A getaway from Kolkata to Tarapith

aroop · 29th March 2008, 16:31

Hello Friends,

I am a new member of team-bhp and this is my first post.

Thrilled by the descriptions of escapades to the team-bhp members, I found myself yearning for a long drive. Yet my regular journeys were limited to office (14 km) or for shopping at the south city mall (25 km): these never gave the kind of thrill I desired, thanks to incessant honking and the non PUC complaint taxis and buses.

The end of March brings an end of vacations, since the next few months would only mean stickiness and unrelenting heat. So we decided to make a visit to Tarapith, a famous temple in Birbhum district of West Bengal. It would also let me know what long drive is all about.

We decided to go with family friends, who stay at Burdwan. We left Kolkata on 27th March evening, by 5:30. With a thankful of petrol, we left in my Wagon R with the odometer showing a reading of 5111. We joined the NH-2 from Bally, and the weather was awesome. I did not cross 70 kmph, to avoid losing the fun the specter gave. We were at Burdwan by 7:15, after a 94 km drive. There were 2 toll booths, one at Dankuni and the other at Palsit. They charged Rs 35 for the car.

Burdwan has its Big Bazaar now.The town’s first mall has an imposing façade, and the interiors can be compared with that of any mall in Kolkata. Almost all products were available, but it appeared that the sales volumes were low, probably because of Thursday. I was thoroughly impressed.

Moving on to the journey, we left for Tarapith the next morning at 4:25 with the odo at 5205. We crossed Burdwan on the GT Road, an joined the NH-2. It was my first drive so early, and I was thoroughly enjoying it. After about 50 km, we reached Panagarh, and took a right turn from there to start on the Panagah Moregram expressway (NH-60). We had some tea at the local tea stall, and continued on the expressway. It was 5:25.

NH-60 is a good road, with a few potholes and patches which rendered braking necessary. There are lots of trucks in both the directions, and it is also called the Darjeeling road, since it leads to Darjeeling (someday I will try that too). Moving along, we reached Dubrajpur, Siuri and were close to Rampurhat; when we turned right for Tarapith. In two or three places, there are steep stone bumps, which hit the mud covers. Small cars should be more carefully driven on such devious entities.

From the crossing, we reached Amda, a T point and took left for Tarapith. Total about 5 km. At Tarapith, there are so many hotels, that I felt I was at Digha. I found a lot of JH license plates, which is understandable, since the place is so close (about 30 km) from Jharkhand border. There is no parking place, and one is free to park their car in any suitable place. The odo showed 5370 – 165 km.

There are pandas (priests) at the temple, who let your voices reach the deity. We bought some Prasad from a shop (that’s because one boy took the effort to market his shop, when no one else did), and went over to the temple. It being a Friday, there were not many queues (I have heard queues extending to over 2 km on certain auspicious days – Saturday, Sunday and Thursday). There are two queues: a VIP (paid) line and the ordinary one. The paid one charges Rs 25 per person who wishes to reach the idol to perform the puja. We made a mistake of opting for the ordinary one, and ended up waiting for over 2 hours to reach the deity. As usual, there were gate crashers; and the guy controlling the queues did little to stop the chaos.

After the puja (which consists of the head touching the idol’s feet and mane, besides offering the sweets and garlands); we were out for some brunch. There were a number of restaurants, and one was serving veg meal at Rs 20 and poori sabji at Rs 10. I commented that it was much cheaper than Dakshineshwar.

There is a burial ground near the temple, where Bama Khepa used to sing a couple of centuries ago.

We went back to the car and were ready to return by 11:45. while exiting Tarapith, a couple of men rounded the car and demanded Rs 50 as a toll fee. It is not clear if it was a fraud one; but we paid nevertheless.

The return journey was not so comfortable, since it was too sunny and my Wagon R’s AC did not seem to cool very well with 5 people. I did not like when the sun was trying to heat me up, while the AC tried to cool me down! I felt the need of a sun film badly. After NH-60 and NH-2, we were back in Burdwan. Odo reading: 5533.

I slept for an hour or so, and were ready to return to Kolkata by 6:30. The tank was low of fuel, but I wanted to take it as a challenge. On our way back, I did not switch on the AC and drove at an optimum speed, never going beyond 70 kmph. In the last flyover, I took a wrong route and were on the main road earlier; which meant I had to face more traffic. I realized the long drive was taking a toll on my thinking capability; I needed some rest.

