Area: 88,752 sq kms. The Capital of this state is Kolkata.

Important Cities and Towns: Asansol, Puruliya, Murshidabad, Baharampur, Bankura, Kolkata, Midanagar, Darjeeling, Durgapur, Hugli, Hora, Kharagpur, Kuch Bihar, Krishna Nagar, Jalsaigiri.

Boundaries: To the North of West Bengal is the Sikkim, Bhutan, to the North West is Nepal, East Assam, and Bangladesh, and to the South is Bay of Bay of Bengal, West Bihar .

Places of Tourist Interest: Bankura, Bakareswar, Vishnupur, Bakkali, Kolkata, Darjeeling, Murshidabad, Santiniketan, Sunderbans, Tarakeswaram, Haldiya

Best Time To Visit: October to March.

Airports: Dam Dam Airport


Rail: Kolkata is connected by rail with all the major cities and towns of India.

West Bengal has two natural divisions. The Himalayan north comprising the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Bihar and the alluvial plain that lies south of it. West Bengal is essentially a flat, featureless alluvial plain large portion of it being a part of delta of river Ganga, only one per unit of its area in the far north is really mountainous. The plateau fringe and the Purulia triangle of upland along her western border, comprises about six per cent of the total area. The northern part of the district of Darjeeling is hilly to mountanious. Its border to the north being fenced with rising mountain ranges of the Himalayas. Downwards, the mountains slope down to hills and as the borders of Jalpaiguri district are reached, the hills give way to rolling humid plains known as the Dooars. The Singalila range along the border with Nepal rises to nearly 3,700 metres, and is well wooded with rhododendron trees. The Dooars forests are densely wooded with evergreen vegetation and are the resorts of wild animal including the Royal Bengal tiger, rhinoceros, elephant, antelope and snakes including Python.

The central region or the 'Malda Pouch' comprising the districts of Malda and West Dinajpur is geographically an older area than the Gangetic plains below. It has a slightly higher land level watered inter-mittently by hill rivers among which the Mahananda with its winding course is the largest. It pours into the Ganga a little above Farakka in Bangaladesh.

The southern region, starting in the north from the point where the Ganga demarcates in the boundaries of the districts of Malda and Murshidabad consists of two geographically distinct areas. "Western Plateau Fringe" consist of the Purulia district and the western part of the districts of Birbhum, Burdwan, Bankura and Midnapur. The highest point of this plateau, named Goraburu Hill in Purulia district is 677 metres and the lowest point is 85 metres above the sea level where the up land ends in Midnapur district on the northern bank of the Subarbarekha river the altitude falls to 50 metres above the sea level. The plateau forms the tail-end of the chhartisgarh state of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

The rest of the southern region is a vast alluvial plain, except for the western plateau fringe and the sub-montane area of Darjeeling district, the entire length of West Bengal is one rolling up land. The vast alluvial plains of the state spread from Jalpaiguri and Siliguri in the north to the Sundarban creeks and its Kanthi littoral in the south. The southern region is bisected by the Bhagirathi (Hooghly)river, one of the two forks of the Ganga that take off from top of Murshidabad district. The plain land on the western bank of the Hooghly river is largely formed by the deposits carried by a system of hill rivers rising in the western hills that pour their waters into the Hooghly and form part of the Gangetic delta. The main river in this system is the Damodar, Bengal's 'River of Sorrow'. The plains to the east are watered by distributaries of the Ganga branching off in West Bengal as well as Bangladesh. One feature of these plains is the existence of shallow lagoons called 'dahas'or 'boonrs', formed by beds of distributaries that got silted up above and below and of low marsh lands called bells that become flooded during the rainy season.

The coastal fringe likewise is of two distinct characters, west of the Hooghly the coastal strip in Midnapur district called the Contai or Kanthi strip. It consist of sand dunes and salt marshes mingled with each other. The marshes are formed behind well-developed sand bars. At places there are large shifting sand dunes, which have a tendency to blow landwards and encroach upon the cultivated land behind them. Vistas of Casuarinas plantation are being developed all along the coast to fix the dunes and stop sea erosion. The Japanese quick growing creeper Kudzu is also being planted. The natural vegetation consists of clumps of Keya bushes. Their fragrant flowers are collected to produce the famous Kewra scent.

