Complete Sight Seeing in Thimphu

Norzim Lam

Norzim lam is one of the most important roads in Thimphu where you find most of the hotels and important official buildings. There are many shops and shopping malls in this area. While most part of Thimphu becomes silent after evening, this place remains very active even in the late evening.

The above picture shows the entrance to Norzim lam from bus stand side. You can find the clock tower on this road. This road goes straight towards Tashicho dzong. The immigration office is also on this road.

There are many shops, shopping malls in the city, mostly around Norzim lam. Plenty of garments, handicrafts, traditional and modern things to buy. (I felt price is higher than India). I was particularly impressed with decorative items related to Buddha and Buddhism.

The Clock Tower

The clock tower square on Norzim Lam is a popular land mark in Thimphu. It is like a open space like an amphitheatre used for various public gatherings. The clock tower is very classic and prominent as you can see in the picture. It is centrally located at the heart of Thimphu city. You can see many hotels around it.

(Umakant standing near Clock tower)

There is a beautiful Lhakhang near the clock tower on Norzim lam. You can rotate the small prayer wheels around the lhakhang. It look very colorful and attractive.

(Mark the prayer wheels around the Lhakhang)

Tashi Cho Dzong

Tashi Cho Dzong is the most respectful dzong and one of the most important tourist attractions in Thimphu. It is 350 years old structure. Currently it is used for some high level offices of ministers and the King of Bhutan. The visitors are allowed to visit this dzong only between 4.30 to 5.30 PM after the office hours.

There was strict security checking before entering into Tashi cho dzong. They checked our ID cards, Permits before allowing us into the dzong. When they first took cameras and bags, I thought probably they would not allow photography inside the dzong. But to my surprise later they returned the cameras and allowed us to take pictures in the dzong. I was so happy and so thankful to them.

(The Lhakhang inside Tashi cho Dzong)

There is a beautiful Lhakhang inside the dzong. The Lhakhang is very large with a huge golden statue of buddha inside. Besides the main statue there are thousands of small buddha statue inside the Lhakhang. Lhakhang is a religious place and photo not allowed inside the Lhakhang.

Please view more photos of Tashi Cho Dzong in my Google+ album.

https://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6102679371496186193

National Memorial Chorten

National Memorial Chorten is one of the most popular attractions of Thimphu. This chorten was built in 1974 in memory of bhutan’s third king  Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. This is located near (about 1 km) Thimphu bus stand. Lot of people, both locals and outsiders, visit this place on everyday and move around the stupa for long time.

(National Memorial Chorten in Thimphu)

The chorten is built in Tibetan style. The architecture is very beautiful and attractive. While getting into the chortedn, you can see 10 large prayer wheels in two rows to the left side. A large number of people rotate the prayer wheels as a religious practise.

(Wooden boards for bowing down)

On one side of the chorten there are some wooden boards where people bow down their heads. This practice is not only reduces your ego and stress but also causes blood circulation and keep you healthy.

On the front side of the chorten, there is a beautiful buddha statue. This place is easily accessible as it is centrally located at about 1 km from the bus stand.

Coronation park

Coronation park is a huge park of (about 6 acres) on Chhogyal Lam on the bank of river Thimphu chu. You may say 6 acres is not that big, but this is the largest park in Thimphu. This is located by the side of Chhogyal lam near Changlimithang stadium.

There is a huge Buddha statue in the center of the park. The statue is quite big (please see pic in my album) though not so big as Kuensel phodrang. It is a govt. park and the entry is free. The main attractions of the park are (i) the river, (ii) garden, (iii) Buddha statue. Besides there are some good lawns to sit. Some fast foods are also available there inside. This is an ideal place for weekend picnic.

Please visit my Google+ album on coronation park below.

https://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6103050647839649505

Changlimithang Stadium

Changlimithang Stadium is the only stadium in Thimphu. It is located near the Bus stand and Coronation Park (also close to Cham lam and Norzim Lam). There are entries from both Cham lam and Chogyel lam. It is very centrally located in the city.

When we were there a footbal match was going on in Changlimithang stadium. Tickets were easily available on counter @300 nu per head (1 nu= 1 rs).

Weekly Market/ Centenary Farmers Market

Centenary farmers market is located on Chhogyel lam about half a km from Coronation park. The market sits weekly once in Saturday and Sunday. Hundreds of farmers around the place come here to sell their product directly. This includes vegetables, grocery and other items. I had never seen such a large and beautiful vegetable market anywhere. I bought carrot at 60 nu per kg (Bangalore 40 rs) and tomato at 40 nu per kg (in Bangalore 20 rs). The value of 1 nu = 1 rs. In general the price is slightly (20-40%) higher than the Indian market price.

