Shantiniketan

Shantiniketan has been a place with which I have been able to relate from my first ever holiday. Its a short 3.5 hours drive from Kolkata and the road condition is mostly good. However the  NH2B has suffered somewhat recently and isn't the road that it used to be. 

Paintings at the Saturday Haat

We arrived at the property around noon and decided to forgo lunch. After some tea and snacks, we went to visit the Khoyai Haat - the Saturday Bazaar where local artisans come to sell their stuff. And tribes men and women dance to the rythm of the Madol. Cucumber and guava pickle sellers, chae wallahs, men and women from the city throng the Haat and its a great way to spend the first day in Shantiniketan

Sonajhuri Forest

Towards Kankalitala

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We spent the evening at the big, verandah of the Bungalow and sat on an antic piece of furniture, felt the soft wind and the saw the branches of the trees that had overlapped on the verandah. An evening spent in tranquility - or - I would prefer to say - it was our "Shantiniketan". After a nice dinner of Rice, Dal, Egg curry, Shukto, Alu Bhaja, Alu posto, we went off to sleep.

The next day we hired a guide (Took Rs 150) and toured the Viswa Bharati university, saw the Museum, Tagore's different houses. Went for a short drive to the Kankalitala and Hansulibak and returned back to Kolkata later in the evening.

Route:  Kolkata - NH2/Durgapur Expressway (Burdwan)  -Guskara -Bhedia - Shantiniketan

Distance from Kolkata: ~200kms

Time Required: 3.5 hrs

Things to See:Viswa Bharati, Kankalitala Shaktipeeth, Hansulibak, Khoyai, Saturday Haat, Sonajhuri forest.

Accommodation: Several hotels and resorts available. We stayed at the Garden Bungalow.(http://thegardenbungalow.com/)
 

Countryside

The Garden Bungalow

The Khoyai

Memorabilia for Sale at the Saturday Haat