Talk:West Bengal

Adding stuff that was copied to the Calcutta page out of the blue. Potentially useful — (WT-en) Ravikiran 09:53, 7 June 2006 (EDT)

Districts/cities

The list of cities is growing enormous. The ideal number on the page should be a maximum of nine, so if anyone has the knowledge of the city and distict relationshhips, it would be helpful if they could place the lesser known cities onto their specific district page - see Karnataka as an example. Thanks. (WT-en) WindHorse 00:17, 16 October 2006 (EDT)

Also, not all districts should be listed here. The state should be divided into regions and the districts should come under the respective region articles. See Maharashtra or Karnataka once again. — (WT-en) Ravikiran 09:39, 16 October 2006 (EDT)

Done, as desired. I hope it is alright. If not, it can always be changed. -- (WT-en) P.K.Niyogi 11:29, 16 October 2006 (EDT)

Looks fine by me. Boy, you worked really hard on that - kudos. (WT-en) WindHorse 11:30, 16 October 2006 (EDT)

West Bengal has approx 30 city articles of which some are empty. Therefore, the present structure with two levels of subregions (regions and districts) does not seem to be necessary. I suggest we increase the number of regions from three to four or five (to ensure that no region has more than nine cities) and then eliminates the district level. Any thoughs on this are most welcome. (WT-en) ClausHansen 09:44, 5 January 2010 (EST)

Research links

I rolled these extlinks back, but they might be useful for research. --(WT-en) Evan 12:43, 10 December 2006 (EST)

• Travel Article on Boronti, Purulia by Rangan Datta
• Travel Article on Murguma & Kairabera by Rangan Datta
• Travel Article on Frazerganj by Rangan Datta
• A discussion group
• A systematic history
• A short history
• An article on Chandraketugarh by Rangan Datta
• An article on Achipur by Rangan Datta
• An article on Pundooah, Hooghly by Rangan Datta
• An article on Ballal Dhipi by Rangan Datta
• An article on Shivniwas by Rangan Datta
• An article on Dhosa & Tilpi by Rangan Datta
• An article on Karnasubarna by Rangan Datta
• An article on Nandadirghi Vihar by Rangan Datta
• An article on Gour by Rangan Datta
• A travel article on archeological sites near Calcutta by Rangan Datta
• Rangan Datta's Home Page

"Cities" list

There are currently 10 listed cities, but there shouldn't be more than 9 in a state article for a state with regional articles. Here's the list:

• Kolkata — this centre of Bengali culture, the largest city in the state and the capital of the country until 1911, is known as the "City of Joy"
• Howrah — Kolkata's twin city, the second-largest in the state, with the largest railway complex in India
• Darjeeling — a beautiful hill station and centre of a major tea growing area.
• Siliguri — a major business and shopping centre
• Durgapur — an industrial metropolis
• Asansol — an important mining and industrial centre
• Bardhaman - a major agricultural town
• Haldia — a developing port city
• Malda
• Baharampur

Which one is least important, and therefore should be removed? Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:23, 17 February 2015 (UTC)

Malda can be removed. Calcutta is called "City of Buildings" and "City of Palaces" not "City of Joy", Debarunb 01:30, 19 February 2015 (IST)

Thanks a lot. Done. And how should we describe Baharampur? Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:07, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Replace it with Chandannagar-a former French colony or Murshidabad - former capital of Bengal under Mughals Debarunb 2:05 19 February 2015 (IST)

Which one of those do you think is more interesting for travellers? And just to clarify: This would be a replacement for Baharampur? Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:51, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Do we have to abide by the '9' rule? These 3 cities have their own unique culture and architecture. Travellers will find them equally interesting, as they represent 3 different empires and things they have left behind.( Baharampur-East India Company, Chandannagar-French India and Murshidabad-Mughal empire with an Afgan king). Debarunb 2:40 19 February 2015 (IST)

We do have to abide by that rule because the state is subdivided into regional articles. Is there any other city currently listed that would be better to remove? Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:54, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