I was very impressed to see the vegetable market. The vegetables were so clean and fresh. Besides the market was so large and organized. Although Vegetable shops in Bangalore are very organized, Centenary farmers market is much better, bigger and really impressive.

While on one side of the river is the Centenary farmers market, the other side of the river is a market of dress materials, handlooms and handicraft items. You have to cross this beautifully decorated bridge to go to the other side of the Wang chu river.

(The bridge near Centenary Market)

These Weekly markets are gathered on Saturday and Sunday in Thimphu. Hundreds of sellers come from different places to sell their items. The items includes clothes, handicrafts, household items, food items etc.

Dechencholing Palace

Dechencholing Palace is far on the north side of the city about 6 kms from Thimphu bus stand. However, there is no entry to this palace and it is guarded by tight security. We visited a school (Dechencholing Middle Secondary school) on the way near Dechencholing palace. The school buildings were beautiful and the children were very happy to see us (foreigners).

Dechen Phodrang Lakhang

Dechen phodrang Lhakhang is a beautiful monastry located at the end of Gaden Lam. This is at a height on the mountain approachable through motorable road. However went there by walk. We took a walk in the morning (about 4 kms) from Norzim lam to reach there.

(The chorten in front of Dechen Phodrang Lhakhang)

As the Lhakhang is located at a height of about 200 mtrs from the Thimphu city, from here you can clearly see the whole Thimphu city from here. You can see Tashi cho dzong, Thimphu chu and other interesting places. You can also see Kuensel Phodrang (Buddha point) from distance. (However, you can see better views from BBS tower, which is much higher).

There are many attractions in dechen phodrang, 1. there is a stupa in the front. This is very prominent and visible from distance, 2. There are three large prayer wheels near the stupa in front of the Lhakhang, 3. The main Lhakhang (monastery or temple) is ocnsidered to be very sacred from religious point of view. A large number of lamas live there in the campus and many students are tought here on buddist religion and culture.

Please view more photos of Dechen Phodrang Lhakhang in my album below.

https://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6103061848035429169

Thangtong Dewachen Dupthop Nunnery

Thangtong Dewachen Dupthop Nunnery is located in Zilukha area of Thimphu. As the name is very long, it is often called as Zilukha nunnery in short. There is a beautiful Lhakhang (monastery) inside the nunnery and beautiful Buddha statue is worshiped inside the Lhakhang.

At one side of the nunnery there is a room for butter candles. The nuns usually remain busy with prayers and religious activities. We saw some nuns were organizing butter lamps and preparing clay idols for Buddha Purnima celebration.

Pictures of Zilukha nunnery in my Google+ albumhttps://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6103063706340493041

Bhutan Takin Preserve

Takin is the national animal of Bhutan. It looks something in between a cow and a goat. Although Takin is the national animal, their population is very less. We didn’t see any Takin moving outside. The Bhutan national zoo (or Takin Preserve) is built on the mountains in Motithang area to save this endangered animal. Even in the zoo their number is very less.

Apart from Takins we found some deers in the zoo. We met Tenzin and Tenzin, two young students of Institue of Natural medicine, who accompanied us to visit Takins preserve and some other places.

More pictures of “Bhutan Takin Preserve” are in my album below.

https://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6103715602429636929

Changankha Lakhang

From Takins preserve we took a walk to Changankha Lhakhang. Our Bhutan friend Tenzin showed us a shortcut route to reach the Lhakhang fast. The lhakhang is constructed on a ridge, hence you have to climb about more than 100 steps to reach the Lhakhang. While climbing the steps we first saw a chorten (stupa) in the middle of the way. As the place is located on a height we could see the beautiful views of the Thimphu valey from this place.

Changankha Lhakhang is a very old (15th century) monastry and considered to be very important from religious point of view. Bhutanese people must wear their traditional dress in order to enter the Lhakhang. However Indians (and other foreigners) are allowed to enter with decent dress (like pants and shirts).

Please view my album on Changankha Lhakhang below.

https://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6103727226174417617

We were allowed to go inside the Lhakhang and saw the beautiful buddha inside the Lhakhang. We were lucky to see the prayer of the monks too. The atmosphere inside was extremely spiritual and cannot be expressed in words. People from all round Thimphu come here to get the blessings of the Lama. Photography is not allowed inside the prayer hall.

Kuensel Phodrang

Kuensel Phodrang (or Buddha dordenma or Buddha Point) is the recent most attraction of Thimphu. It is located on a hill about 8 kms from Thimphu. There is one single road leading to Kuensel phodrang. The road is recently built and in excellent condition.

There is a 52 meters tall bronze statue of Lord Buddha. The statue is so big that it is visible from almost everywhere in the city. There are 125000 small buddha statues are placed inside buddha dordenma. The throne on which Buddha sits is a large meditation hall.