The Sunderbans

The Hooghly river estuary that covers the entire southern portion, nearly a fourth of the total area of twenty four Parganas district consist of the remarkable tropical forest called the Sunderbans. The major portion of this Sforest is located in the adjoining Bangladesh district of Khulna and Barisal. The region is entirely alluvial. It is crisscrossed by a network of naturally forming arterial streams branching off from the major waterways and almost wholly consist of swamps and morasses abounding in quick sands. Close to the sea-belts the jungles are thick and hardly penetrable on account of the boggy character of the soil and the treacherous-sharp pointed spikes of the Sundri (mangrove) trees. The Sunderbans are abound in royal Bengal tiger, leopard, rhinoceros, wild hog, deer, monkeys, python, different species of Cobra and other snakes and many varieties of birds. The rivers are abound in Crocodile, shark and many kinds of fish.

The jungle prevent major erosion of the coastline, the tidal incursions of saline water from the sea and the torrential flow of water in the river during the monsoons cause frequent and considerable changes in the land area above the jungle fringe. Here is a constant war between nature and man for saving the rice producing agricultural land from being inundated by brackish water or being rapidly eroded by the sea. Huge earthen dykes are constructed around agricultural settlements called Chauks. The hinter land between the Damodar and the Hooghly and right up to the border of Bangladesh is served by dead or drying channels of the Hooghly. This area is called the Moribund Delta.

FESTIVALS AND FAIRS
Puja

The most important of festival in West Bengal is Durga Puja, held in autumn. In the past era, it was organised and financed by the landlords and the business barons and was participated by all sections of people.

Preparations start long before the festival. The group images are built up, stage by stage out of bamboo and straw frame work and layers of clay and finally tempera and rich clothes and costume jewellery. The group consist of seven figures. The central figure is that of the ten-armed Durga, the great deliverer, standing astride a lion and piercing the chest of the ferocious half buffalo-half man demon Mahishasura with a spear, grasped in one among her ten hands, while each of her other hand holds a traditional weapon. On either side of her are seated the goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati representing wealth and learning, respectively. The former has an owl and the latter a swan for their mounts. A little in front of them are Ganesha, God of commerce, with a mouse for his mount and Kartikeya, God of war, seated flamboyantly on a peacock. The four deities are supposed to be the children of Mother Durga. The images depict her annual visit to her parents place on earth from her heavenly abode on Mount Kailas. A semi circular panel at the back of and above the group shows in a number of sections, pictures in pat style portraying the Mother's household and the various stages of her preparations for the journey.

The puja season constitutes West Bengal's longest holidays. It is a festive season for all. It is particularly a grand time for children who are given gaily coloured new dresses to wear and choice eatables, necessarily including sweetmeats, to eat. The actual puja runs through five days, starting with the ritual installation of the deity, the ceremonial worship for three days and immersion of the image in a river or a tank on the final day. Durga puja has come to be associated with a grand exhibition of cultural functions. In towns and villages, the evenings are replete with jatra, theatre, song, music, dance programmes, sports, physical and cultural competitions etc which everyone is free to attend. Community feasts are held. The immersion ceremony (vijaya), provides an impressive finale. The image is carried to the water front in a procession with music and drums and after the immersion everyone greets everyone in a fraternal embrace and visitors to every home are treated to sweetmeats. The Calcutta area, where many thousands of pujas are organised in different mohallas, offers a grand spectacle with a fair-like atmosphere in the streets and markets and brisk buying and selling of articles for utility and beauty are made. Handicrafts have a hey day. Fairs are held everywhere on the Vijaya (victory) day.

The festive season continues till Kalipuja which takes place about three weeks after. Here, the image of Kali, the Dark Goddess who destroys evil to preserve creation, is that of a blue back nude female with four hands, holding a curved scimitar in one hand and the severed head of a demon in each of two hands, the fourth hand being raised in a gesture of reassurance. She has a garland of severed heads dangling from the neck to the groin. She has stepped on the supine body of her consort Siva, the realisation of which fact makes her halt in her indiscriminate orgy of destruction and makes her bite her projecting tongue in abashment. She is the Goddess of primeval power, a tantric concept at variance with that of Durga whom Bengalis worship as the Benevolent Mother. Animal sacrifices are usually made to the Goddess except in the pujas organised by public subscription.