It was 9 by the time we reached home. The odo showed 5628 with some 5 liters of fuel still in the tank. It was my longest drive in a single day (423 km) and my longest journey in my car (517 km). Mileage in the trip: 18 kmpl with AC on about 50% of the time.

Hope the information helps Kolkata public to plan such a getaway!!

adc · 31st March 2008, 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by aroop

Yet my regular journeys were limited to office (14 km) or for shopping at the south city mall (25 km): these never gave the kind of thrill I desired, thanks to incessant honking and the non PUC complaint taxis and buses.

Hope the information helps Kolkata public to plan such a getaway!!

Congrats on this successful journey and do start planning on the next one. And yes definitely have some good sun film installed, especially with the summer coming up.

Any more pictures?

akroy · 1st April 2008, 08:14

Nice description aroop, add some more pics as well.

I too did Tarapith in early 2006 and roads / humps described by you is pretty much the same now too.

And you forgot to shoot the following

NOTE: I couldnt upload the pic directly as it was more than 500kb. Had to use imageshack again. Can anyone throw somelight, how to do with such pics?

Abhi

tamojoym · 4th April 2008, 16:17

Mouth watering langchas and rosogolla's you must have had quite a feast of them .
Congrats on yor first long trip .

BlackPearl · 4th April 2008, 17:17

@Aroop - nice getaway trip and travelogue. Good to see people from Kolkata going on long drives in the weekend. I have never been to Tarapith, will get the details from you if I plan someday..

Quote:

Originally Posted by akroy

NOTE: I couldnt upload the pic directly as it was more than 500kb. Had to use imageshack again. Can anyone throw somelight, how to do with such pics?

Abhi

@abhi - as Shuvc has mentioned in one of the threads the easiest way to do it is to open the image in Paint and choose the second option (Stretch/Skew) under Image. Change the Horizontal and Vertical values to 50 and 50 and save the image and see the size. Keep on doing this until the size is less 500 kb. Just remember to keep both the values same.

SirAlec · 7th April 2008, 01:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by akroy

Nice description aroop, add some more pics as well.

I too did Tarapith in early 2006 and roads / humps described by you is pretty much the same now too.

And you forgot to shoot the following

Hey some more pix please!!!

I don't know if its with me only or what. I cannot drive after seeing such mithais on the way. I feel as if i am gonna throw up....lolz

johy · 12th April 2008, 16:13

Aroop,

Nice trip you had there. Tiring I am sure in the WR (didn't you wish you had a longer more comfortable sedan), he he. I felt the same with my first long trip on my WR.

Keep driving safe.

- Johy

aroop · 14th April 2008, 12:30

Thanks everyone for your encouragement! Will update about my next trip soon!