(Mountain view from Buddha Point)

Because of the hight of the place we could see the beautiful views of Thimphu city and magnificient views of Himalayan mountains around the place.

Please Visit my album on Kuensel Phodrang

https://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6103758856733239825

Kuensel Phodrang Nature Park

Kuensel Phodrang Nature Park is located about 100 mtrs away from the Buddha statue on the same hill. There is nothing much manmade in the nature park, but the natural ups and downs, trees and forests are quite interesting. You can see the Buddha statue from here from a different angle and from a hight.

Though this is not an independed tourist destination, this can be attached while visiting Buddha point. You should keep sufficient time to visit this point while you are going to visit the Buddha statue at Kuensel Phodrang (Buddha point).

My google+ album on the Kuensel phodrang nature park.

https://plus.google.com/photos//albums/6103733423773220225

Thimphu bus stand

This building (below) in the picture is the main bus stand of Thimphu. You can find busses here to go different parts of Bhutan. However, the number of busses is very less. For example, there are only two busses go from Thimphu to Paro in a day (which is pathetic). Hence most passengers have to depend on Taxi.

(Thimphu main bus stand)

Most buses go in the morning. Generally you find a lot of busses at 7 to 8 o’clock in the morning and thereafter the place looks vacant. There is hardly any bus going after 2 o’clock in the afternoon. This is to avoid journey in the evening as it becomes dark after 4.30 or 5. The buses are all small like 20 seaters. There is no bigger bus running anywhere in Bhutan.

The management of the ticket counters is very poor. Ticket counters will open just before the bus time. Other times the counter will be vacant, even during the working hours. Even if there is provision for advance booking, you cannot book the ticket, as there will be nobody in the counter.

I was really very surprised to see the ticket counters in Thimphu bus stand. The counters are just selling spaces. The ticket seller comes, sells the tickets and leaves the counter, like street side vegetable venders in India. But later realized that why should a person sit for the whole day if there is only one bus or two (i.e., to sell 20 or 40 tickets).

Food in Thimphu

There are many good restaurants in Thimphu. Food is generally costlier compared to India. Cheapest veg momo = 50 nu, cheapest veg chawmin= 80 nu  etc. which you need 2-4 plates to fill your stomach Thimphu being the capital city, there are many rich people and outsiders who can afford to pay high price. Low income local people don’t eat in restaurants, rather open their own restaurants. Hundreds of women sit with their Thupka buckets by the side of Norzim lam and make their daily income by selling at 20 nu per (small) glass.

Summary and Conclusion

By and large our experience in Thimphu was wonderful. The most interesting was to see the beautiful buildings which are all made in the same design. Whether it is a govt office or a hotel or a private house, they all look very similar. The other attraction was the views of Himalayan mountains everywhere in the city. The place is easy and safe. The people are friendly and helpful.

One difficult thing in Thimphu is that there is no cheaper transport in the city, no shared taxis even. So you have to pay around 2000-3000 nu per day for researved taxis or be prepared to walk a lot to go anywhere. Some town buses run between Dechenchong and Semtoka but very difficult to locate and recognize them.

Out of the tourist attractions I would rank Tashi Cho Dzong, National Memorial Chorten and Buddha Point as top three. These three are the most important attractions and must visit for anybody who goes Thimphu. However, from religious perspective I was very impressed with the spiritual atmosphere of Dechen Phodrang Lhakhang and Changankha Lhakhang. Last but not the least, Thimphu is a beautiful place and you should visit (alongwith Paro) atleast once if possible.

Bhutan Videos

I have a set of detail videos all the important tourist places of Thimphu and Paro. Please visit my Bhutan Videos on the playlist on youtube below.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHOtyGWMrDcbfw-wYoW63chqIanWN0PPi

Visiting Phuentsholing on the way while going to Thimphu

About Phuentsholing

Phuentsholing is a small town in Bhutan adjacent to the Indian border. While Phuentsholing is on the Bhutan side of the border, Jaygaon (a bigger town) is on the Indian side of the border. The distance between Phuentsholing and Jaygaon is just a wall, i.e., say one meter (just to visualize).

Phuentsholing is important because it is currently the only route (by land) from India to Bhutan. Hence anybody going Bhutan has to stop here, get the permit from immigration office, and then proceed.

Reaching Phuentsholing

Phuentsholing is about 175 kms from Siliguri (6 hours journey) and 15 kms from Hasimara (half an hour journey). After reading various blogs on Bhutan trip I decided to go upto Hasimara by train and then from Hasimara to Phuentsholing by bus. Thanks to the bloggers who have advised to go upto Hasimara by train.

