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Located at a distance of 162 km from Kolkata, the little hamlet town of Bolpur has always been an attraction for tourists visiting this part of the world through out the year. Located in the famous Birbhum district, Bolpur has gained its popularity due to its close proximity to the very popular Shantiniketan. If you are looking to witness the raw culture of West Bengal, then you should definitely plan a weekend trip to Shantiniketan. The place gained popularity after the Britishers established the first railway line back in 1858-1859. However as per the locals, the place gained its true value, after two major events which were :

• The establishment of the religious meditation center by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore (Father of Nobel prize winner poet Kavi Guru Rabindranath Tagore)
• And establishment of Viswa Bharati by Kavi Guru Rabindranath Tagore

Today the place still attracts travelers across the country due to the natural beauty of the place and the peace and tranquility which surrounds it .

How to reach

By Train – There are plenty of trains running on a regular basis from Sealdah, Howrah and Kolkata station (earlier Chitpur) and generally takes around 3-3.5 hours to reach Bolpur Shantiniketan station. You can also get down in Prantik station as well, which falls in the same region.

By Road – The driving distance from Kolkata to Bolpur is around 162 km. It should ideally take approximately take 3.5-4 hours to reach there if you follow the route Kolkata > Bardhaman > Bolpur. Dont forget to take a break along the way in Shaktigarh to have the famous Langcha if you have a sweet tooth

By Airways – Kolkata airport is the nearest airport from Bolpur and then you follow the roadway route

Best time to visit

The best time for planning a weekend trip to Shantiniketan is during the winters when the temperature hovers around 8- 15 degrees and its quite pleasant during that time. Avoid the summer months as it gets very hot with average temperature revolves around 37-42 degrees. However if you are a avid nature lover like us then you can definitely choose the monsoons when the greenery of the place will be a treat to the eyes.

Where to stay

There are plenty of accommodation in and around Bolpur Shantiniketan region. You can easily book hotels from different online applications like GoIbibo, Makemytrip, Agoda etc. If you don’t have any hotel booked, hire a auto, toto once you get down and the local drivers will surely guide you to a decent hotel depending on your budget. Off late there are plenty of home stays which has developed in the region, you can get contact details from the different YouTube vlogs.

Tip – Always pre book hotel if you are visiting during the winter season as there is huge rush during that time.

What to eat during your weekend trip to Shantiniketan

If you are a foody then definitely this is a place which wont disappoint you. You will have the best local Bengali cuisine in this region. Few famous places to eat are Banabithir henshel ghar, Barishaler Ranna Ghar, Ram Shyam Restaurent, Shakuntala restaurent, The oyster etc. We felt the price of food a little on the higher side in Bolpur compared to other region of Bengal however with the proportion and quality of food that actually gets nullified.

Tip – Bolpur has a unique concept of Thali system in almost 90% of the local eateries. A person with a small apatite will have a little difficulty to have a thali all the time.

How to get around

The place can be easily covered with 1 to 2 days in hand, thus its an ideal place to visit if you plan a weekend trip to Shantiniketan. There are a plenty of Toto and Auto available which you can book for an entire day or for few hours depending on the time you have. They generally charge Rs 500-1500 depending on various seasons. We found an auto quite comfortable to move around compared to a toto specially on rough patches. The best part is that, the drivers will be your guide for the entire tour so you don’t have to hire a separate guide to know the history of the place.

Our itinerary/places to visit

Apart from the beautiful Viswa Bharati campus and its related places of interest, Bolpur has a lot to offer. We reached Bolpur at around 12pm in the afternoon and checked into our hotel which we have pre booked earlier. We got freshen up and hired an auto for the remaining part of the day for a local tour.

After having our lunch the first place we planned to visit was Surul Zamindarbari. The colossal zamindar bari (house/palace of Zamindars or rule of provinces) still stands tall in the Surul Village of Bolpur. There are 3 temples adjacent to the great mansion famous for the terracotta work as well. The rich Zamindars used to live in this palace and its still being very beautifully maintained by the current family members living there. The Durga puja of the Sarkar family is still famous and thousands gather during the festival time.

From there we went to visit the famous Raipur Rajbari. This place is a little unpopular to tourists as locals call this place haunted. When we entered there were no one apart from us in the place, so it was a little intimidating however there were no signs of any supernatural powers that we felt in the place. So you can safely visit during the day time.

