Birbhum-Murshidabad is a region in West Bengal consisting of the districts of Birbhum and Murshidabad. Birhum is famous for its folk culture, especially the itinerant singers known as 'bauls'. The district is also known as "Ranga Matir desh" because of its reddish soil. Murshidabad was the historical centre of the last independent Bengal state.
Cities
- 1 Baharampur
- 2 Bakreshwar
- 3 Fullara — located near Labhpur
- 4 Kankalitala
- 5 Kendubillo (Jaydev Kenduli) — birthplace of Joydeb, 12th century Sanskrit poet, also famous for the old temple and fair
- 6 Labhpur — birth place of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay
- 7 Murshidabad
- 8 Nalhati
- 9 Nanoor — birthplace of Chandidas Rami, Sanskrit poet, possibly of the 14th century
- 10 Sainthia
- 11 Santiniketan
- 12 Tarapith
Other destinations
Understand
It is basically an agricultural district. The people in and around Santiniketan and the temple towns and shakti peethas are used to the inflow of large number of tourists.
Talk
Bengali is the local language. There are Santhalis and other tribals in the area. Hindi and a little bit of English is understood in the towns.
Get in
- By rail - It is well-connected with Kolkata.
- By road - The Panagarh-Moregram Expressway linking Grand Trunk Road (NH 2) with NH 5 crosses the district. There are several other entry points for the district.
- By bus - the neighbouring districts are well connected with Birbhum by bus.
Get around
The towns of Birbhum district are well connected by roads.
See
- The Nandikeshwari Temple at Sainthia city.
- Tagore's university at Santiniketan
- Shakti Peethas - temple towns.
- Hot spring at Bakreshwar.
- The Sarbamangala Temple at Kundola (a 300 yr old village once dominated by Zamindars (Mukherjee family).
- The Fullara Temple at Labpur.
- The Maa Tara Temple at Tarapith.
- The lush green natural beauty on the way to Massanjore from Seorakuri(Suri).
- The Kongkalitala Temple near Bolpur city.
- The Nalateswari Temple at Nalhati town.
Do
- Go to Data Mahbub Shah (Rahmatullahe Alaihe) Majar (Tomb) at Pathor Chapuri
Eat
- Siuri is famous for a sweetmeat, morabba, and for pickles. Morabba is made of various vegetable/fruit items preserved in a sugar base: pataler motabba, beler motabba, chal kumror morabba (known as petha in Agra), sata mulir morabba, amlokir morabba and so on. These are available in the sweetmeat shops.
Drink
If you are the adventurous type, try the fresh toddy juice as the tappers bring it down early in the morning beside roads in the rural areas. However, avoid it, if you get it late in the day as once late fermentation starts.