We went by Kanchanakanya express which left Sialdah at about 8 o’clock in the night and went through NJP (7.30 morning), Siliguri (8.00), New Mal Junction (9.15), Dalgaon (9.53) and then Hasimara (10.18). The train was slightly late and reached Hasimara after 11 o’clock. The biggest question was how to go Phuentsholing, whether by auto, or by taxi or by bus or other?

After getting down from the train we saw more than half of the people are going out by on the train line instead of coming through the platform entrance/exit. (They were actually gong to to Hasimara town / Hasimara bus stop through short-cut route). However we preferred to come through the regular exit through platform. Immediately we were surrounded by many taxi drivers who said there would be no bus to go Jaygaon and they could take us to Jaygaon for 600-800 rs to go Jaygaon. After some time a rickshaw offered to drop us in Jaigaon bus stand for 100 rs (which was just 2 km).

I was fully prepared with all travel related information and detail google map. The second advantage was the luggage was within our capacity to carry. We just started walking for about 50 meters out of the station to reach the main road. All Jaygaon buses were going by that road. As it is not a stoppage you have to show hand to stop the bus (and they will happily stop). There were actually many buses to Jaygaon as we could see about 3 buses in 20 minutes. The advantage of catching the bus here is that even if you don’t get a seat you are more likely to get a seat at Hasimara stoppage (2 kms).

(Bhutan gate at Indo-Bhutan border)

When we got the bus we were so relaxed. We could avoid rickshaws and taxis. The bus took just 15 rs per head to Jaygaon and took about half an hour to reach Jaygaon bus stand. When we got down from bus, we saw a shared auto going to Bhutan border. We immediately got into the auto rickshaw who dropped us in front of the Bhutan gate (4kms) for 10 rs per head. The journey from Bangalore to Bhutan was over. We could take a walk to cross the border to reach Phuentsholing.

Getting entry permit at Phuentsholing immigration office

We were feeling happy as we had reached Bhutan. But that was just the beginning of the long journey. We were supposed to get an entry permit from the immigration office in order to go Thimphu. When we went to immigration office, it was closed for lunch break (Indian time 12.30, Bhutanese time 1 PM). Bhutan standard time is half an hour ahead of Indian time. We had to adjust the time of our watch there.

The big decision was ahead of us, whether to look for a hotel to stay or catch bus for Thimphu on the same day. Immigration clearance can take 2-3 hours and there is no bus to Thimphu after 3 o’clock. The big question – can we get the immigration clearance  before the last bus leaves for Thimphu?

(Eating momo in Ashoka restaurant)

We went to Ashoka restaurant, just in front of the immigration office, and had some momo, puri etc. as lunch. Filled up the form and submitted with photos and copies of voter ids etc. in the immigration office (I was ready with all required documents) immediately after the lunch break. However immigration office was painful as there was huge crowd in the immigration office and no ventilation. It was extremely suffocating. I started sweating even in winter.

Actually the verification process is long. So it had to take some time. The immigration officer had verify the documents, get convinced about the purpose of travel, take fresh photos (through their computer) and fingerprints, print the permit letter, put their signature and seal and give us. We felt our case was cleared early. Many people who came before us were still waiting because of problems in their document.

(Immigration office at Phuentsholing)

Just for information, Indian nationals can just walk in to the Phuentsholing town of Bhutan (and so also Bhutanese nationals can come to India). No special permission required to go Phuentsholing. The border gate remains open from 6 AM to 8 PM. However, you need permit from immigration office for onward journey to Paro or Thimphu. More details from authentic Govt. sources are available at:

http://www.consulatephuentsholing.nic.in/?0687?000

also bhutan govt source http://www.tourism.gov.bt/plan/visa 

In order to get permit, no visa is required for Indian nationals. They can directly approach the immigration office (with passport or voter id) for entry permit. No fee is charged for the permit, it is completely free.

The attractions of Phuentsholing

– The Bhutan gate on Indo Bhutan border is attractive. Though it is not so important, it becomes the first curiosity of everybody to take a picture of it who goes Bhutan for the first time.

– The Prayer wheel on the way to Phuentsholing bus stand is very attractive. There are three large whiles at the ground floor and another wheel on the first floor.

(Large prayer wheels in Phuentsholing)

– Zanghtho Pelri Lhakhang- a beautiful budhist monastery in the town. Kharabandi gompa is another monastery which is at a distance. We could not visit Kharbandi due to shortage of time.

– There is a crocodile breeding center. If you are staying for a day you may have time to cover this place.

– It is a clean town, very less number of vehicles, not much crowd unlike Indian towns, Beautiful climate and Himalayan views. Hotels and neat and clean.