By the way, it's perfectly fine to summarize what's interesting about all those cities in prose in the "See" section. But I'd like to settle on a good list of 9 cities before I create the Wikivoyage:India Expedition/West Bengal article to chart the status of the city articles linked from this article and discuss the most important tasks needed for each of these city articles. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:19, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

[unindent] Would anyone like to suggest which 9 cities should be listed in the "Cities" section? Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:50, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Calcutta, Darjeeling, Siliguri, Durgapur, Baharampur, Chandannagar, Murshidabad, Howrah and Bardhaman. Debarunb 14:12, 20 February 2015 (IST)

Great. Since no-one else seems to be participating in this discussion, I'd suggest for you to please make the appropriate changes, introducing new 1-liner listings as needed. I'd normally be happy to do it myself, but my computer is in the shop and may be kaput (I'll know more in a day or two), and I can't cut and paste on this dumb phone. Ordinary editing like this reply itself is not so easy to do on this old LG Lotus Elite. Ikan Kekek (talk) 04:04, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

Nevermind: My laptop was fixed and is working now, so I made the changes. Baharampur still needs a 1-liner listing, however. If you'd like to try your hand at one, please do so! I've actually never been to West Bengal, or further west in India than Varanasi and Sarnath, and I'm unfamiliar with Baharampur, so I could use the help. Ikan Kekek (talk) 02:52, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I am curently working on the Understand, Get around, See and Do sections of West Bengal and her regions. Will focus on individual cities once I am done there. -Debarun (talk) 08:34, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

No rush. All your work is appreciated! Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:41, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Insurgency

"Infest" is a word associated with pests not humans. Technically the government is the antagonist in the present situation, but I won't delve into political issues here. The insurgency part was irrelevant, so I took it upon myself to delete it, anyone thinking different may undo the change, but it is advisable to keep the tone neutral. - Debarun (talk) 21:22, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

What's most relevant to travellers in terms of insurgencies and counterinsurgencies is potential danger and how to lessen and deal with it. Secondarily, some background related to it may be interesting and help a visitor understand the state. Incidentally, the standard on this site isn't a neutral point of view by "be fair". It sounds like you did right in regard to the word "infest." Ikan Kekek (talk) 23:09, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I gave an one liner description on the insurgents in the History section. The issue is of no concern from a traveller's point of view. Debarun (talk) 10:45, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

"Other destinations"

These are also supposed to number no more than 9 and exclude cities (including hill stations; see Talk:India#Are hill stations cities?). So what should we do with this section? Let's keep in mind that anyplace that has compelling sights can be summarized in prose in "See" with a link. I think it would be best if we could come up with a list of 9 compelling non-city destinations and move the rest of the section here for reference in terms of the "See", "Do" and possibly other sections. Ikan Kekek (talk) 02:38, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Made the relevant changes, but kept Sandakfu due to it's geographical importance Debarun (talk) 10:29, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

It's totally normal for a high point to be in this section. It's really an "other-than-cities (villages, towns, etc.) destinations" section, with a few exceptions that really amount to a city being linked but the huge temple complex or ski resort that dominates it being given as the destination. I was recently involved in a discussion of listing towns with ski resorts in this section, with formatting discussed toward the end of the section. The discussion is at Wikivoyage talk:Region article template#Other destinations. Ikan Kekek (talk) 15:55, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Picture(s) for the "History" subsection

While I'm thinking about it, it's great to illustrate "History" sections with photos of great historical buildings or relics that visitors can see. If anyone has a good idea of what to put in that section, please insert it at your leisure. Ikan Kekek (talk) 02:41, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikivoyage:India Expedition/West Bengal

This article has been created to chart and discuss the 9 city articles linked in the "Cities" section. Please have a look, if you're interested. All these 9 cities must be at Usable status or better for West Bengal to be advanced to Guide status. The chart could be expanded to include other cities in the state and/or "Other destinations" articles if anyone would like to do that. Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:17, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Is itinerary a destination?

I've noticed a problematic listing in "Other Destinations".

