They are twins and cannot live without each other. Wait! Life Breezy is referring to the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah in the West Bengal State. One special trait of these two cities are they connected by the Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) and Vidyasagar Setu (Second Hooghly Bridge) – And thanks to that! In 1992, the Vidyasagar Setu built to reduce the regular din traffic pressure of the Rabindra Setu.
Some of the popular places in the Howrah district are Andul, Deuli, Ulberia, Phuleshwar, Dhulagarh, etc. Popular as the second chief state of the West Bengal state, some of its regions like Shibpur, Salkia, RamKrishnapur, Belur, Bali, etc., well-known for the chemical and engineering industries. Besides, the Howrah Station is the world famous station which connects the railway networks of the north, east, centre and the south railway networks. Moreover, the popular Delhi and Bombay roads start from here and stretches towards the north-west India. Furthermore, the Rupnarayan, the Damodar and the Hooghly are the main rivers that flow through the district. The region is known for the production of fish, potato, paddy, wheat, cotton, flowers and beetle leaves.
Tourist Spots or attractions
Howrah district has several tourist spots, picnic spots and places for weekend destinations drawing crowds throughout the year. Besides, the region is popular for celebrating festivals, cultural fairs, and exhibitions with enthusiasm. Life Breezy feels pumped up with pride and excitement to cover some of these special aspects of this district in its 300th blog post article. Let’s begin with the top five popular attractions of the district.
Botanical Garden
In 1786, the British East India Company built this historical garden at the banks of the Hooghly River in the Howrah district. It spreads over an area of 272 acres with more than thirty-five thousand of flowers and fruits trees in Shibpur. Besides, different types of decorative flowers, medicinal plants and fruit trees adorn the garden at different corners. The 260 years old banyan tree with widespread roots and branches is one of its main attractions. Moreover, the widespread lotus leaves on the water catches everyone’s attention. The colourful bamboos, Brazilian palm trees, pagla trees, a variety of cactus, orchid, colourful flowers soothes the eyeballs. There is the boating facility in the lake of the garden.
All these favourable conditions make this place an ideal picnic spot in the winters. In winter, the garden remains open from 8am to 5pm and in summer, from 7:30am to 5:30pm. From the Dharmatala and Shyambazar regions in Kolkata several buses available for the spot. Visors have the option of taxis from any of the points of the city as well.
Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge)
It’s one of the bridges that connect Howrah to Kolkata. Globally, it’s the third cantilever suspension bridge in the world built with steel. Stretching 705 metres in length and 97 metres wide, it’s one of the biggest bridges in the world. Being the busiest bridge, several lakhs of people and vehicles commute over the bridge every day. Before, it was compulsory to use the ferry service to cross the river, but now it has become optional after the construction of the bridge. The construction of the bridge started in 1939 and completed for conveyance in 1943.
Given below is the short video of crossing the Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge) in a busy traffic. However, It would provide a fair amount of idea about the way the bridge is absorbing the pressure of different types of vehicles and pedestrians on a regular basis.
Vidyasagar Setu (Second Hooghly Bridge)
This cable-stayed bridge built in 1992 to absorb the regular traffic pressure of the Howrah Bridge. It’s 82.3 metres length and 35 metres breadth makes it the longest bridge in India. Named after Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, it rests on four pillars with 121 cable wires. The bridge was completed within a time span of twenty-two years.
Belur Math
Swami Vivekananda founded Belur Math in the west bank of the Hooghly River in loving memory of his beloved gurudev Ramakrishna Paramahamsha. The Ramakrishna Mission authority is in charge of the temple (Math) and looks after its security and maintenance. Besides, the Mission takes part in several other programs related with social work and development. The temple depicts unity of all the religions through its architectural splendour – a valuable message to society for living in peace, harmony and brotherhood.
The visiting hours of the temple ranges from 6:30am to 12 noon and from 3:30pm to 6:30pm. Several private and West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation or the WBSTC) buses available for the spot from the Dharmatala, Howrah and Goalpark regions of the metropolitan city Kolkata.
Gadiara
It’s a wonderful spot located at the confluence of the Rupnarayan, Hooghly and the Bhagirathi Rivers. This spot guarantees the visitors with the delight of early sunrise, evening sunset and exciting boating experience during a day trip or trips during the weekends. It’s a spot located in the close proximity of the metropolitan city of Kolkata, at the banks of the Hooghly River in the Howrah district. Even if the visitors make a long journey trip here, there is nothing to worry because this spot is meant to absorb all the tiredness of the visitors once they reach here.
The waterfront spot has the Fort Mornington of Lord Clive, a lighthouse and of course, the much cherished boat riding facility for the visitors. All these make it a wonderful picnic spot throughout the year, especially during the winter.
To get to the spot visitors first need to reach the Bagnan Station from Howrah. From Bagnan, buses available for Gadiara. Alternatively, visitors may board a bus from the Dharmatala to Raichawk. From the Raichawk Crossing buses and van rickshaws available for the Nurpur Ferry Ghat. From here, visitors need to cover another ten minutes distance in a steamer or in a launch.
Festivals and Fairs
The Howrah district is also popular for the celebration of some of the noteworthy fairs, festivals and exhibitions:
Pancham Doler Mela (fair): It’s organised not to far away from Kolkata near Makardah at Howrah. This more than five hundred years old fair held in the Makarchanda Temple of Makardali. The fair gets a grand opening with bursting of crackers. Moreover, three brass pots are kept for donation and as soon as these get filled with donations, the cracker burning ceremony begins. In the last day of the fair the Annakut festival gets celebrated with full enthusiasm and glory. It’s this time, the villagers gather near the temple for having food together under one roof. Visitors who want to be a part of this festival need to board a bus from Domjur to get down at Makardah.
Gramin Mela (fair): This fair gets organised near the Kulgachia Railway Station. It relates with the display, exposure and exhibition of the food crops, grains, etc., grown in the fields of the farmers. Different food items being displayed here like the watermelon of twenty kilograms, four feet long brinjal, one hand long green chili, etc. All these are the main attractions of the fair. From 25th of December to 2nd of January, the local people held stage show in honour of Rabindra Nath Tagore.
Dosra Magher Mela (fair): This fair lasts for three days and attracts good number of visitors. People who come to this fair make sure to visit the two-storey building of poet Bharatchandra, a court poet of king Krishnachandra. It has several things in display once used by the poet. To reach here visitors need to board a bus from Howrah going to Pedo (Bhurshut village). Since food is served free in the fair, it won’t be a bad idea to spend some time here and enjoy the fair together with its rich flare of history.
Nabanna Mela (fair): It’s another important fair held in Kulgachia between 6th of January to 13th of January. All the housewives of the village prepare sweet dishes like different types of pithe and payes (made from rice and milk) at home. Music, songs and dances are the other attractions of the festival.
Other important Picnic spots and weekend destinations
Since Howrah district has plenty of picnic spots and weekend destinations it’s difficult to rope those spots in a single article. However, for the sake of convenience and simplicity, Life Breezy jotting down the names of some of these interesting places. Some of the other important and exciting spots for the visitors are Garchumuk Atanna Gate (beautiful barrage), Jagatballavpur Ram Mandir Garden (near Harish Park), Phuleshwar (riverbank), Samtaber (Sarat Chandra’s house), Deulti (banks of Rupnarayan River), Mayachar (sandbank of the Rupnarayan river), Ranihati (Amta), Sasati and Prantik Retreat Picnic spot, etc.