Baranagar and Dakshineswar are twin suburbs at the northern fringes of Kolkata, with a rich cultural heritage.
Baranagar (Bengali: বরাহনগর Barāhanagar; BAW-rah-hoh-naw-gohr) is on the banks of the Hooghly River. In the 17th century, Dutch merchants set up a residence here and made it a large business hub at that time, and the center of the jute industry. It has become a major industrial centre for the manufacture of agricultural and industrial machinery, chemicals, castor oil, several jute products, matches, and numerous cotton-processing companies.
Dakshineswar (Bengali: দক্ষিণেশ্বর Dakṣiṇeśbar; DOHCK-khih-nehsh-shawr) is home to one of the most important religious shrines for Hindus and people from all over the world visit Dakshineswar Kali Temple every day in numbers. Along with the Kali temple, there are other important Hindu temples like the Adyapeath temple, Sarada Math and so on. Because of the town's importance and the Hooghly River, a distributary of the Ganges, flowing by, it is also regarded as a twin of Varanasi by the locals.
Get in
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Baranagar and Dakshineswar have a well transport chain for travelling the tourist spots and going different sides of the towns.
By train
[edit]The Calcutta Chord Link Line Chord Link of the Kolkata Suburban Railway has stops at 1 Dakshineswar 
and 2 Baranagar Road .
By metro
[edit]The North–South Line 1 of the Kolkata Metro runs along the CC Link Line, with stops at Dakshineswar, Baranagar and Noapara.
By car
[edit]There are several state highways and other roads, like Barrackpore Trunk Road (SH 1) and the Belghoria Expressway. They intersect at Dunlop Flyover, a large viaduct.
By ferry
[edit]- 3 Dakshineswar Ghat. You can enjoy a 20-30 minutes boating ride from Dakshineswar to Belur Math. Sunset on the Hooghly river behind Vivekananda Setu from the bank is superb. In winter you will enjoy the most with the set of dusk and chill wind blowing over your body.
- 4 Kuthi Ghat, Baranagar. A palace on the banks of river Hooghly, established by Dutch merchants in the 17th century, as Dutch Kuthi, one of the heritage sites of Kolkata. The place was named "Kuthi Ghat" after the palace.
See
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Baranagar
[edit]- 1 Alambazar Math. Second monastery of Ramakrishna Order. Swami Vivekananda first put up here after coming back from abroad.
- 2 Baranagar Math. First monastery of Ramakrishna Order. After the death of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and some of his other disciples permanently started to live here. Here, they decided to establish Belur Math for the first time.
- 3 Kacher Mandir (Glass Temple), 1, Pran Krishna Saha Ln.
- 4 Kripamayee Kali Temple (Joy Mitra Kalibari). A navaratna (nine-pinnacled) temple of Goddess Kali worshipped as Kripamayee (she who is merciful). There are twelve shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva.
- 5 Mahamilan Math, 7/7, PWD Road. The Annapurna Temple and the Omkarnath Temple are two attractions here.
- 6 Nivedita Setu
and 7 Vivekananda Setu — Two bridges across the Hooghly River, 50 m (160 ft) apart. Vivekenanda Setu is a 880 m (2,890 ft) long rail-cum-road bridge, built in 1932 as Willingdon Bridge and later renamed after Swami Vivekananda. Nivedita Setu is a newer cable-stayed bridge, named after the female disciple of Swami Vivekananda. - 8 Pathbari Temple. A place where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu set his foot on his way to Puri in the early 16th century.
Dakshineswar
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Except the Adyapeath Temple, all of the attractions in Dakshineswar listed below are accessible from Dakshineswar Chord Link suburban and Dakshineswar 1 metro stations. Both stations are connected to the temple with about 330 m (1,080 ft) long skywalk, which provides a good view of the neighbourhood.
- 9 Adyapeath Temple, ☏ +91 33 2564-6999. A three-pinnacled temple dedicated to goddess Adya, and the centre of a major religious controversy. It is said that Annada Thakur received a divine command that goddess Adya was buried under the Eden Gardens for thousands of years. He went there in 1928 and allegedly saw the statue of the goddess coming out from the ground. He consecrated the statue as the idol of this temple. But archaeologist Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay found that the statue was sculpted recently and not thousands of years ago, as Annada Thakur claimed. Later, many people got enraged to Thakur's deception, and the devotees of the goddess decided to immerse the statue to the Ganges to prevent further fury. The sanctum of the temple remained void till the consecration of the present idol.