Diwali , the festival of light is celebrated on the night preceding Kali-Puja. Every Hindu home is illuminated with numbers of lamps and a grand display of fire works is held. The night is filled with the hiss of rockets and the boom of crackers. Unlike the tradition in upper India, Diwali in Bengal does not mark the inauguration of the commercial new year. The commercial new year is reserved for the first day of the Bengali year corresponding to the 15th day of April. The festivities on Diwali night has rich cultural content. Gambling is socially permitted. Religious discourses, recitals from arced books embellished with songs and expositions are held in temples. Diwali formally ushers in the season of winter.

HISTORY

The proximity to the sea also resulted in the influence with the foreigners -- the Portuguese in the early 16th century, the Dutch in about 1632, the French influence between 1673-1676, the Danish in 1676 and British in 1690. The increased influence of the British resulted in conflicts with the Nawab. The diplomatic efforts with a series of conspiracies resulted in the ultimate capture of power in Bengal by the British. The battle of Plassey (1757) and the battle of Buxar (1764) sealed the fate of the Mughal rule. The British later brought forth the Dual system of administration  In 1905 the English partitioned Bengal on the basis of religion. Calcutta remained the Capital of the British empire in India till 1911. After that the capital was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. 

In their racial composition, the inhabitants of West Bengal present a prolific inter mixture of five separate racial strains. The oldest stratum of the population is Proto-Australian in origin. The element called Nishadic is found preponderantly among the tribals in the plateau fringe and beyond into Chhotanagpur and central India. They are long headed, dark skinned, broad-nosed and short in stature. Variously labeled as Negritos and Negroids, their physical features are evident among the lowest castes of Bengal, mainly the peasants.

The next wave of immigration was by a long-headed race with a taller structure, sharp nose and prominent chin, known as Dravidians. This race is believed to have come from the northern Mediterranean littoral, shortly in their wake came the round headed Sumerians, also called Armenoids, from western area, via, Persia.

The next considerable racial element to come into the western part of Bengal is the round headed Alpine or Indo-Aryan race with its fair skin, oval face, prominent nose and long body. The fifth racial strain, the Mongoloid is represented in the population of the Darjeeling district of northern West Bengal, which is of the Tibetan type. Undoubtedly Mongoloid features show unimistakable traces among Hindu as well as Muslim rural people of north Bengal districts the Koches and Rajbanis of the Dooars plains shows additional traces of mixture with the eastern Mongoloids of the Burmese type.

The five main racial strains are inextricably intermixed, and it is practically impossible to find a pure racial type in the population. On the whole it may be said that the main elements of the Bengali race are the long headed matrilineal Mediterranean type which brings our Dravidian affinity and the round headed Mediterranean type who associates with the people of upper India. As regards the so-called lower castes of the state, these elements are of much lesser importance. The predominant element here being the proto-Australoid in varying proportions.

EDUCATION

In the whole of the rural West Bengal and in the most of the municipal areas the primary education is free and compulsory. Free supply of text books have been under taken. Girls education up to standard VIII has been made free in rural and urban areas, including Calcutta.

DRESS

The common Bengali dress is the dhoti and a stitched upper garment - a shirt, a Punjabi Kurta or a half-sleeved vest. The urban population has started favouring pyjama and trousers for convenience and economy. The western style of dress is being adopted by the more affluent as a status symbol replacing the achakan-pyjama and the Shamla Pugree, there is a general absence of any kind of headdresses, Muslims cover there head during prayer and religious ceremonies. The women invariably wear the waist to ankle length sari in a graceful style. The upper part is covered by different styles of blouses.

FOOD HABITS

The Bengali is predominantly a rice eater. All but the very devout Hindus eat fish as a principal item of their food. He has a sweet tooth and everyone who can afford them enjoys sweet meats made with milk casein (chhan) of which a large variety have been evolved. Another essential item is dal (pulses) which supplements their protein requirements. A large assortment of vegetables and seasonal fruits completes the dietary. Bengalis prefer to other beverages, the habit of taking sweetened tea has a spread to there remotest villages. Chewing of pan laced with lime, Kattha and arecanut is universal., so is the smoking of tobacco, either plain in the form of bidi or mixed with treacle and spices for the hookah. Cigarette smoking has been spreading to rural areas but is still something of a symbol . Drinking of palm juice today and home made alcoholic brews is largely confined to industrial labour and the tribal population.