Digha

Digha
—  town  —
Digha Location of Digha in West Bengal and India
Coordinates	21°41′N 87°33′E / 21.68°N 87.55°E / 21.68; 87.55Coordinates: 21°41′N 87°33′E / 21.68°N 87.55°E / 21.68; 87.55
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District(s)	Purba Medinipur
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 6 metres (20 ft)

Digha (Bengali: দীঘা) is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in East Midnapore district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It is the most popular sea resort in the West Bengal.^[1] Renowned for its beaches, Digha is visited by thousands of tourists every year. Digha is the nearest and most popular sea resort of West Bengal. It is mostly famous as a weekend destination for Kolkatans.

Geography

It is located at 21°41′N 87°33′E / 21.68°N 87.55°E / 21.68; 87.55.^[2] It has an average elevation of 6 metres (22 feet).

It is located 183 km from Kolkata/Howrah via Mecheda and 234 km 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.

1. Mandarmani
2. New Digha
3. Tajpur
4. OLD DIGHA

History

Originally, there was place called Beerkul, where Digha lies today. This name was referred in Warren Hastings's letters as Brighton of the East.^[1] An English tourist John Frank Smith 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.^[1]

Transport

Bus Service

There is frequent bus service to Digha from Dharmatala bus stand of Kolkata and many other parts of West Bengal. It is almost a 5 hour journey from Kolkata. Bus service is also available from towns across West Bengal such as Midnapore, Bankura, Asansol, Bardhaman, Howrah, and, also from Orissa via Balasore (Baleswar).

Train Service

Howrah-Digha tamralipta express 6.40am.......Tamralipta Express/12858 Type: SuperFast Zone: SER/South Eastern 3h 25m 189 km 6 halts 56 km/hr

In 2004, train services have started for Digha (Station Code : DGHA). There is one DMU service from Santragachhi railway station and there are three new trains from Howrah Station too. Howrah - Digha Superfast Tamralipta Express (12857 UP) departs from Howrah at 06:40 hrs and arrives at Digha station at 10:05 hrs. Return train (12858 DN) Digha station at 10:25 hrs to arrive Howrah at 13:50 hrs.

Train times have been changed

Howrah - Digha Kandari Express (18001 UP) departs from Howrah at 14:10 hrs and arrives at Digha station at 17:50 hrs. Return train (18002 DN) Digha station at 18:10 hrs to arrive Howrah at 21:45 hrs.

New Jalpaiguri - Digha Paharia Express (15722 DN) departs from New Jalpaiguri station at 21:00 hrs and reaches at 12:00 hrs. The train runs from New Japlaiguri on Friday. Return train (15721 UP) which runs on Saturday only starts from Digha station at 16:20 hrs and reaches New Jalpaiguri at 08:45 hrs.

Santragachhi - Digha Passenger departs from Santragachhi at 18:15 hrs and arrives at Digha station at 22:15 hrs. Return train Digha station at 5.30 hrs to arrive Santragachhi station (about 8 km from Howrah) at 9:45 hrs.

Howrah - Duranto Express Train - An AC special train for tourists has been introduced. It departs from Howrah rly station at 11:30 hrs and reaches Digha at 14:00 hrs without any stoppage in between. The complete train consists of AC chair cars.

Area

Beachfront congestion and a record number of tidal waves are some of the problems plaguing Old Digha

Shankarpur beach is a popular attraction for those seeking to avoid the crowds

Udaipur Sea Beach

Digha's old beach isn't 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 at New Digha which is about 2 km from the old beach. This new beach is not only bigger than the old one, but might be considered a better one.^{[citation needed]} It is clean and well-maintained and is not surrounded by a congested locality like the older beach. There are hotels within a walking distance from the beach here. The locality itself seems to be better planned.

The entire stretch of the Digha seaface from Old Digha to New Digha is filled with casuarina plantations, which looks beautiful. Tourists come here and bath in the sea, stroll by the beach along the casuarina trees and enjoy the sights and scenes offered by this magnificent stretch of sea.

There's also another upcoming sea resort at Shankarpur which is located 10 km from Digha along the coast. Another important spot near Digha is the Shiva temple at Chandaneshwar which is 6 km west of Digha. During the Bengali month of Chaitra, a popular annual fair is organised here.

Nearby places of interest

• Udaipur: This is a spectacular beach, almost virgin, 2 km west of Digha, in West Bengal Orissa Border. One part of this clandestine beach is in West Bengal and the other in Orissa. One enters this beach just walking or driving along Bengal-Orissa border. This beach has not been explored so far. The beach has some USPs which have to be experienced to be believed. The vegetation, typical of slopes in Eastern Ghats and the great Casuarina atmosphere, makes this beach, a one of a kind experience. The nearby delta, where the mighty Subarnarekha merges into the Bay of Bengal, is an additional attraction.

• The Marine Aquarium and Research Centre (MARC) 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 (15x10x10’) marine tanks and 8 fresh water (3x2x2’) tanks which are equipped with compressed air supply, light and regulated supply of inflow & outflow of water.
  Hundreds of visitors make it a point to view the Aquarium every day. The aquarium is opened to public on all working days from 9.3 0 A.M. to 6 P. M.
• Lord Shiva Temple At Chandaneswar:Only 8 km away from Digha the century old Temple of Lord Shiva at Chandaneswar,near Bengal and Orissa Border.Nearly half million people & pilgrims visit the temple at Maha Vishuva Sankranti or Gajan Mela : towards the end of Chaitra.
• Junput: It is 40 km away from Digha; famous for fishing.
• Shankarpur: Also known as virgin beach, only 14 km east of Digha. It is also a regular fishing harbour. This beach is mostly empty except on weekends. The mornings are cool, when fishermen can be seen hauling their huge nets out of the sea. The morning sun reflecting on the sea waves in the east, and the local fish-boats on the coast offer excellent photographic opportunities.
• Subarnarekha River: The salty place where Subarnarekha River draining into Bay of Bengal, only 12 km away from Digha, located in Orissa-Bengal border. This is a new destination for Digha tourists.
• Talsari: A small delta on Bay of Bengal, only 6 km away from Digha, located on Bengal-Orissa border. A quiet place, close to both sea and Subarnarekha river.
• Mandarmani: Mandarmani is a small virgin beach on Bay of Bengal, only a few km from Digha. It is also a small fishing harbour and a fast developing tourist resort.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Digha page in National Informatics Centre site
2. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Digha

External links

• West Bengal Tourism site on Digha
• Digha travel guide from Wikitravel