• 1 Sandakphu - Phalut Trek — Sandakphu (3,636 metres) is the highest point in West Bengal and Phalut (3,600 metres) is the northernmost point of West Bengal. The trek combines both these points offering great views of Kangchenjunga and several other snow peaks including Mount Everest.

This is a trek (a subclass of itinerary) and not really a destination per se, although two destinations are discussed in the article. Should we replace this with any other "other destination"? Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 04:33, 25 August 2022 (UTC)

Edit: I've already replaced it with Singalila National Park and the trek is now listed at North Bengal#Itineraries. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 14:44, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

Regional overhaul

I think the name "Foo Bengal" of most regions in West Bengal is not always appropriate, since we have separate articles for West Bengal and Bengal and certain region names can be confusing. Besides, some of the regions have too many destinations. So I think we should reorganise the regional breakdown of West Bengal like the following:

• Darjeeling Hills (Darjeeling, Kalimpong): 12 bluelinked destinations + Singalila National Park
• Dooars (Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri): 9 bluelinked destinations + Siliguri (as a trans-regional city)
• Central Bengal (Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur): 9 bluelinked destinations + 3 redlinked destinations
• Nadia: 8 bluelinked destinations
• Southeast Bengal (Howrah, Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas): 18 bluelinked destinations + 1 redlinked destination
• 24 Parganas (North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas): 15 bluelinked destinations + 1 redlinked destination
• Kolkata (orphaned destination)
• South Rarh (Howrah, Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Medinipur): 15 bluelinked destinations
• West Rarh (Bankura, Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia): 12 bluelinked destinations + 2 redlinked destinations + Maithon (as a trans-regional town)
• East Rarh (Birbhum, Hooghly, Purba Bardhaman): 16 bluelinked destinations

--Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 18:51, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

Yes, I have got confused myself a few times when looking at these articles. In the suggestion, Southeast Bengal remains, would there be some alternative name for that?

I don't know the region, so I have little to say about the intended partitioning itself. Twelve to sixteen destinations, as in some of the subregions in this scheme, are quite many, but it is still a manageable number even if there is no good way to group them (which there may be).

–LPfi (talk) 07:55, 10 November 2022 (UTC)

I couldn't find a better name for Southeast Bengal. "24 Parganas" may work, but I have to exclude Kolkata, Howrah and Gadiara from the region. Therefore, I've changed my proposal as such. However, the total number of destinations in 24 Parganas will be reduced to 13 by early 2023 after the formation of two frontier districts, by combining those two districts with Nadia and renaming the resultant region "Eastern Frontier (West Bengal)" or something. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 08:11, 10 November 2022 (UTC) Edit: The new district proposal is now largely halted and only two new districts will form instead: Basirhat and Sundarbans. Therefore, the regional breakdown will remain as it is. --Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 05:07, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

By early 2023, the regional breakdown of West Bengal should be something like the following:

• Darjeeling Hills (Darjeeling, Kalimpong): 12 bluelinked destinations + Singalila National Park
• Dooars (Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri): 9 bluelinked destinations + Siliguri (as a trans-regional city)
• Central Bengal (Berhampore, Dakshin Dinajpur, Jangipur, Kandi, Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur): 9 bluelinked destinations + 3 redlinked destinations
• Eastern Frontier (Basirhat, Ichhamati, Nadia, Ranaghat): 11 bluelinked destinations
• Nadia: 8 bluelinked destinations
• 24 Parganas (Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Sundarbans): 15 bluelinked destinations + 1 redlinked destination
• Kolkata (orphaned destination)
• South Rarh (Howrah, Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Medinipur): 15 bluelinked destinations
• West Rarh (Bankura, Bishnupur, Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia): 12 bluelinked destinations + 2 redlinked destinations + Maithon (as a trans-regional town)
• East Rarh (Birbhum, Hooghly, Purba Bardhaman): 16 bluelinked destinations

--Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 08:27, 10 November 2022 (UTC)

