पश्चिम बंगाल – आवारा मुसाफिर

Four new toy trains in Darjeeling for festive season

August 30, 2022646 Views

The NFR has decided to operate four new special joyrides under the toy train service of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) during the ensuing festive season, a senior official said. The new toy trains will run between Darjeeling and Ghum in both directions on a daily basis from October 1 and will continue till December 31 in view of the upcoming festive season, Northeast Frontier Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Sabyasachi De said. "All the joyride specials will run with a composition of three first-class chair car coaches," he said. There will be 30 seats in every first-class chair car coach, the official said. The details of stoppages and timings of these trains are available on IRCTC website and have been informed to the public through various media. The four t...

खबरनामापश्चिम बंगाल

Tourism seeing boom in the domestic sector

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

January 1, 20221258 Views

As 2021 plagued by COVID-19 comes to a close, the domestic tourism sector in the West Bengal is seeing a boom after hitting the nadir during the last nearly two years owing to the pandemic but the increase in the incidence of Omicron has forced tour operators to keep their fingers crossed on international travel, leading tour operators here said. In the state capital Kolkata, tourism has got a filip after its famed Durga Puja was included in UNESCO's list of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity' and is expected to attract more foreign and domestic tourists, they said. The village tourism sector operating in the eastern Himalayas and destinations in the north east was hit during the pandemic and many of those involved in it went back to their family agricultural activities, ...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

UNESCO inscribes Kolkata Durga Puja as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 16, 20211068 Views

The Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has inscribed ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 16th session being held at Paris, France from 13th to 18th December 2021. The Committee commended Durga Puja for its initiatives to involve marginalized groups, and individuals as well as women in their participation in safeguarding the element. Photo: Abhyudaya Chatterjee/UNESCO In its inscription UNESCO says, “Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated in September or October, most notably in Kolkata, in West Bengal of India, but also in other parts of India and amongst the Bengali diaspora. It marks the ten-day worship of the Hindu mother-goddes...

असमखबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

Two tourist special trains with vistadome coaches in northeast

UPENDRA SWAMI

August 26, 20211027 Views

Scenic trips to Dooars and Haflong to enthral travelers from Saturday Two long-awaited tourist trains with vistadome coaches will start their journey from Saturday. One will be through the lush green forests and tea gardens of Dooars in north Bengal and another one to scenic destination of Haflong in Assam. Both trains will be run by Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). The train between New Jalpaiguri (NJP) and Alipurduar Junction through Dooars has already become an attraction among tourists as well as curious locals with all seats booked for this weekend, railway officials said on Thursday. This tourist train will have a vistadome coach, two air-conditioned chair cars and two non-a/c chair cars, apart from a luggage car and a power coach. "It will run three days a week -- ...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

Darjeeling toy train will resume services from Christmas with joy rides

UPENDRA SWAMI

December 24, 2020504 Views

Much to the delight of tourists flocking to the hills in the festive season, joy rides of the famed toy train of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) will resume from Christmas, a Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official said on Thursday. Three daily joy ride services will be run between Darjeeling and Ghum stations from Friday, the NFR spokesman said from Maligaon. FILE PHOTO: Train at Ghum station "The West Bengal government has given permission for the resumption of joy ride services between Darjeeling and Ghum at present," he said. The number of services may be increased later depending on the demand of passengers, he said. Resumption of services over the full 88-km length of the DHR between Darjeeling and New Jalpaiguri stations in the plains at Siliguri will be conside...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

Tiger census begins in Sundarbans

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

December 17, 20201179 Views

The tiger census through camera trapping method has started in West Bengal's Sundarbans, which, according to the last estimate, was home to 96 big cats, an official said. The process of camera installation in the Sundarbans, one of the largest mangrove forests in the world, has been completed in the first phase, and the movement of big cats will be monitored for a month, he said. "We have already installed many cameras. The forest department will also put 272 more in January. Overall 1,164 cameras will be installed at 582 locations this time," Sundarbans Tiger Reserve field director Tapas Das said. Altogether 10 teams comprising 120 forest personnel are taking part in the exercise, he said on Wednesday. According to the last census, the tiger population in the Sundarbans r...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

An art gallery on a tram in Kolkata

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

November 29, 20201234 Views

An art gallery on a tram will be launched in Kolkata in the first week of December to celebrate the city's artistic spirit, West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) Managing Director Rajanvir Singh Kapur said on Saturday. Conceived by the WBTC, the Kolkata Tram Art Gallery would display a vista of art and paintings by contemporary artists. A tramcar has been modified in such a way that paintings can be easily displayed in its interiors. "The idea of the Tram Art Gallery is to make art exhibitions accessible, especially for students. The gallery on wheels would reach all parts of the city, rather than people visiting a gallery in one corner of it," Kapur said. On the days artists book the tram, people will be able to view their paintings on paying a nominal entry fee of Rs 6. ...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

For the first time, no pilgrims during Belur Math Puja

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

October 14, 2020657 Views

The Belur Math, global headquarters of Rama Krishna Math and Mission, has decided not to allow devotees during the Durga Puja for the first time in its history due to the pandemic situation and will live stream the proceedings instead. A Belur Math spokesman said, "we request our lakhs of devotees, who visit the Belur Math temple compound and pandal on the four days every year, to sit at home and watch the rituals on YouTube from October 21 to 26 (the day of Panchami to Dashami). The devotees can watch the rituals live on YouTube, he said. This is for the first time in the 119-year history of Durga Puja in Belur Math that pilgrims will not be allowed to witness the puja started by Swami Vivekananda in the same complex in 1901, the spokesman said. The puja will be held inside ...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

A 90 minute river cruise on Ganges for just Rs 39

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

September 27, 2020659 Views

A river cruise for just Rs 39 may sound unbelievable, but the WBTC has come forward to launch a leisure ride on the Ganges for the price to give tourists and local visitors a memorable experience of viewing the heritage of the city, an official said on Sunday. The unique pricing of less than a Dollar for a 90- minute cruise over the Ganges, like the London river cruise or Singapore boat ride or those on River Mandovi in Goa, is aimed at attracting people from all walks of life, West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) managing director Rajanvir Singh Kapur said. Howrah Bridge in Kolkata The cruise, traversing many landmarks and hidden gems of the city of joy, will be launched on October one, he said. "The idea is to make heritage river cruise experience affordable and popular amo...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपश्चिम बंगाल

West Bengal to open its forests for tourists from Sep 23

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

September 18, 20201089 Views1

Forests in West Bengal will be opened for tourists from September 23, officials have said. Every year the forests close down for two months due to the monsoon -- from July 15 to September 15, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic the forests have been out of bounds for tourists since the beginning of the lockdown in March, they said. Wild elephants at Dooars The state government decided to open the forests ahead of the festive season as the prolonged closure was bleeding the tourism economy, they added. The forests of West Bengal are like none other. Forests are strewn across the state from the northernmost tip, on the slopes of the high Himalayas, to the Dooars in the foothills, through several lesser-known forest, in the western tracts of the state and the fertile Gangetic pl...