Excursions

Merely 3 km from Santiniketan, the university town in West Bengal, is Sriniketan, a rural reconstruction center that was established in 1922. A sister unit of Shantiniketan, Sriniketan was mainly established to bring back life in its completeness to the villages and help people solve their problems on their own. Today, Sriniketan is a shopper's paradise, offering traditional handicrafts, such as batik, pottery, weaving kantha embroidery and dokra. Apart from this, major attractions in Sriniketan include Kala Bhavana, Rabindra Bhavana, Uttarayan Gardens and Deer Park.

15 km from Bindu. Belief of the tribes personified in the Debi sthan (house of Goddess) watch the crowd worshipping a tiny river that emanates from a singe rock that never dries up. Godak village is situated 15 km from Bindu and is renowned for its tribal goddess. The House of Goddess, popularly known as Debi sthan, is visited by devotees to worship river which originates from a rock that never dries.

Khanpur is situated on the Trimohini-Patiram road about 18 Kms from the Balurghat town. The place is famous for farmers Tebhaga Movement. During the first half of the 20th Century, most farmers of the area used to work in the fields of landlords locally known as Zamindar. The movement of Tebhaga was to acquire a right of 2/3rd of the produce from the land.

Popular picnic spot and centre for rock climbing training, is about 30 km from Asansol. One has to take a train on the Asansol-Adra line to get there. There is a station of that name.

Here the famous poet - Kazi Nazrul Islam was born. He is considered the national poet of Bangladesh. The village is about 17 km from Asansol, and contains a museum with his works and a memorial for him. A fair with high standard cultural programmes are organised on the occasion of the poet's birthday in the Bengali month of Jaistha (May-June).

Located around 30kms south-east of Vadodara, Dabhoi also known as Darbhavati is known for its Jain and Hindu temples. This ancient town which was founded and fortified by Siddhraj Jaisinh (1093-1143 AD) is one of the favorite picnic spot of tourists. Built in the early 12th century, the dabhoi fort located here is a fine example of Hindu military architecture and is renowned for its stone carvings. Apart from the fort, Dabhoi has a three-storied temple named Kalika Mata temple dedicated to Goddess Kali.

Dandi, a salt centre situated on the coastline around 55 km from Surat, is a place of historical importance. It was here that the famous Dandi Salt March- a Satyagraha launched by Gandhiji in 1930 to protest against the Salt Tax levied by the British is held. It was a non-violent act against the British Empire to attain freedom. This small hamlet has become a ideal tourist destination and has been treated as a holy place by the followers of Gandhiji. On the way to Dandi, one could find several monuments to Gandhi, including a small museum.

A former princely state, it has a beautiful palace and a temple.

Virpur is famous for its Jalaram Temple and is an important pilgrim place.

A pretty riverside town, which was at one time the wealthiest town in Saurashtra. It is famous today for it’s clocks, tiles and ceramics.