Nadia might be a bit low on destinations compared to the others, but 8 is still a lot more than many other region articles we have. Otherwise, the regional breakdown seems good to me. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 11:31, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

Nadia covers the Nadia district of West Bengal and eight destinations are enough to cover major attractions in the district. If Ichhamati district will ever get created, it (and Basirhat district) will be combined with Nadia and the resultant region will be renamed to "Eastern Frontier (West Bengal)" or something. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 14:45, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ According to Wikivoyage:Region article template and Wikivoyage talk:Region article template/Archive 2004-2012, "Other destinations" is not for cities and other settlements but for islands, national parks and other nice subregions. Therefore, I've altered the proposal to the following:

• Darjeeling Hills (Darjeeling, Kalimpong): 11 cities + 2 other destinations
• Dooars (Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri): 6 cities + 4 other destinations
• Central Bengal (Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Uttar Dinajpur) 10 cities (7 bluelinked + 3 redlinked) + 2 other destinations
• Nadia: 7 cities + 1 other destination
• North 24 Parganas: 7 cities + 1 other destination
• South 24 Parganas: 6 cities (5 bluelinked + 1 redlinked) + 3 other destinations (2 bluelinked + 1 redlinked)
• Kolkata (orphaned city)
• Rarh: 4 subregions
  • Birbhum: 9 cities
  • East Rarh (Hooghly, Howrah, Purba Bardhaman): 8 cities + 2 other destinations
  • South Rarh (Paschim Medinipur, Purba Medinipur): 12 cities
  • West Rarh (Bankura, Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia): 11 cities (9 bluelinked + 2 redlinked) + 5 other destinations

--Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 12:41, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

I might other ahead to split North Bengal and North Central Bengal for now. Later splits will be done gradually. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 04:54, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Almost Done. Only the names of the two regions (North Central Bengal and Southeast Bengal) are kept unchanged for now, especially Southeast Bengal, which will be divided by early 2023. --Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 06:45, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Dooars and most of North Central Bengal are merged into Northern Plains (West Bengal), while the remainders of North Central Bengal and Birbhum are merged into Central Bengal. Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 09:25, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

"Cities" and "Other destinations"

I think we should reorganise the two sections like the following:

Cities

• 1 Kolkata (Calcutta) — the capital of West Bengal, the cultural capital of India, known as the City of Joy and home to numerous colonial buildings

• 2 Bardhaman (Burdwan) — a major agricultural city

• 3 Chandannagar (Chandernagore) — a former French colony

• 4 Darjeeling — a beautiful hill station and centre of a major tea growing area

• 5 Durgapur — known as the Ruhr of India and home to Durgapur Steel Plant

• 6 Howrah — Kolkata's twin city, the second-largest in the state, with the largest railway complex in India

• 7 Murshidabad — former capital of Bengal under the Nawabs

• 8 Santiniketan — town of Rabindranath Tagore's university Visva Bharati and known for exotic handmade goods

• 9 Siliguri — a major business and shopping centre and gateway for travellers to Sikkim and North-Eastern India

Other destinations

• 1 Ajodhya Hill and Forest Reserve Area — a low-lying hill in the Rarh region

• 2 Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary — wildlife centre

• 3 Buxa Tiger Reserve — a forested area located in Buxa Hills is a habitat for tigers, Asian elephants and other mammals plus a variety of birds, amphibians and reptiles

• 4 Gorumara National Park, — rolling grasslands and forest is rich with herbivores such as the Indian rhinoceros and elephants birds, reptiles and amphibians

• 5 Gour — an historical and heritage town north of the Ganges

• 6 Jaldapara National Park — a national park with wildlife including one-horned rhinos

• 7 Sagar Island — a Hindu pilgrimage site with unspoiled beaches

• 8 Singalila National Park — a popular trekking destination with Mt Sandakphu, the tallest peak of West Bengal

• 9 Sundarbans National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Royal Bengal Tigers and deer found in forests and mangrove swamps

--Sbb1413 (he) (talk • contribs) 09:58, 13 December 2022 (UTC)