- 10 Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Rani Rashmoni Rd, ☏ +91 33 2564-5222. 6:00AM-12:30PM and 3:00PM-8:30PM. A huge temple complex with the famous Hindu navaratna (nine-pinnacled) temple dedicated to Goddess Kali, who is worshipped here as Ma Bhavatarini. The temple complex was inaugurated by Rani Rashmoni in 1855. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was the head and only priest of this temple from 1856 to 1886. He spent most of his life in the nahabat khānā (corruption of naubat xānā, meaning "drum house") chamber of the temple complex. After Ramakrishna's death, the temple complex had been taken over by the then-Government of Bengal, later the Government of West Bengal. It attracts thousands of worshipers around the year, especially on the day of Shyama Puja, Shiva Chaturdashi, Poyla Boishakh, Akshaya Tritiya, New Year's Day and Kalpataru Utsava. Beside the main temple, there are twelve shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva along the Hooghly River and a bathing ghat. Free.
- 11 Panchavati (north of the Kali temple). A complex of trees consisting of banyan (vaṭa), peepal (ashvattha), neem (nimba), amla (āmlakī) and wood apple (bilva) trees. This is where Ramakrishna performed his advaitic sādhanā in 1865.
- 12 Rani Rashmoni Temple (next to the gate of the Kali temple). The shrine dedicated to Rani Rashmoni, the founder of the temple.
- 13 Sri Sarada Math, ☏ +91 33 2564 5411. Daily ritual worships are performed here by the nuns. The birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, and other personalities are celebrated here, besides the Hindu festivals. Religious discourse and lectures are also done regularly.
Do
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- 1 Baranagore Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama High School (BRKMAHS), 37, Gopal Lal Tagore Rd, Baranagar, ☏ +91-33-2556-3817, fax: +91-33-2556-3817, brkmreunion@gmail.com. Founded by Yogindranath Tagore (the disciple of Swami Brahmananda) in 1912. This institution celebrates many cultural programmes throughout the year. Many people come to watch those cultural events every year.
- 2 Narayani Cinema Hall, 15, Surya Sen Rd.
- 3 Sonali Cinema Hall, 140, BT Rd.
Events
[edit]Throughout the year many cultural festivals like Durga Puja and Kali Puja are well celebrated here. Baranagar is famous for Durga Puja in Greater Kolkata. Every winter, "Ajanta Circus" is held at Sinthi Circus Maidan.
Learn
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- 1 Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Baranagar. Founded by the statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in 1932, the institute is often considered one of the foremost centres in the world for training and research in statistics.
Buy
[edit]- 1 Chandrani Pearls, 153/1, BT Rd (Baranagar Chord Link ), ☏ +91 33 25789025. 10:30AM - 9PM. Ornaments of pearls.
Eat and drink
[edit]Major food chains include Wow Momo (140, BT Rd). Major cafe chains include Cafe Coffee Day (BT Rd). You also can get lassi in several sweets shops, in Anandamayee Sweets many kinds of lassi like mango, dahi etc. are available. In the Alambazar area, you could get lassi in a sweet shop. In the Dunlop area, near Baranagar railway station and Sonali cinema hall, several fruit juice shops are available. You can also visit "Dunlop Coffee House" for coffee.
- 1 Anandamayee Sweets, 209, BT Rd, ☏ +91 2577 0120. 7AM - 10PM. Traditional Bengal sweets, curd (in Bengali "doi"), ice cream, dhokla, lassi.
- 2 The Cric World, 44/51, BT Rd, ☏ +91 09830415213. Noon - 11PM. Multicuisine restaurant.
- 3 Dhaka Biryani House, 144, BT Rd (suburban: Baranagar Chord Link ), ☏ +91 09903968610. 11AM–10:30PM.
- 4 Food Plaza, Rani Rashmoni Rd (close to the Kali Temple). 7AM–8PM. Vegetarian meal, chole bhature.
- 5 Food Village, 144, BT Rd (suburban: Baranagar Chord Link ), ☏ +91 09903943648. Noon - 10:45PM.
- 6 Ganguram Sweets, 269/2, BT Rd (near Baranagar Police Station), ☏ +91 09831736332. 7AM - 10PM.
- Haldiram's Confectioners, 140, BT Rd (near Baranagar Road railway station), ☏ +91 033 25780815. 9AM-2PM & 5-9PM.
- 7 New Sher-e-Punjab Hotel, 131, BT Rd (near Indian Statistical Institute), ☏ +91 07890101313. 11:30AM - 10:45PM.
Sleep
[edit]| This guide uses the following price ranges for a standard double room: | |
| Budget | Upto ₹1000 |
| Mid-range | ₹1000 to ₹3000 |
| Splurge | Over ₹3000 |
Mid-range
[edit]- 1 Debalay Guest House, 1, TN Mukherjee Rd, Dakshineswar, ☏ +91 70441 74570. Check-in: noon, check-out: 11AM.
Stay safe
[edit]Baranagar is one of the most polluted areas of Kolkata. A lot of vehicles travel through Dunlop Crossing, therefore the area is very polluted. Use a mask and a handkerchief for this area.
Cope
[edit]Fire stations
[edit]- 2 Baranagar Fire Station, 282, Deshpran Shasmal Ave, ☏ +91 33 25102102.
Police stations
[edit]- 3 Baranagar Police Station, 47, BT Rd, ☏ +91 33 25319300.