29th March 2008, 16:31	#1
aroop BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kolkata Posts: 128 Thanked: 23 Times	A getaway from Kolkata to Tarapith Hello Friends, I am a new member of team-bhp and this is my first post. Thrilled by the descriptions of escapades to the team-bhp members, I found myself yearning for a long drive. Yet my regular journeys were limited to office (14 km) or for shopping at the south city mall (25 km): these never gave the kind of thrill I desired, thanks to incessant honking and the non PUC complaint taxis and buses. The end of March brings an end of vacations, since the next few months would only mean stickiness and unrelenting heat. So we decided to make a visit to Tarapith, a famous temple in Birbhum district of West Bengal. It would also let me know what long drive is all about. We decided to go with family friends, who stay at Burdwan. We left Kolkata on 27th March evening, by 5:30. With a thankful of petrol, we left in my Wagon R with the odometer showing a reading of 5111. We joined the NH-2 from Bally, and the weather was awesome. I did not cross 70 kmph, to avoid losing the fun the specter gave. We were at Burdwan by 7:15, after a 94 km drive. There were 2 toll booths, one at Dankuni and the other at Palsit. They charged Rs 35 for the car. Burdwan has its Big Bazaar now.The town’s first mall has an imposing façade, and the interiors can be compared with that of any mall in Kolkata. Almost all products were available, but it appeared that the sales volumes were low, probably because of Thursday. I was thoroughly impressed. Moving on to the journey, we left for Tarapith the next morning at 4:25 with the odo at 5205. We crossed Burdwan on the GT Road, an joined the NH-2. It was my first drive so early, and I was thoroughly enjoying it. After about 50 km, we reached Panagarh, and took a right turn from there to start on the Panagah Moregram expressway (NH-60). We had some tea at the local tea stall, and continued on the expressway. It was 5:25. NH-60 is a good road, with a few potholes and patches which rendered braking necessary. There are lots of trucks in both the directions, and it is also called the Darjeeling road, since it leads to Darjeeling (someday I will try that too). Moving along, we reached Dubrajpur, Siuri and were close to Rampurhat; when we turned right for Tarapith. In two or three places, there are steep stone bumps, which hit the mud covers. Small cars should be more carefully driven on such devious entities. From the crossing, we reached Amda, a T point and took left for Tarapith. Total about 5 km. At Tarapith, there are so many hotels, that I felt I was at Digha. I found a lot of JH license plates, which is understandable, since the place is so close (about 30 km) from Jharkhand border. There is no parking place, and one is free to park their car in any suitable place. The odo showed 5370 – 165 km. There are pandas (priests) at the temple, who let your voices reach the deity. We bought some Prasad from a shop (that’s because one boy took the effort to market his shop, when no one else did), and went over to the temple. It being a Friday, there were not many queues (I have heard queues extending to over 2 km on certain auspicious days – Saturday, Sunday and Thursday). There are two queues: a VIP (paid) line and the ordinary one. The paid one charges Rs 25 per person who wishes to reach the idol to perform the puja. We made a mistake of opting for the ordinary one, and ended up waiting for over 2 hours to reach the deity. As usual, there were gate crashers; and the guy controlling the queues did little to stop the chaos. After the puja (which consists of the head touching the idol’s feet and mane, besides offering the sweets and garlands); we were out for some brunch. There were a number of restaurants, and one was serving veg meal at Rs 20 and poori sabji at Rs 10. I commented that it was much cheaper than Dakshineshwar. There is a burial ground near the temple, where Bama Khepa used to sing a couple of centuries ago. We went back to the car and were ready to return by 11:45. while exiting Tarapith, a couple of men rounded the car and demanded Rs 50 as a toll fee. It is not clear if it was a fraud one; but we paid nevertheless. The return journey was not so comfortable, since it was too sunny and my Wagon R’s AC did not seem to cool very well with 5 people. I did not like when the sun was trying to heat me up, while the AC tried to cool me down! I felt the need of a sun film badly. After NH-60 and NH-2, we were back in Burdwan. Odo reading: 5533. I slept for an hour or so, and were ready to return to Kolkata by 6:30. The tank was low of fuel, but I wanted to take it as a challenge. On our way back, I did not switch on the AC and drove at an optimum speed, never going beyond 70 kmph. In the last flyover, I took a wrong route and were on the main road earlier; which meant I had to face more traffic. I realized the long drive was taking a toll on my thinking capability; I needed some rest. It was 9 by the time we reached home. The odo showed 5628 with some 5 liters of fuel still in the tank. It was my longest drive in a single day (423 km) and my longest journey in my car (517 km). Mileage in the trip: 18 kmpl with AC on about 50% of the time. Hope the information helps Kolkata public to plan such a getaway!! Attached Thumbnails
	(1) Thanks

1st April 2008, 08:14	#3
akroy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Posts: 2,424 Thanked: 88 Times View My Garage	Nice description aroop, add some more pics as well. I too did Tarapith in early 2006 and roads / humps described by you is pretty much the same now too. And you forgot to shoot the following NOTE: I couldnt upload the pic directly as it was more than 500kb. Had to use imageshack again. Can anyone throw somelight, how to do with such pics? Abhi
	() Thanks

4th April 2008, 16:17	#4
tamojoym BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 69 Thanked: 27 Times	Mouth watering langchas and rosogolla's you must have had quite a feast of them . Congrats on yor first long trip .
	() Thanks

12th April 2008, 16:13	#7
johy BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Siliguri Posts: 992 Thanked: 634 Times View My Garage	Aroop, Nice trip you had there. Tiring I am sure in the WR (didn't you wish you had a longer more comfortable sedan), he he. I felt the same with my first long trip on my WR. Keep driving safe. - Johy
	() Thanks

14th April 2008, 12:30	#8
aroop BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kolkata Posts: 128 Thanked: 23 Times	Thanks everyone for your encouragement! Will update about my next trip soon!
	() Thanks