Indian Museum Kolkata Has Lots to Teach You

Indian Museum at Kolkata is a multipurpose museum, which is the oldest and the largest in India. I heard that it had a wide collection of antiques, mummies, fossils, Mughal paintings, skeletons, armor, and ornaments, and many more. On our second day at Kolkata we decided to visit the museum and got ready at 9 am in the morning. It is located at Chowringhee Road, not very far from the hotel. After having our breakfast we took a cab and reached the museum at 10 am. The museum had just opened and tourists were ready to get in.

Indian Museum Kolkata | Image Resource : wikimedia.org

It was established by the Asiatic Society in 1814 and has six sections dealing with anthropology, archaeology, art, geology, zoology and industry. There are 35 galleries in the museum. The museum is open to the public from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm on all days of the week, except for Mondays. The entry fee is Rs.10 per person, while it is Rs.150 per person if you are a foreigner. We took the tickets and entered a large hall. We visited all the six sections and saw a lot of things. The Archaeology section had many galleries like long archaeology gallery containing sculptures from 2nd century Ad to 12th century AD, Egyptian Gallery with a mummy and other antique pieces from Egypt, Main Entrance Gallery, Bronze Gallery, Bharhut Gallery, Coin Gallery, Gandhara Gallery and Minor Art Gallery.

The Art Section included Mughal Painting Gallery, Bengal Painting Gallery, Decorative Art and Textile Gallery and South East Asian Gallery. Anthropology Section had Palaeo-Anthropology Gallery showing the evolution of man, Cultural-Anthropology Gallery, Mask Gallery with masks from different parts of India and Musical Instrument Gallery.

Geological Section had four galleries with fossils of man and animals, rocks, minerals, gems etc. Zoological Section included Bird Gallery, Fish Gallery, Amphibia and Reptilia Gallery, Mammal Gallery and Ecology Gallery. At the Botany Section we could see many plants, vegetables, fruits, handicrafts made of Jute and coconut, fabrics dyed with Indian dye, wooden toys, Goddess Durga made of jute fibre etc. the visit to the museum taught us a lot about the history and evolution of man and also many other things.

Destination Of The Week : Howrah Bridge Kolkata

Howrah Bridge Kolkata | Image Resource : ghumakkar.com

Description : You must have surely seen the Howrah bridge in some of the Hindi Movies or songs. It is a cantilever bridge that connects Howrah and Kolkata. The bridge is now renamed Rabindra Setu. It is a truly famous location in West Bengal. You cannot miss this in yur trip to Kolkata.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple Kolkata – The Abode of spirituality

Dakshineswar is about 12.5 km from Kolkata city and it takes about 21 minutes to reach the temple. It is one of the largest temples in Kolkata and is dedicated to Goddess Bhavatarini, an incarnation of Goddess Kali. The temple was built during the period from 1847 to 1855 by the queen Rasmani of Janbazar. We had a cab arranged at the travel desk to take us to the temple. We were told by the driver of the cab that before visiting the temple we should visit another temple, the Adya Ma Temple and offer our prayers there. Here the darshan was provided only for a limited time we should be there by 10 am. We reached the temple by 10.15 am and after praying there we set off to the Dakshineswar Temple, which was only 2 km from here.

We reached the temple at 11 am and were impressed by the immense beauty of the temple. It is located on the banks of the River Ganga, known as Hoogly in West Bengal and is a large complex covering an area of 25 acres. The temple is open to the devotees from 6.00 am to 12.30 pm and then from 3.30 to 9.00 pm.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple Kolkata | Image Resource : panoramio.com

The main temple is surrounded by 12 shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva and there is a Shivalinga placed in each shrine. The courtyard also has a temple dedicated to Radha and Krishna. The temple is built in Nava-ratna (nine-spired) style, which is the uniqueness of the Bengal architecture. Inside the sanctum sanctorum is the idol of Goddess Kali, standing with one foot on the chest the Lord Shiva lying on the ground. The two idols are placed on a silver lotus with thousand petals.

Inside View Of Dakshineswar Kali Temple Kolkata | Image Resource : psr.edu

The temple is closely associated with the spiritual leader Ramakrishna Paramhansa, who along with his wife Sharda Devi, worshipped here until his death. He was also the spiritual Guru of Swami Vivekananda.

Tuesdays and Saturdays are the auspicious days to worship the Goddess and there is a huge rush of devotees during these days. The visit to the temple enlightened and filled our soul with spiritual peace.

