Visit to Tarapith (Part - 1)

We boarded the Howrah Rampurhat Express from 11:55 am and reached Rampurhat at 15:50 pm. We came out of the station. It was raining. There were a number of auto and cycle rickshaws. Also there were trekkers which were going to Tarapith. But we started walking. We asked at a tea stall, whether there were any hotels nearby. They told us that there was a hotel, Prachi Lodge. We reached Prachi Lodge but there we were told that the rooms were dirty and not good. The person at the reception told us that there was a hotel named Gouri Hotel a little distance away. As it was raining we took a cycle rickshaw and went to Gouri hotel. The rooms of the hotels were clean and good. I booked a room there. Rain had not allowed us to go out, so we stayed inside and watched TV. In the night we ate dinner at Mondira restaurant, our hotel's own restaurant. We had ordered fried rice but the food was not good and the price was high. It was still raining outside. There was just one shop which was still open. All other shops were closed. The time was 21:30 hrs.

The next day we woke up early in the morning. We all got ready and came out of the hotel. We took an auto to get to Tarapith. On reaching Tarapith we started walking towards the temple. There were many small shops on either side of the street. At Tarapith there are two main types of Darshans - Free Darshan and Paid Darshan. Paid darshan are of 3 types - Rs. 30/-, Rs. 100/- and Rs. 200/-. Free darshan takes about 3 hours to get Darshan. Rs. 30/- takes about 2 hrs, Rs. 100/- about 45 mins - 1 hour whereas Rs. 200/- is instant Darshan of Ma Tara. We went for Rs. 100 paid darshan. The line was quite large. Atlast after about 50 mins we got darshan of Ma Tara. After that we came out of the temple and had our breakfast at a small eatery. We took a trekker which was heading to Rampurhat station. Gouri hotel was on the way so we had no trouble getting to our hotel. That day we went searching for a good restaurant. We had lunch at Bama restaurant. But the food and the condition was also not hygienic there. Then we took a cycle rickshaw and went to the bus stand.

Nalhateswari Temple

There we enquired about bus to Nalhati. We were told that a bus will leave after 10 minutes. But then we saw a bus coming. It was full of people. But all passengers of that bus got off. That bus was going to Nalhati. So we got on the bus. The bus started. We reached Nalhati at around. 15:00. From there we took a cycle rickshaw and set off towards Nalhateswari Mandir. It took about 15-20 minutes to reach Nalhateswari Temple. On the internet we had seen that Nalhateswari was a very beautiful and scenic place with hills. But there was no trace of such scene. After seeing the temple we asked the local people about the hill. They told us that the hill was at the back of the temple. We went around the temple and came in front of the steps of the hill. The steps were coloured brightly. I saw a boy coming downstairs. I asked him what was there upstairs. He told that there was a mazar. We decided to return to Nalhati railway station. From the station we boarded the Joynagar - Howrah passenger and disembarked at Rampurhat station. There we took a rickshaw and went back to our hotel. At night we went to the highway. There were a lot of restaurants but at that time only one of them was open. We were waiting outside the restaurant. But suddenly a loud screech and sound shook us. It was an accident.

Continued to Visit to Tarapith (Part - 2)

How to Reach :

12347 Howrah Rampurhat Exp. departs at 11:55 hrs and reaches there at 15:35 hrs. 13187 Maa Tara Exp. leaves from Sealdah station at 07:25 hrs and reaches Rampurhat at 12:15 hrs. 13115 Sealdah Rampurhat Intercity Exp leaves Sealdah at 13:00 hrs and reaches at 17:15 hrs.

Nearest Airport - Netaji Subhas Chandra International Airport, Kolkata

Where to Stay :

There are very few hotels at Rampurhat. But a large number of hotels and restaurants are there at Tarapith.
Rampurhat
1. Gouri Hotel
2. Mukherjee Lodge
Tarapith
3. Hotel New Bam Tara
4. Bam Tara Hotel and Restaurant
5. Hotel Sonar Bangla
6. Hotel Yashoda International
7. Binapani Lodge

Places of Interest :

The main attraction of Tarapith is the Ma Tara Temple. Bamdev Sangha Ashram is also a one of the prominent attraction of Tarapith. One can also visit Bakreswar and Nalhateshwari Temple from Rampurhat.

For more information, please contact :

West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation
Tourism Centre, 3/2, B.B.D. Bag (East)
Kolkata - 700001, West Bengal
INDIA