Geography

Demography

• Calcutta
• Darjelling
• Kalimpong

Demography

West Bengal experiences three distinct seasons over the course of the year. Winter (more accurately described as the cool season, considering the lack of significantly cold temperatures) lasts from October to February. When March comes along, the state begins to see its hot and dry period, which continues on through early June. Finally, from late June to early September, West Bengal falls under its monsoon season.

Uttar Pradesh has made significant contributions in the field of Education and Social Welfare. The State has made major investments over the past few years at all levels of education and has achieved significant success. U.P. has recognized & supported the continuing critical-role of private-sector in the expansion of education in the State.

Uttar Pradesh has 4 central universities, 20 state universities, 8 deemed universities, one institute of national importance and several polytechnics, engineering colleges and industrial training institutes. Prestigious institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Kanpur and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Lucknow are known worldwide for their quality education and research in respective fields. This provides the State with a firm basis for providing opportunities for higher education to its youth.

The Bengali fondness for good food is legendary. Exotic Bengali cuisine is available at select restaurants like Suruchi and Aheli (Peerless Inn). To experience the true taste of traditional cooking, it is best to befriend a Bengali. His hospitality will definitely include a meal! Sweets hold a position of pride for the Bengali. Cottage cheese based sweets like sandesh, rosogolla and chanar payesh are very popular all over India.

West Bengal's culture is distinguished by its festivals, music, cinema, drama and literature. Being the land of Bankim Chandra, Rabindranath and Aurobindo, West Bengal is said to be the birth place of Modern Indian literature.

People of Bengal belong to diverse and ethnic social backgrounds. Festivals in a multidimensional scale are observed in spiritual ecstasy in the state. The entire state becomes lively during the Durga Puja when the sound of Dhak, Dhunuchi nachh, the mild fragrance of Shiuli, gives a familiar tug in every Bengali heart

Bengali is the mother tongue of the great majority of the natives of the state. Bengali is also the mother tongue of the entire population of the republic of Bangladesh. The languages of the people of Darjeeling District are Nepali and Bhotiya. Calcutta has a large number of immigrants, so they use different types of languages like Hindi, Oriya, English, Santhali, Burmese, Chinese and other languages. Bengali as a distinct language was evolved probably between the ninth and the twelfth centuries, out of the old Austric-Dravidian dialects, the Prakrit dialects which carried the message of Buddhism, Sanskrit and an eastern variant called Magadhi of the Northern Indian dialect belonging to the Sauraseni or western family.

The term Bengali literature refers to literary works written in Bengali language particularly from Bangladesh and Indian province of West Bengal . The history of Bengali literature traces back hundreds of years while it is impossible to separate the literary trends of the two Bengals during the pre-independence period. Post independent Bangladesh has given birth to its own distinct set of literature.

Majority of people inhabiting Calcutta are Hindus. Muslims are in minority. Other minority communities include Christians, Buddhist, Sikhs and Jains. Hindus can be further classified into a number of categories ranging from monotheists to polytheists. The largest religious sect follows Vaishnavism. In the traditional caste hierarchy, the highest position is held by the Brahmins, who are considered to be the main guardians of sacred scriptures.