Train Travel from Lucknow NR to Kolkata by ASR Koaa Superfast Express

At the age of 24, I have visited many places in India and I love adventure tourism that include activities like mountain climbing, mountain cycling, clamping. I am also a great nature lover and visit wildlife sanctuaries wherever I go. Most of the time, I travel with my friends, as I have some good friends who share the same craze for travel. This time we decided to go to Kolkata as it was not so far from Lukhnow and we could come back within a few days. Opting for budget travel, we booked tickets for our train travel from Lucknow NR to Kolkata by ASR Koaa Superfast Express.

ASR Koaa Superfast Express | Image Resource : i1.ytimg.com

The scheduled time of departure of the train from Lucknow was 8.15, so I had my bags ready for the travel by the evening. May friend had told he would pick me up at 7.30 pm. so I had the dinner packed for all the four of us and reached the station by 7.45. The other two were already waiting at the station and we sat down, waiting for the train to arrive. The train arrived at 8.10 pm. 5 minutes behind the actual time. We got into the train and searched for our seats. I had booked AC 3 tier coach and we soon found our seats and sat down. The train started from the station after 15 minutes and we sat down talking for a while. By 9 pm we had our dinner and then we all retired to our berths ready to sleep. I read the book I had with me for a while and then fell off to sleep.

Parasnath Station | Image Resource : mw2.google.com

Next morning I woke up at 6.45 hearing the vendors shouting tea, coffee, puri masala and so on. It was the Parasnath Station and it stopped only for 2 minutes in the station. Most of the passengers had got down by the time reached Asansol Junction and then at 11.25 am we reached Kolkata railway station. Train travel from Lucknow NR to Kolkata by ASR Koaa Superfast Express took about 15 hours and we enjoyed our travel. There was the cab sent from the hotel waiting for us outside the station.

The Amazing Spider-man 2 Review

As a kid, I loved reading comics the simple notion that a single man can save the entire world always amuse me. Be it Batman, Superman, Spiderman or Wolverine, I idolized them all (All thanks to Marvel and DC comics). This is the main reason why I’m still addicted to super heroes. I’m quite excited about this post as I get to write on two of my favourite forms of entertainment i.e. “Comic Superheroes” and “Movies”.

Being a Spiderman fan, I had to watch the recent instalment from the series “The Amazing Spiderman 2”. So here is my honest review on the movie.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 | Image Resource : designsnext.com

I’ll begin with saying that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is an intense superhero movie with a love story at backdrop. A good portion of the story revolves around romance between Peter Parker/Spiderman (Andrew Garfield) and Gwen (Emma Stone) which can be considered as “Uncool” by many spidey’s geek followers. As a spidey fan, you go to the theatre to experience some nerve wrecking superhero action.

The movie begins with an amazing airplane scene which sets the movie at the right pace. As we all know that Richard Parker Peter’s father left him with Uncle Ben for some mysterious reason. However, Richard has left some really confidential documents about his work for his only kid (Peter). This adds up to the suspense and thrill of the storyline.

The feature that sets this “Amazing Spider-Man” series apart from other instalments is Peter’s/spidey’s sense of humour. Unlike the previous movies, this series portrays our web-clinger as a funny and cocky guy. He kind of reminds me of “Dead pool”.

Meanwhile, an ordinary electrical engineer Max Dillon is reborn as Electro. In this movie, spidey has to also deal with couple of other villains which include Rhino (the famous Russian mobster) enacted by Paul Giamatti and of course Harry Osborn(successor of Green Goblin) a.k.a “New Goblin” played by Dane DeHaan.

The villains are soul of this movie especially Electro (Jamie Foxx) who keeps on blasting stuff with his electric powers. The movie consists of some really spectacular action scenes that keeps the audience on their toes and maintains the grip of the entire story.

Again, like all other spidey movie. This movie is all about how peter and spider share a same life and how peter’s life suffers due to spidey’s responsibility. Although the movie is called “The Amazing Spider-Man”, it is all about Peter Parker. How he conquers his fears on a path from losing his loved ones to discovering his parents dark secrets.

So, if you are true Spiderman fan. Regardless of any review you will watch this movie and wait for the next one.

Destination Of The Week : Udaipur Solar Observatory

Udaipur Solar Observatory | Image Resource : panoramio.com

Description : We had a brief visit to the Solar Observatory in Udaipur. The observatory is placed on the Fateh Sagar Lake and the location is perfectly chosen. The air turbulence of this location is minimised as the area is surrounded by water. The solar observation was truly a unique experience. I enjoyed it completely.