Journey from Phuentsholing to Thimphu

Thimphu is about 175 kms from Phuentsholing which is about 6 hours journey. Small coaster buses are available at bus stand. The bus fare from Phuentsholing to Thimphu is 230/-. Besides taxis (both reserved and shared) are available to Paro and Thimphu. Shared taxi is 600/- per head, reserved taxi 2500/- (4 seated). Rates are almost fixed, leaving little scope for bargaining. 

(Phuentsholing bus stand)

Everybody told us that buses wont be available after 2 o’clock. However, when we reached bus stand after 3 o’clock we could find the last coaster bus was about to leave (at 3.45). We immediately bought tickets from the counter and got into the bus. The luggage is kept on the top of the vehicle everywhere in Bhutan.

(From Phuentsholing to Thimphu by bus)

The Himalayan mountains immediately start from Phuentsholing and the bus has to go through steep climbing and zig zag roads. Within 15 minutes we found ourselves in sky height above clouds as if we were in aeroplane. While the road was good, climate was good and vehicle was good, driving was rough. As the vehicle was very much controllable the driver was driving at dashing speed (even 35 km speed was extremely high speed in that road).. It was even difficult to hold on to the seat and I started vomiting soon. It was painful for me to travel further. I requested to drop me somewhere on the route and I was dropped at a place called Tsimasham from where I continued to Thimphu on the next day.

Visiting Important Places in Kolkata in Two Days

Although I had visited Kolkata many times in past I was occupied in other responsibilities and was never free for a whole hearted sight seeing program. This time when I was visiting Bhutan I had to change train at Kolkata and got one full day beak in Kolkata while going and another full day too while coming back. Bangalore Howrah express reached in morning 6.30 and Kanchanakanya express left in 8.30 in the night, thus giving us the full day to spend in Kolkata. We kept the luggage in railway cloak room (platform no 23 in howrah station) and started our journey for kolkata sight seeing.

Belur Math

Our first destination was Belur math. From Howrah station we went by a town bus and got down at Belur. The math was about 200 meters from the bus stop. When we entered into the campus  there was one museum called “Ramakrishna Sangraha Mandira”. After that we saw the main temple of Ramakrishna Parmahamsa and then other temples of Vivekananda and others.

Photography was strictly prohibited in the campus. I took some pictures from distance (outside the campus) and some pictures from Hooghly river while going by boat from Belur to Dakhineswar. The above picture is shows the top portion of Ramakrishna temple (the main temple) which I took by zooming from outside the campus.

There was a bathing ghat in belur math campus (picture above), a place to take bath in river Hooghly. Quite a few people were taking bath in this sacred river. The above picture shows Vivekananda temple and the bathing ghat in Belur (I took the picture from Hooghly river).

Boating from Belur to Dakhineswar Kali

There is a ferry ghat in Belur, just next to Belur math. We took a walk to the ferry ghat and took a boat to Dakhineswar Kali. There are regular boats in between Belur and Dakhineswar and the fair is extremely cheap, just Rs 10/-.

The distance between Belur and Dakhineswar is about 3-4 kms in water. The boat took about 20 minutes. This was a great experience to boat in river Hooghly and see various sights and kolkata township at both the sides.

Visiting Dakhineswar Kali Temple

From Dakhineswar Ferry ghat, the Kali temple is very close (abou 100 mtrs). Near the temple, there is an area full of shops on handicrafts. Besides there is another shopping complex for selling peda (for prasad purpose). There were a lot of security people watching at the entrance of kali temple.

Dakhineswar Kali temple is probably the most beautiful place in Kolkata. There are a number of temples in the campus. The main temple is the kali temple (picture above), besides there are temples of lord Shiva and other gods and godesses. The architecture and color of the temple will make you feel like a filmcity.

Millennium Park

From Dakhineswar we returned back to howrah and went to Millennium park. Millennium park is located on the eastern bank of river Hooghly. It is about 1 km distance from Howrah bridge. There is also a ferry shuttling from Howrah to this place (very cheap, about 10 rs). There are two parts of millennium park, stretching to two different sides, north and south. You have to get an entry ticket for Rs 5/-. The same ticket will be used for both the sides of the park.

Millenium park is a beautiful place to spend time. With the river view, plantation, food courts and sitting arrangements it is a perfect place for every group of people, and a paradise particularly for youngsters. I could see hundreds of loving couples sitting cozy to each other.

Eden Garden Park

Eden garden is very close to Millennium park. After visiting Millennium park we took a walk to Eden Garden. Long back (before 20 years) when I visited Eden garden, it was full of crowd and full of loving couples. But this time I did not see any crowd. There were very few people inside. I guess the after the construction of new parks the crowd has been shifted from Eden garden to new parks like Millennium park.

