Hooghly and Howrah are a pair of districts of West Bengal with common cultural heritage. These two districts cover the western banks of the Hooghly River.
Cities
[edit]
Hooghly
[edit]- 1 Chinsurah (চুঁচুড়া Cũcuṛā) — headquarters of Hooghly district, former Dutch colony
- 2 Arambagh (আরামবাগ Ārāmbāg) —
- 3 Bandel (ব্যান্ডেল Byānḍel) — historic port city, former Portuguese colony, home to Bandel Church
- 4 Bansberia (বাঁশবেড়িয়া Bānśbeṛiẏā) —
- 5 Chandannagar (চন্দননগর Candannagar) — a former French colony, famous for Jagaddhatri Puja and the immersion rally
- 6 Guptipara (গুপ্তিপাড়া Guptipāṛā) —
- 7 Kamarpukur (কামারপুকুর Kāmārpukur) — birthplace of Sri Ramakrishna
- 8 Pandua (পাণ্ডুয়া Pāṇḍuẏā) —
- 9 Serampore and Uttarpara — Serampore is a former Danish colony, while Uttarpara was once a leading automobile hub in India
- 10 Tarakeswar (তারকেশ্বর Tārakeśbar) — the "City of Shiva", Tarakeswar is a popular pilgrimage spot
Rural Howrah
[edit]Rural Howrah is home to picnic spots dominated by weekend visitors.
- 11 Deulti (দেউলটি Deulṭi) — A picnic spot, known for the residence of Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
- 12 Gadiara (গাদিয়াড়া Gādiẏāṛā) — A mervalous picnic spot with zoo and park nearby
Understand
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History
[edit]Hooghly and Howrah have thousands of years of rich heritage as part of the Bengali kingdom of Bhurshut, also known as Bhurishrestha. The name "Hooghly" comes from the original Portuguese settlement.
The towns of Bandel, Chandannagar, Chinsurah and Serampore in are together called the "Little Europe of India" as the towns have their own fragrance of history and culture, and they were colonies of Portugal, France, Holland and Denmark respectively.
Both Hooghly and Howrah boast of a huge industrial area along the Hooghly River. There are a number of industrial complexes, including one of the largest car-making plants in India, the Hindustan Motors plant in Uttarpara. The once-flourishing manufacturing belt still has some units working well, but the industrial area is no longer in the pink of health and is often in the news for the wrong reasons.
Get in
[edit]By train
[edit]Hooghly and Howrah is home to Howrah Junction railway station, some of the busiest railway stations in India. Other major railheads in the region include Hooghly (Bandel Junction) and Tarakeswar.
By car
[edit]The NH 19 (formerly NH 2), also known as the Durgapur Expressway, terminates at Dankuni, near Howrah. The highway is part of the Golden Quadrilateral that connects four megacities of India. The NH 19 is also part of the Asian Highway 1 (AH 1) that continues further east to Bangladesh and eventually to Japan.