West Bengal :

West Bengal has 18 districts and Calcutta serves as the state capital. There are over 23 towns with over 100,000 population. The largest cities are Calcutta, Howrah, Asansol, Durgapur and Siliguri. Other important towns include Darjeeling, Kharagpur and Haldia. Calcutta is amongst the largest metropolitan regions in the world.
The state has international boundaries with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. The Indian states sharing boundaries with West Bengal are Orissa, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam.

Kolkata (Calcutta)

The 'City of Joy', founded by Job Charnock traces it's origin to 3 marshy villages - Govindpur, Sultanati and Kalikata, Calcutta is a college of myraid impressions and images - Howrah and the Hooghly, "Rogogulla" and Dargapiya, the "Bhadralok" and communism, the crowds, the slums and British Raj ambience and much more. The various tourist attractions in Calcutta are well known. The Indian Museum built in 1875 is one of the best in India. Open daily from 10 am to 5 pm except on Mondays
(Distance from the Airport 23 Kms, Approx, time 50 Mins.)



Places of Interest
The Botanical Gardens - have the famous 200 year old banyan tree claimed to be the largest in the world.

Mahesh - 23 Kms from Calcutta, houses a large and very old Jagannath temple. It is the site of the Mahesh Yatra Car festival held in June/July every year and 2nd in size only the great Car Festival Jaggannathpuri.
Victoria Memorial, a huge white marble museum; a combination of classical European architecture with Moghul influences, tells the story of the British Empire at it's peak. To the East of the Victoria Memorial and at the southern end of the Maidan stands St. Paul's Cathedral, one of the most important Churches in India.

Fort William and the Maidan in which it stands are famed too with the latter being "the green area" in Calcutta.

Other Places of Interest - The Birla Planetarium, Zoo,Howrah Bridge, St. John's Church, Raj Bhavan, Town Hall, High Court, the Nehru Children's Musuem, Tagore House, Nakhoda Mosque, Belur Math, Dakshineshwar Kali Temple etc. are some of the major attractions on the tourist's itinerary.