Actually Eden Garden is famous for the cricket stadium. But the cricket stadium is used only on specific occasions. The other part of it is a park which is open to public. There is no ticket/ entry fee to go into Eden Garden park.

We saw some sections of  Eden Garden park was marked as Japanese garden, desert garden etc. However, most of those parts were under construction/ rejuvenation. The park closes at 4.45 before it becomes evening. (It was a bit odd feeling to see evening coming at 5 o’clock in Calcutta, as because we were used to see evening coming at 7 o’clock in Bangalore). In the evening we took a ferry from Babughat to reach Howrah, keeping enough time in hand to catch our train in the night.

The Howrah Bridge

I don’t know whether to mention or not that we saw Howrah bridge too. Because it is so natural that anybody goes Calcutta must obviously sees Howrah bridge. But still I think I should mention about Howrah bridge because it is one of the important monument and quite spectacular too.

While I was taking photographs of howrah bridge some police/ security people told me not to take photograph. I did not understand what was the risk of taking picture of such a huge steel bridge. Somehow I was also facing difficulties to get the huge bridge within the angle of my camera. I decided to go to a distance, to a nearby bathing ghat, and get full pictures of the bridge comfortably.

The above was a bathing ghat near Howrah railway station (close to the ferry ghat). River Hooghly is considered as a part of river Ganges and considered as sacred for holy bath. There are many bathing ghats, as we saw in belur, dakhineswar, howrah, babughat and many. Generally you will find a temple of lord shiva near the bathing ghat. People generally pray in the temple, after having bath in the river. However, the water is very muddy and dirty and not suitable for use from hygienic point of view.

Kalighat Kali Temple

While returning from Bhutan to Bangalore, we again got another full day to visit Kolkata. We first went to Kalighat Kali temple. The Kali temple in Kalighat is one of the oldest devi temples in Kolkata (12th century) and considered as a Sakti peetha. There is a place for animal sacrifice in the temple where animals were sacrificed in old days.

One bad thing about the kali temple is that it is full of dalals. They will try to extract money from you by various means. Hence, this is generally not a comfortable place for the visitors (particularly outsiders). I was aware of the fact and somehow managed to visit the temple without getting much into trouble. After visiting Kali temple we visited a Shiva temple called “Nakuleswar Bhairab temple” near kali temple. There was also a “Jagannath” temple near the bhairab temple. Besides we visited “Pallidurga” temple and some other temples in the Kalighat area before proceeding to Birla Mandir.

Birla Mandir

Birla Mandir is located in Ballygunge which is about 2 kms from Kalighat. It is built by the well known industrialist Birla family. Birla Mandir is dedicated to Laxmi and Narayana. The temple is very beautiful and carved with marble. It is probably the most beautiful temple in Kolkata after Dakhineswar Kali temple.

The temple opens from 5.30 to 11 AM in the morning and 4.30 to 9 PM in the evening. The temple is closed from outside at other times.

Alipore zoo

After visiting Birla Mandir we went to Alipore zoo. It is one of the oldest zoo in India (1875) and spread over 46 acres of land. We saw tiger, bear, chimpanzee and some other interesting animals.

However the animals were looking sad and sick. But we were fascinated to see the crowd of human visitors who came to see those animals. There were about 20000 visitors in the zoo (in my estimation) all moving here and there searching for animals. Many were even looking at crows and other common birds who had flied into the zoo from outside.

Victoria Memorial Hall

Our next destination was Victoria Memorial, probably the most prestigious and most reputed historical monument of Kolkata. There are many things to see in Victoria which can be grouped into inside and outside. One aspect of it is the garden, lake, statues and the view of the palace from outside. These places are allowed for photography. The other part is the museum which is inside the palace. The museum is under strict security and not allowed for photography.

Victoria memorial is definitely a beautiful place and I would rank it within the first three important places in Kolkata (along with Dakhineswar Kali). There are lots of statues, paintings, British age weapons and other historical items in the museum. The visitors were allowed to climb up the palace to see the upstairs. The shape of upstairs was like a dome and was very spectacular.

Mahanagar Peace Park

This park is located just near the entrance of Victoria Memorial. This is a smaller and less significant park compared to Victoria memorial. But still there were lot of people because that was a public park without any entry fee.

Thus we could manage to visit more than 10 interesting places in Kolkata during these two days. After coming back to Bangalore I was asked which places I liked most in Kolkata. It was very difficult to answer as many of those I had already seen earlier and different things were felt significant at different times. However, the three things I liked most in this trip were (i) Dakhineswar Kali temple, (ii) Victoria Memorial Hall, (iii) Travelling by ferry in Hooghly river. Travelling by ferry was as cheap as Rs 10, which would have been Rs 200/- in other tourist places.