Shilpgram, Udaipur – A Village of Arts and Crafts That Appealed to All Sections of the Society

The last day in Udaipur seemed melancholic in some ways. Soon the last day would also end and we would be back to our respective houses and work places and all in separate ways. When next would we be able to have such an abashed journey again with friends was doubtful yet we vowed to make the most of the last day while we were in Udaipur. The Shilpgram, Udaipur is a place that is State sponsored and it stretched up to 70 acres of land, which has been devoted for the singular purpose of promoting the handicrafts and the cultural heritage of the land. Situated on the foothills of the Aravali, the place was about 3 kilometers away from the famous Fateh Sagar Lake in Udaipur.

Shilpgram Udaipur | Image Resource : mw2.google.com

The Hindi derivation of this Rural Arts and Crafts Village is correctly named Shilpgram and it is a part of the seven centers that the Government has established in the year 1986 under the West Zone Cultural Center. The place also has its popularity because of the 10-day festival that takes place here annually by the end of the year. There is a great amount of rush here then. In the premise here are various exhibits that are set up in stalls which have people coming from all over the country to give you the glimpse of how rich the culture of India is. You can even purchase some of the handicrafts items from the stalls which cannot be found in the urban malls. The experience here is totally engaging- from traditional dances wooing you to the delectable food items which are really tasty to the entire feel and the vibe of the place which cannot be found anywhere else.

We had a complete blast but as they say that all good things come to an end; likewise our trip to Udaipur had also come to an end but we did end it on a high note. There were many pictures we took back home and they were testimony to the fact that we had a totally awesome time here in Shilpgram, Udaipur. Given a choice I would like to visit the place again for sure.

Destination of the week : Rajiv Gandhi Park Udaipur

Rajiv Gandhi Park Udaipur | Image Resource : panoramio.com

Description : The Rajiv Gandhi Park in Udaipur is slowly becoming a great tourist attraction. The location of this park is truly strategic making it a must visit in your Udaipur trip. You can have great view of lakes and nature from this park. You can also have a great time clicking photographs here

Gulab Bagh and Zoo, Udaipur – Named After the Roses That Are Found in the Garden

Each day was a new revelation at Udaipur. The relaxed setting in the hotel inaugurated the day and we got geared up for the sightseeing of the day at our own pace. The food continued to delight us and the service was at par with the best hotels. This day, we were to go to the Gulab Bagh and Zoo, Udaipur also known as the Sajjan Niwas Garden. The entire garden has an area of about 100 acres and boasts of a wide variety of roses from which the name of the park has been derived. The garden owes its existence to Maharana Sajjan Singh who began the layout of the gardens in the year 1878.

Entrance Of Gulab Bagh and Zoo Udaipur | Image Resource : bcmtouring.com

The car made way into the familiar surroundings of the Pichola Lake in the Lake Palace Road where the Park is located in the south eastern section of the City Palace. Since the park is situated quite in the heart of city, it is very easily accessible from all public modes of transport. The beauty of the garden and its pristine environment was splendid. But the Gulab Bagh was not all about the roses alone. The premise also housed a museum which was called by the name Victoria Hall Museum earlier. It has a huge impressive collection of curios, antiques and several other royal day to day items and intriguing relics from the yester years of the royalty that lived in this land. Another attraction nearby was the zoo where animals and birds of various species were kept in cages. It is probably very popular with kids because we could see the maximum crowd there of the little kids whose faces looked happy looking at the various animals here.

Gulab Bagh Udaipur | Image Resource : indiatourismportal.com

Emu At Gulab Bagh and Zoo Udaipur | Image Resource : nrigujarati.co.in

Toy Train At Gulab Bagh and Zoo Udaipur | Image Resource : lh4.ggpht.com

The Gulab Bagh and Zoo, Udaipur is a must-see for people who can enjoy the beauty of nature and for the little toddlers who can invariably feel very happy to witness the birds and the animals here. We spent a considerable amount of time here but soon time beckoned us to make way to Shilpgram Udaipu,r which was sadly going to be our last sightseeing in Udaipur.

Destination of the week : Sas-Bahu Temple Udaipur

Sas-Bahu Temple Udaipur | Image Resource : panoramio.com

Description : The Sas Bahu Temple of Udaipur is a great tourist attraction especially for religious tourists. I was disappointed to know that the temple had nothing to do with Sas or Bahu. It was built in the 10th century. The temple architecture is one of the oldest in the city of Udaipur.