, the Golpatar jungle is filled with the Golpatar trees. The famous Sundari trees after which the Sunderban is named can also be found here in abundance and may be it is for this reason that the Golpatar jungle is regarded as the gateway to Sunderban.

In order to reach the Golpatar jungle, one can board the local train from Sealdah till Taki Road station. From there the journey can be continued by motor vans or rickshaws. One can also drive down Taki road from Barasat which lies along NH-34. Being quite close to the border, it is advisable to carry identity card and may need to be deposited at the BSF checkpoint located on way to the forest from Taki.

In search of Chingrikhali Fort

Date: 15th April 2015

Nobo Borsho and a holiday. What can be better than starting a 'notun bocchor' with a visit to a new place. A few minutes of googling about a day trip from Kolkata and we zeroed it to Diamond Harbour. It is located about 50 km away from the city in the South 24 Parganas district along the river Hoogly.
A fort built here in the 16th century was what actually intrigued me. Also known as the Diamond Harbour Fort, the Chingrikhali Fort is reminiscent of the Portuguese pirates who built this fort during 1600s when they conquered the Diamond Harbour and made it their base for their network of conquered countries. The Portuguese utilized this fort to stay as well as a warehouse for all their trade commodities and ammunition. The fort is believed to have had 7 underground rooms and 5 cannons.

Kolkata Police Museum

Located at 113, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, formerly the residence of the renowned social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy, this place now brings forward the glorious history of the police administration of this eastern metropolitan and the erstwhile capital of India. The museum portrays how the department has evolved to provide best of its service. The role of the department during the pre-independence era and also after the partition is well depicted. A gallery in the museum has also been allotted to display the evolution of guns. A large number of weapons recovered from the revolutionaries during pre-independence days are at display.

Kolkata Police Museum
(Image Source: http://www.happytrips.com/)

References: Kolkata Police

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The Great Banyan

Apart of the Great Banyan

Away from the busy Eastern metropolis of India, traveling through the best of an engineering marvels; along the river Hoogly is the home to one of the world's oldest banyan tree. The tree is more than 250 years old now. According to the information bulletin at the site, the tree existed at this site even before the establishment of the garden in 1787. The tree was damaged to a great extent by two devastating cyclones in the year 1864 and 1867. The main trunk was removed in the year 1925 due to fungal attack. At the time of removal, the tree had attended a girth of 16.5 m at 17 m height. The tree has been placed in the Guinness book of world records for its greatest canopy. The tree is popularly known as the 'Great Banyan Tree' , 'Immortal Tree', 'Walking Tree' etc

Quick facts: (*as on March 2013)
Scientific name: Ficus benghalensis Linn.
Family: Moraceae
Age: More than 250 years old
Highest branch: 24.5m
Circumference: More than 450m
Prop roots: 3618
Canopy area: 1.6 hectares (3.9 acres)
Main trunk removed: 1925
Girth of main trunk when removed: 16.5 m
Height of main trunk when removed: 17 m

Read on Tripoto: The Great Banyan

39th Kolkata Book Fair

Boi Boi Boi….yes, this is all about books, organised by the Book Sellers and Publishers Guild since 1976, it has come a long way to become the world’s 3rd largest book fair after Frankfurt book fair and the London book fair, world’s largest non-trade book fair; Asia’s largest book fair and the most attended book fair in the world

The book fair is held every year in the month of January/February at the “Milan mela” grounds for about 12 years. This year too, the book fair was held from 28th January 2015 to 8th February 2015. In accordance to the custom the focal theme of this year’s book fair was Great Britain.

References:

• http://www.kolkatabookfair.net/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkata_Book_Fair
• http://www.kolkatabookfaironline.com/

Read on Tripoto: 39th Kolkata Book Fair

Indian Coffee House, College Street

COFFEE HOUSE ER SEI ADDA TA………..

Bengal (read:Bengali) and “adda” are quite synonymous to each other and being in Kolkata but not a part of an adda at the coffee house is a bit disappointing.

The history of INDIAN COFFEE HOUSE of COLLEGE STREET can be traced back to the times of Rabindranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose or may be even before when they were among the frequenters to this coffe joint . Other notable persons who were regular at this place includes Satyajit Roy, Amarta Sen, Manna Dey, Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen and among others.

Still today this place is among the favourite adda zone of the youths specialy of the institution located near the College Street. The coffee  house has played an important part in shaping Kolkata's cultural history. This coffee joint has been the breeding place of several political cultural ideas including that of hungry generation literary and cultural movements.

References:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Street_Coffee_House
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Coffee_House

Read on Tripoto: COFFEE HOUSE ER SEI ADDA TA

Indian Museum

The INDIAN MUSEUM founded at the cradle of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (at the present building of the Asiatic Society, 1 Park Street, Kolkata) has completed its 200th year on 2nd February 2014. Founded in 1814 this institution is not only the oldest but also the largest of its kind in the entire Asia-Pacific region.

It is a store house of  information for all ages of people. Being my  second visit to this place, I can say that after its renovation it looks much more informative, arranged and secured. The entire museum can be divided into 25 galleries under 6 main topics ranging from sciences to art and history. However as of today (15/3/2014), only 13 out of 25 galleries were accessible  as  the rest are still under renovation.