Thanks for reading this blog. Please visit my google+ albums to see pictures of different places in Kolkata. I will again come with a new place soon.

Visiting Belur Math and Dakhineswar Kali in Kolkata

Visiting Belur Math

Belur matha is about 5kms north to Howrah railway station. There is a railway station near it. But it was too difficult for me to book train ticket and find the exact train which would go to belur. On the other hand I was hesitant to go by town bus as I had experienced pic pockets in town buses during my early visits. I asked a couple of people about how to go to Belur and they told me the bus numbers going towards belur. I thought to take an attempt in the bus. There were seats in the bus. I was always confusing about the ladies seats, senior citizen seats, handicaped seats etc. as I didnt have much of town bus experience. There were no pick pockets and we reached safe in Belur.

Belur math campus is a big area with libraries, museums, universities etc. inside it. One part of it (museum and temples) is open to the visitors. One thing is good in this place is that there is optimal discipline. You can keep your shoes free of cost in the shoe stand. You can visit temples freely without paying any money to anybody. Not a business atmosphere at all.

What is bad about the place is that they don’t allow to take photos of their temples even from outside. If anybody was taking out camera, their securities were running immediately towards the person. I saw some people sitting in the garden and taking pictures secretly. However I did not like the idea. There is no point taking a picture which you cannot proudly say that you have taken it. I rather took some pictures/ video from the river while going by ferry from Belur to Dakhineswar. The above picture was taken from the river side.

There are quite a few temples (6 to 8) inside the belur math campus. The main temple (above picture) is for Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Besides there  are other  temples for Swami Vivekananda (picture below) and other saints. The temples are all clean and peaceful. If you are a devotee you can spend long time there, otherwise you will feel too restricted and prefer to come out.

Travelling from Belur math to Dakhineswar Kali by Ferry

After visiting Belur muth our next destination was Dakhineswar kali temple which was on the same direction. I had read a lot of blogs on mode of travelling to Dakhineswar kali temple. Thanks to the bloggers who have mentioned about the ferry route. There is a ferry ghat near belur. Boats (small/ large) shuttle between Belur and Dakhineswar frequently (every 15 minutes or so). The charges are very less, Just 10 rupees. Even town bus charges would have been more than that. Below is the picture of the ferry ghat at belur (looks muddy, yes it is so).

It was a tremendous experience to travel by ferry. First of all it gave us the pleasure and experience of boating on hugly river. Secondly it saved us from waiting and finding the town bus. Last but not the least it helped me taking pictures of Belur math and Dakhineswar Kali from the river side.

The distance between Belur math and Dakhineswar is quite far, even 3-4 kms in ferry, which took about 20 minutes or more. The ferry went under the bridge (Vivekananda setu) near Dakhineswar. The views were really undescribable. We could see the cleaning activities of river (probably initiated by the cleaning movements by Prime Minister Modi).

Visiting Dakhineswar Kali Temple

Dakhineswar Kali temple is situated on the banks of river Huguly and was visuble to us quite from distance while going on the ferry. There is a bathing ghat near Dakhineswar (picture below). The picture below is very rare as it is taken from a valuable angle from the boat on Huguly river.

From Dakhineswar Ferry ghat we took a short walk (100 meters) to the temple. We saw the temple pond on the way. Then the prasad market where everybody were selling peda (sweat made of milk). At the entrance of the temple (picture below) the securities told us not to take any picture inside. However, when we went inside we saw everybody was taking pictures. I was totally confused as I did not like to disobey the rules. I asked another security person inside. (Luckily) He told us to take pictures but from distance.

There are many temples inside the temple campus. The main temple is kali temple. Other temples are kali and shiva temples. The main temple, i.e., Dakhineswar Kali temple is an extremely beautiful temple. you will feel as if you are in a film city or in a dream land. The structure and coloring of the temple are awesome.

This place was not only beautiful but also peaceful and comfortable. There were no dalas as they were there in kalighat kali temple. The queue in the main temple was long but still we could get darshan within 10 minutes. By and large the experience was marvelous. It is probably the best place to visit for the outside tourists. You can see more pictures of belur math and dakhineswar kali in my google+ album below.

What was interesting in Alipore Zoo

The Alipore zoo in Kolkata (or Kolkata zoo in short) is one of the oldest zoo in India, established in 1875. It is situated in Alipore road, by the side of National Highway It is spread across 46 acres of land. Though looking at the size and population of Kolkata 46 acres is nothing for a zoo of this kind, it is still quite popular and visited by large number of people on every day.

The entry fee to Alipore zoo is Rs 20. Still cameras are allowed inside. However shooting by handycam is not allowed inside. We were allowed to carry the handycam but the security personnel told not to use the handycam. I don’t know their objectives exactly as because everybody were taking videos in digital  cameras and mobile phones.