This Rajbari belongs to the famous Sinha family who migrated from Ayodhya to Raipur in the 15th century. Satyendra Prasanna Sinha also famously known as Lord Sinha has been a part of this family. However the Rajbari was abandoned in the late 70’s and since then it has not been a residential place for any family members. Off late it has been quite an popular tourist attraction and lot of Tollywood movies are being shot here.

From there we went to a local temple near the Mirzapur village which can be found along the way. Its not a popular tourist spot as such but we planned to visit the place just to see the terracotta work and the natural beauty of the place.

While returning back to Bolpur town we noticed a beautiful ruined palace. Not sure if anybody resides here now, but we definitely saw a structure of goddess Durga inside the palace half built. Probably it will be a place of interest during the Durga Puja Festival

From there we went to the famous Aamar Kuti. This place was established in the year 1923 and it was set up for the purpose of rural development. The society provides training and support to local artisans to earn their livelihood. The products were really interesting and you can definitely buy souvenirs from this place back home.

Last but not the least the auto took us to the famous Shonibarer Haat/Khoai Haat/ Sonajhuri Haat. The name Sonajhuri means droplets of Gold.

This market is a exhibition of the Santineketani Art and culture, where local artisans sell their creations. The local fair starts from 2pm and continues till dusk until the sun sets. You will get everything here starting from handloom embroidered sarees, kurtas, Tshirts, pajamas, to handmade earrings and necklaces, wooden household stuffs and so many different varieties of things. This fair definitely contributes a good proportion to the local economy mainly the tribal economy. The bauls and the tribal dancers dancing in their local beat does make this place quite entertaining. We ended the day on a good note.

The next day we started early and hired the same auto to roam around the other local places. With the Viswa Bharati campus closed for tourists due to Covid19 we just touch based few places like Chatimtala (Place where Rabindranath Tagore used to teach few students which later on became Viswa Bharati), the main Campus, Teen Pahar (the famous Banyan tree of Teen Pahar can be found in the cover page of Sahaj Path), Upasana Ghar (Prayer hall) and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen‘s residential home from outside.

After than we went inside the famous Uttarayan complex just opposite to the main campus. The entry fee was Rs 70 per adult. The beautiful complex has a museum and buildings named Udayan, Konarka, Shyamali, Punashcha, and Udichi where Tagore lived at one time or the other. The museum houses all the belonging, artifacts of Tagore himself. Photography is strictly prohibited inside the area.

Don’t forget to see the famous 1933 Humber, the only car which Tagore ever called his own.

Just few meters away we then entered the Srijani Shilpa Gram. The entry fee was Rs 50 per person. The cultural village is spread across 26 bighas of land and houses the 9 different states of India’s art ad culture mainly Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The peaceful and tranquility of the Shilpa gram attracts visitors and is now an important cultural hub of the area.

Just 4 kms away from Srijani Shilpa Gram is the famous Ballavpur Wildlife Sanctuary. The forest provides shelter to a naturally bred large family of deer of more than 250+ deers as per the local authorities. The entry fee is Rs 50.

We had our lunch from the famous Banabithir henshel ghar.(Dont forget to try their Kochi Pathar Jhol) and went to the Sonjahuri haat again to quickly buy some local products for selves back home.

Our train was an hour late and hence we utilized the remaining time to visit the Gitanjali Railway museum just opposite to the Bolpur station. Rs 10 per person for keeping shoes and luggage outside the museum. Its a two storied museum which houses rare photographs and information related to Rabindranath Tagore. While coming down don’t forget to see the the railway Saloon Car in which Kavi Guru made his last train journey from Bolpur to Kolkata in 1941 during your weekend trip to Shantiniketan

Few Tips

• Avoid the summer months, try visiting during monsoon season while planning for a weekend trip to Shantiniketan. The peak season is during winters specially end of December when the Poush Mela takes place.
• Bargain at every corner. Starting from auto drivers to the local artisans in the Sonajhuri haat.
• Try for an eatery which does not serve Thali system meal. The cost of food will relatively be cheaper
• Homestays and hotels near Prantik are a little peaceful and secluded.
• The local people are very friendly and helpful and always have a smile on their face. Do not misbehave with them on petty issues.
• Do not litter or throw plastics or waste products at any place. There are dustbins planted at every corner
• Do not click pictures on restricted places. The major security breach have actually caused the famous Nobel prize to be stolen from the safety vault of the Viswa Bharati University museum in 2013.
• If you have another day in hand you can explore Tarapith, Kankalitala and Massanjore dam

If you would like to know more places to visit during your weekend, do check our Blogs for more travel itineraries.

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