BONGAON
Bangaon is a subdivision of the North 24 parganas district in the state of West Bengal. It consists of Bangaon municipality and three community development blocks: Bagda, Bangaon and Gaighata. The three blocks contain two census towns and 38 gram panchayats. The subdivision has its headquarters at Bangaon.
We decided to make this trip a week back but for some reasons it did not happen. However, the second time we made it possible. Was told about this place by one of my uncles colleague that lives in Barasat. Bongaon town is about 72 km away from Calcutta and it's about 8 km from the Bangladesh border. Our wonderful journey started on 25th March 2016, with an early morning walk at 6:30 am from Mcleod Street to Sealdah Station - Calcutta. There was a little confusion with the lady in the ticket counter at Sealdah Station because she could not understand me when i asked for two tickets to Bongaon. This turned out quite embarrassing for a moment apparently she asked me to write it on my palm which i did and she yelled its Bonga not Bongaon. Oh My well learnt something new though. Anyway this did not keep us from proceeding further. We boarded the Bonga local at around 7:20 am and to our surprise we even got seats since local trains are never empty but our journey, nevertheless was pleasant as it lasted for about 2 hours.
On our arrival at Bongaon Jn.
We decided to rest a bit with some chai and biscuits before we could make our move into this amazing town. As we made our way in we approached an elderly man with a cycle van who said he would take us around Bongaon for just Rs.100. Cycle vans are one of the way locals travel in and around the town area even though you do have options to travel in auto, taxi's or even buses.
Here are some shots while enjoying our adventurous ride through Bongaon.
There are to main bridges in this town that cross over the Ichamati Main River which also flows into Bangladesh.
The Roy Bridge.
The Rakhaldas Setu Bridge.
On our way we were delighted with the amazing scenery and the clean roads, however we even came across some religious place.
The Satsang Shree Mandir on Chhaygharia Road and was built in 2001.
We managed to even catch up with a Good Friday procession organized by locals.
After all this we were told about a very famous historians house that was over 500 years old. Mr. Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay (12 April 1885 – 23 May 1930), also known as R. D. Banerjee, was an Indian historian and a native Indian pioneer in the fields of Indian Archaeology, Epigraphy and Palaeography.
This is one of the doors to the main entrance which is made from solid Teakwood and has iron stud like nails hammered into each wood panels.
After seeing all this and sitting for hours on the cycle van that made our rears numb, we decided to take a walk through these small village roads. Here are some shots.
Was so glad to have come to this part of West Bengal as i have never even dream't existed. The villages, the people, the atmosphere was a place you'd want to live the rest of your life away from all the chaos that's filled with lunatics.
Now comes the wild life of Bongaon that will surely sweep you off your feet with the forest greenery and beautiful scenery. Here our some of my shots on our way to the jungle by auto.
Bibhuti Bhushan Wildlife Sanctuary (Parmadon) is just over three hours drive from Kolkata and is popular for deer's, Snakes, Monkey's and varied species of birds. Located on the banks of Ichhamati River, you can take a lazy country boat ride through the forest or a refreshing jungle stroll watching the friendly deer prance around. You can also enjoy some delicious bengali style food at the tourist lodge of West Bengal forest department at Parmadon. Here are some of my best shots in the forest.
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This is one place that has everything a photographer would need. A trip that i would never forget and i would visit again for sure but to stay for a longer period of time as one day is just not good enough for me but i can proudly say that this was worth every penny.