Let me speak about the items that I was attracted or were impressive to me. One of the major attractions was Chimpanzee. We could see only one chimpanzee who was entertaining spectators with his majestic style and funny activities. He was sitting still like a statue for long time and changing position a little after lot of hue and cry by the huge crowd.

The other important attraction was black bear. The the bear was looking very sad and lonely. I must thank her atleast she was sitting outside her cage and giving darshan to the crowd. Apart from the above there were tiger, zebra and a few other animals. We saw an arrow mark for “elephants” but could not find any even after taking a full round.

By and large we saw that there were very few animals and the animals were sad, lonely and (probably) sick. They were not looking active and not playing among themselves. Though I don’t known the reasons, anybody at the first guess can say because of the poor management of the zoo.

Now I am sure you will ask me what was most interesting in the zoo. Frankly speaking the animals were not so attractive. But the great surprise was the crowd. The whole zoo was full of visitors. If there were only 20 animals (except small birds) there were about 20,000 visitors (in my estimation). Many of them were even looking at the crows (and other regular flying birds) who had come inside the zoo area by chance. I saw a crowd around a chicken who was moving free (no idea where it came from). Thousands of people were just moving everywhere to see something. To me the most interesting was the crazy human crowd in the zoo.

Thank you for reading this blog. Please feel free to see some more pictures of the zoo in my google+ album below.

Thottikallu Falls, A picnic spot near Bangalore

How to go there: 

You can follow any route to catch Bangalore Kanakapura main road – which is the National Highway 209. Go straight on the highway towards Kanakapura. After a few Kms you will cross NICE ring road. Go further on the highway. You will find “Art of Living” head quarter after 15 kms. Go further about 3 Kms, you will find a place calledKagalpura. Take a left turn from Kagalpura. 

After taking the turn, go straight for about 1.5 kms till you find a hospital (?) / rehabilitation center where you have to take a left turn again. Better ask the locals otherwise you are very likely to miss this road as there is no proper landmark to explain. However, if you miss this road and go straight you will still reach the other side of TK falls through CRPF camp. But this road is longer and extremely rough for driving. 

After turning left you have to drive 3 kms more to reach the fall, In some places you can see the river on the right side of the road. I had a fear that the road could be bad as many bloggers mention their experience. But luckily the road condition was good till we reached the fall.  

What to see:

There is a temple called “Muneswar Temple” at the entrance to the fall. A small temple under a big tree. The place is peaceful.

 Then you have to trek further in to the forest and rocks. Trekking is interesting but tiring too. One should better carry some food and drinking water for emergency. While going down to the water we came across a beautiful spot. A stone painted as forest god and some traditional art – jhoti- near it.

 

The rocks inside water look very attractive. They are interesting to climb. However, many of them are steep, smooth and slippery.  One has to be very careful while climbing.

 

It was extremely hot and climbing too much was very tiring. We finished three bottles of water that we carried. Although there was no water in the fall, the place was still enjoyable. It can be said to be a good picnic spot. 

  

We spent about 2 hours in the place and then proceeded for Pyramid Valley, which is on the same Kanakapura road about 15 kms from TK falls.

Agara Hanuman Temple in Bangalore

Agara is in the south east side of Bangalore city. There is a rarely visited lake in Agara known as Agara lake. Agara area has been very well developed during recent years. 

There are quite a few temples in Agara, two of them are notable, one, the Jagannath Temple and the other Hanuman temple. Both of them are build during recent years. The temple is actually small but the statue is extremely large. The 102 feet Gigantic statue of Lord hanuman is standing on a lotus pedestal. 

The statue is on the road side and visible from quite a distance. Although the temple opens in the morning and evening, there is no timing for seeing the statue as it is always visible from any side. The statue is east facing, so if you go in the morning the face of the statue will be lighted. In the afternoon the backside of the statue will be lighted.

   

The temple is popular among the local residents from Agara, Madivala and HSR layout area, and is visited by hundreds of visitors every day. But many more just have darshan from the road pay their homage while passing by the road. There are also idols of Naga Devata under the peepal tree.

 

 There is one beautiful temple in front of the Hanuman statue – known as “Sita Rama Bhakta Hanumanta Temple” (picture below). 

There is also another temple – Anjaneya Temple – behind the statue (picture below). The backside of the Gigantic Hanuman statue is visible from this place. 

 

Don’t forget to visit the Jagannath temple when you are going towards that side. The Jagannath temple is located next to the Hanuman temple, on the other side of the road, prominently visible from each other. The Jagannath temple is built recently and is quite popular in that area. 

umakant Mishra’s photostream

umakant Mishra’s photostream on Flickr.