Digha

This article is about the West Bengal resort town. For the locality in Patna, see Digha, Patna.
Digha
দীঘা
Town / Tourist Attraction

New Digha Beach
Digha
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 Purba Medinipur
Elevation 6 m (20 ft)
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)

Digha 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 has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach with gentle waves extending up to 7 km (4.3 mi) in length. It is the most popular sea resort in the West Bengal.[1]

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 (20 ft).

It is located 183 km (114 mi) from Kolkata/Howrah via Mecheda and 234 km (145 mi) 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.

History

Originally, there was a place called Beerkul, where Digha lies today. This name was referred in Warren Hastings's letters (1780) as Brighton of the East.[1]

An English businessman John Frank Snaith 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. An old Church is well famous in Digha, you can see it near the Old Digha Main gate this place is also known as Alankarpur Digha. A new mission has been developed in New Digha which is known as Sindhur Tara which is beside Amrabati Park its a church where you can wish for the welfare of your family and loved once, the best way to visit is to book a local bhan rickshaw.[3][1][4]

Climate

There are mainly three seasons in Digha, namely summer, monsoon and winter. Summer starts in April and continues to till June with an maximum temperature of 37 °C (99 °F). Although cold wind from sea keeps the weather pleasant in this time. Next comes monsoon in July and lasts till the end of September. Digha generally experiences an average rainfall with high humidity in the monsoon season. Winter sets in October and lasts till February with a temperature range from 24-3 °C. July to March is considered as the best time to visit Digha as weather stays most pleasant in these times.[3]

Transport

Bus Service

There is frequent bus service to Digha from Dharmatala bus stand of Kolkata and many other parts of West Bengal. Buses are available from Howrah as well, a connection has been made from Sealdah to Digha where a private bus arrives at 8:30 am throughout the week. It takes the shortest route from Sealdah connecting S.N Banerjee road, Taltala, Wellington, Dhramtalla to Howrah station, it departs from Howrah Station within 5 min to Digha.

Train Service

Express Train at Digha Station

In 2004, train services have started for Digha railway station (Station Code : DGHA). There is one DMU service from Santragachi railway station and there are three new trains from Howrah Station too.

Area

Digha's old beach is not 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 "New Digha" which is about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the old beach. This new beach is not only bigger than the old one, but might be considered a better one. It is clean and well-maintained and is not surrounded by a congested locality like the older beach. The latest attraction of New Digha is the Science Centre established by the National Council of Science Museums. The entire stretch of the Digha seaface from Old Digha to New Digha is filled with casuarina plantations, which looks beautiful.

Places of interest

Beautiful Gate..

Digha Gate..

Marine Aquarium and Research Centre (MARC)

Food production - Beach net fishing at Digha


It 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 (4.6 m × 3.0 m × 3.0 m (15 ft × 10 ft × 10 ft)) marine tanks and 8 fresh water (0.91 m × 0.61 m × 0.61 m (3 ft × 2 ft × 2 ft)) tanks which are equipped with compressed air supply, light and regulated supply of inflow & outflow of water.

Lord Shiva Temple At Chandaneswar

This place is only 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Digha the century old Temple of Lord Shiva at Chandaneswar, near Bengal and Orissa Border. During the Bengali month of Chaitra, a popular annual fair is organised here. Nearly half million people and pilgrims visit the temple.

Photo Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 3 Digha page in National Informatics Centre site
  2. ↑ "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Digha, India". fallingrain.com.
  3. 1 2 "About the Place, Digha Sankarpur development Authority". Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ "West Bengal Tourishm, Digha". Retrieved 29 October 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Digha.
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