Digha
Digha is the most famous and most visited sea beach in West Bengal. Thousand of tourist come here every year and it is one of the favorite honeymoon spot for many as well. Digha is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies inEast Midnapore district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach with gentle waves extending up to 7 km (4.3 mi) in length. It is the most popular sea resort in the West Bengal.
Digha দীঘা |
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| Town / Tourist Attraction | |
New Digha Beach
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| Coordinates: 21°41′N 87°33′ECoordinates: 21°41′N 87°33′E | |
| Country | India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District | Purba Medinipur |
| Elevation | 6 m (20 ft) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali, English |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Geography :
It is located at 21.68°N 87.55°E.It has an average elevation of 6 metres (20 ft). It is located 183 km (114 mi) from Kolkata/Howrah via Mecheda and 234 km (145 mi) via Kharagpur, this proximity has probably helped this small hamlet to emerge as a popular weekend getaway with number of good hotels and tourist lodges. Digha is connected to Kolkata/Howrah by a highway and a rail-link via Tamluk.History :
Originally, there was a place called Beerkul, where Digha lies today. This name was referred in Warren Hastings's letters (1780) as Brighton of the East. An English businessman John Frank Snaith started living here in 1923 and his writings provided a good exposure to this place. He convinced West Bengal Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy to develop this place to be a beach resort.Climate :
There are mainly three seasons in Digha, namely summer, monsoon and winter. Summer starts in April and continues to till June with an maximum temperature of 37 °C (99 °F). Although cold wind from sea keeps the weather pleasant in this time. Next comes monsoon in July and lasts till the end of September. Digha generally experiences an average rainfall with high humidity in the monsoon season. Winter sets in October and lasts till February with a temperature range from 24-3 °C.July to March is considered as the best time to visit Digha as weather stays most pleasant in these times.Transport :
Bus Service -
There is frequent bus service to Digha from Dharmatala bus stand of Kolkata and many other parts of West Bengal.Train Service -
In 2004, train services have started for Digha railway station (Station Code : DGHA). There is one DMU service from Santragachi railway station and there are three new trains from Howrah Station too.
Express train at Digha station
Area :
Digha's old beach is not as wide as it used to be due to heavy soil erosion. Big stones and concrete steps are used to hold together the beach. Another problem is the record number of tidal waves that have caused many of the unplanned shacks and smaller hotels to succumb to the sea. Since it is one of very few popular beaches in West Bengal, it gets overcrowded, especially during the cooler winter break. A new beach has been developed "New Digha" which is about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the old beach. This new beach is not only bigger than the old one, but might be considered a better one.It is clean and well-maintained and is not surrounded by a congested locality like the older beach. The latest attraction of New Digha is the Science Centre established by the National Council of Science Museums. The entire stretch of the Digha seaface from Old Digha to New Digha is filled with casuarina plantations, which looks beautiful.Places of interest -
Digha Gate :
Beautiful gate at Digha in East Medinipur
Marine Aquarium and Research Centre (MARC) :
It was established in the year 1989 during the Seventh Five Year Plan. The major objective of the Centre is to display the marine biodiversity of the region and impart its values to the common people and to carryout the research activities. MARC has largest inbuilt marine aquarium in the country and equipped with sea water circulation system and advanced filtration unit. The aquarium has 24 big sized (4.6 m × 3.0 m × 3.0 m (15 ft × 10 ft × 10 ft)) marine tanks and 8 fresh water (0.91 m × 0.61 m × 0.61 m (3 ft × 2 ft × 2 ft)) tanks which are equipped with compressed air supply, light and regulated supply of inflow & outflow of water.Lord Shiva Temple At Chandaneswar :
This place is only 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Digha the century old Temple of Lord Shiva at Chandaneswar, near Bengal and Orissa Border. During the Bengali month of Chaitra, a popular annual fair is organised here. Nearly half million people and pilgrims visit the temple.Udaypur Beach :
If you want to spend time in peace or enjoy the sea in peace and roam around in Casuarina jungle than Udaypur beach is the best place for you. To reach Udaypur Beach Cars are available from Old Digha Stand.Activities in Digha:-
Shopping – Digha is famous for various handicrafts and ornaments made of seashells. That comes at a cheap price but have to bargain properly. There are many markets like BatTola Market, Khanika Market, Nehru Market etc etc and for shopping Old Digha is the best place. Buying cashew nuts is not a very good choice because the price is same as which available in Kolkata. But be careful about purchasing pearls, specially from running hawkers of Digha’s beach. Water Sports – There are many types of adventure sports can be enjoyed on Beach like water skiing, snorkeling, para-sailing and many more but comes little over priced. The beach of Digha is stretched around 23km so you can plan for other sports like volley, kabaddi, Cricket and even football and it comes free. You can try Horse riding on the beach and this is real fun.Others – After enjoying the sea for a long time, rat will rumble in your stomach and Digha is also famous for different sea fishes. So there have many places and many choices available to satisfy your Gastro Instinct. Fishermen sell fresh fishes on the beach at cheap price on early morning or you can try buying fish from fish market of Mohona area that is also cheap. But I recommend you to buy on early morning from the beach. On early morning in beach, you can find Date juice (Khejur Rosh) and palm juice sellers, so you can also try these. The new attraction of Digha is Ropeway/Cable car so you can try this with your family and friends.
Hotels in Digha -
Digha is surrounded by Hotels and hotels accommodations are easily available except any special occasions. All kinds of Hotels are available in Digha, from Cheap Hotels to Luxury hotels. If you are visiting in normal weekdays, must bargain for rates. If you need budget hotel try first at Old Digha than try in New Digha.PHOTO GALLERY -
Beach net fishing at Digha
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