Tuesday 20 July 2021

 

 BENGAL YATRA: To the land of  TAGORE {Feb,2013)
                         



My first journey after marriage with my in-laws to the land of Tagore is indeed close to my heart.

Our endless evening walks , little romance with my hubby, the intimate photo sessions,our first shopping ,eagerly waiting for his arrival from the office ,roaming in the city  malls,relishing dinners in local restuarants..ahh..what else could be treasured more than this..!

                                                VICTORIA MEMORIAL
       
I got a chance to visit this landmark while we were in Calcutta.Its a place meant for history lovers which brings back the memories of British colonialism through the paintings, books, statues of British generals and other artifacts that are displayed there.Another attraction of the place is that there are pre-recorded tapes (at extra charges) about almost all paintings sculptures etc that are displayed there  which helps the visitors to gather knowledge in more depth.Apart from the other places which we visited,crowd management was good & one can sit back and enjoy the beautiful garden and the lake view together with the chirping of birds.


                                                 HOWRAH BRIDGE                                                                                                               
  An incredible piece of engineering is all that we can say about this bridge.Its a massive structure majestically built across the river Hoogly connecting the city of Howrah to Calcutta. It is a cantilever bridge,which  is considered  as one of the oldest bridges and engineering marvel across the country.The daily traffic on it is said to be more than 1 lakh(0.1 million). In addition to the vehicles, we can also see all kinds of people wandering on the bridge.like the tourists enjoying & clicking pics for their albums,pedestrians engaged in their routine life, the street vendors selling fruits and other stuffs  for there livelihood. Its an architectural jewel about which every native will be proud of.
                 These yellow colored ambassador taxi cabs are another cute attraction of the city premises.



SOUTH PARK STREET CEMENTARY

A  spooky and eerie place to visit.we were told that it was a very old cemetery & having  the grave stones of many popular foreigners with huge headstone of various shapes and sizes which is not very common in our country...
However a glimpse from the gate itself made me uneasy and in a jiffy i told MR .V that I am not going inside & so we dropped the plan of enjoying the quiet ambiance inside among the moss encrusted tombs & we moved on to our next destination..thank God  :) mm..

SCIENCE CITY

A city which takes us through the fascinating world of science.a must visit place for both kids and grown ups to refresh the basics  of science and to learn new things .it has a science park,a convection center,mirror house ,theater for 3D movies ,aquarium ,cable car ride and many more.Even if you spend a whole day there its worth and better  valuable than spending in a  mall.



THE GREAT BANYAN TREE IN ACHARYA JAGDISH CHANDRA BOSS BOTANICAL GARDEN ,HOWRAH

The journey became terrible as we got stuck in the traffic block.Except for view of the banyan tree & a peddling boat ride we didn't find anything more intersting.But still one can visit the garden for the panoramic view of the this majestic tree standing across  1.7 km,its one of the oldest tree in our country and rather than a tree that area looks like a miniature forest with its aerial roots  spreading across a vast area of the land.



DAKSHINESWAR TEMPLE-the place of peace and power

It was a road cum boat journey ..from Belur Math we sailed in a boat with the locals and traveled through the banks of  Hoogly river to reach this temple.As it was the evening time,we  got a chance to enjoy the sunset, the night view of the city & the howrah bridge.Once we reached the temple we were overwhelmed as the night pooja (aarti or rituals) was going on and we had the darshan of KALI MA, worshipped as BHAVATARINI  in the temple.
                                  Along with the main temple there are 12 temples dedicated to LORD SHIVA, ghat for bathing ,beautiful garden as well as  some buildings dedicated to the remembrance of  SRI RAMA KRISHNA PARAMAHAMSHA , Belur Math.


DAKSHINESWAR TEMPLE
                                                                                                          
BELUR MATH

ESPLANADE & THE PARK STREET

We explored these two areas through pavements and by a tram  which helped us to witness the local lives of the natives .In the Esplanade you can see a lot of street hawkers selling almost all types of goods at a very cheap rate.If you have the patience to search you can get good stuffs at a very reasonable rate. haha..You guys guessed right..!We did a quiet good shopping from Esplanade as well as enjoyed the local cuisine of Kolkata (thali meals from a local restaurant ) which was tasty as well as at a reasonable rate.



THE TRAM & THE METRO

The pride of Kolkata .The Metro  railway in Kolkata is the first in our country. Its the oldest, well maintained and one of the easiest way to reach places within minutes and an escape from all the chaos and pollution in the city.Our  first metro journey through the first metro rail in our country was indeed a memory close to our heart.

Tram:One of its kind in our country and the oldest tram operating in  Asia,which paves way to observe the historic part of Kolkata .


 DROOLING STREET FOODS
FROM THE TOP LEFT PAPDI CHAAT,PAV BHAJI,DAHI VADA AND GOLGAPPA

Kolkata too is famous for its street foods.We too forgot about the calories and enjoyed the yummy streets foods from the local stalls and food vendors .The must try food includes the pani poori/pucha/golgappa,papdi chat,pav bhajji,samosa,sweet curd matki chai(chai in clay glasses) machi curries(fish curries)aloo subzi(potato stir fry)..the list goes on.. yum yum.

     Tickling our taste buds with chat pata chaats& Energising our mind with piping hot chai  we bid bye to the cultural capital of INDIA..

NOTE:
      1)  BE PREPARED TO BARGAIN
      2)  HEAVEN FOR POTATO/ALOO LOVERS
      3)  CARRY MOSQUITO REPELLANT CREAMS
      4)  ALWAYS BUY WATER FROM TRUSTED BRANDS
      5)  BEFORE HIRING AUTO -RIKSHAS  CONFIRM WITH THE DRIVER ABOUT THE
           FARE AND YOUR DESTINATION POINT.
       
       

       



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