Digha
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Digha (), is a
seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...
town in the state of
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...
. The town has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in India. In one of
Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...
' letters (1780 AD) to his wife, he referred to it as the'' 'Brighton of the East.


History

Digha historically known as ''Beerkul.'' An English businessman John Frank Snaith started living here in 1923 and his writings provided a good exposure to this place. He convinced West Bengal Chief Minister
Bidhan Chandra Roy Bidhan Chandra Roy (1 July 1882 – 1 July 1962) was an Indian physician and politician who served as Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1950 until his death in 1962. He played a key role in the founding of several institutions and cities like ...
to develop this place to be a beach resort. An old church can be seen near the main gate of Old Digha. This place is also known as Alankarpur. A new mission has been developed in New Digha which is known as Sindhur Tara which is beside Amrabati Park. It's a Church where it is possible to wish for the welfare of family and loved ones. The best way to visit is to book a local rickshaw. There are so many places where one can travel which give mental refreshments, like Tajpur, Odisha Border, Science City etc.


Geography


Location

Digha is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is from
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
/
Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...
via Mecheda and via
Kharagpur Kharagpur () is a semi- planned urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Kharagpur subdivision and the largest city of the district. It is located 1 ...
, this proximity has probably helped this small hamlet to emerge as a weekend getaway with number of hotels and tourist lodges. Digha is connected to Kolkata/Howrah by a highway and a rail-link via Tamluk. Now many trains including Howrah-Digha Super AC express, Tamralipta express, Kandari express and EMU locals from Santragacchi via Mecheda and Tamluk run between Digha and Howarh and other stations in eastern India.It is also under
Contai Contai is a coastal and subdivisional city and a municipality in East Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Contai subdivision. Etymology In the 5th century, during the visit of Faxian, Fa-Hien, Contai was uninh ...
Sub division.


Police stations

Digha police station has jurisdiction over part of Ramnagar I (part) CD Block. It covers an area of 3,153 km2 with a population of 35,054. It is in old Digha. Digha Mohana Coastal police station is in Digha.


Urbanisation

93.55% of the population of Contai subdivision live in the rural areas. Only 6.45% of the population live in the urban areas and it is considerably behind Haldia subdivision in urbanization, where 20.81% of the population live in urban areas. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.


Hospital

There is a District Hospital near old Digha. There is
Contai Contai is a coastal and subdivisional city and a municipality in East Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Contai subdivision. Etymology In the 5th century, during the visit of Faxian, Fa-Hien, Contai was uninh ...
Sub divisional Hospital and Sanjiban Hospital 31 km from Digha.


Climate

There are mainly five seasons in Digha, namely summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. Summer starts in April and continues until June with a maximum temperature of . Although cold wind from the sea keeps the weather pleasant in this time. Next comes monsoon in July and lasts till the end of September. Digha generally experiences an average rainfall with high humidity in the monsoon season. Autumn sets in October and lasts till mid of December with an average temperature of around 25 degree Celsius. The weather remains very pleasant this time. Winter sets in the second half of December and lasts till mid February with an average temperature of 15/16 degree Celsius. The spring season in Digha starts from mid February to mid April. The hotels remain full of their capacity as tourist inflow is the highest in this peak season.


Transport


Bus service

There is frequent bus service to Digha from Dharmatala, Baruipur Garia and Joka bus stand of Kolkata,
Burdwan Bardhaman (, ), officially Bardhaman Sadar, is a city and municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an a ...
,
Bolpur Bolpur is a city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bolpur subdivision. Bolpur municipal area includes Santiniketan. The city is known as a cultural and educational hub of ...
,
Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...
, Asansol,
Kirnahar Kirnahar is a village in Nanoor CD block in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Kirnahar is located at . It has an average elevation of . Kirnahar is located in the south-eastern ...
, Baharampur,
Serampore Serampore (also called Serampur, Srirampur, Srirampore, Shreerampur, Shreerampore, Shrirampur or Shrirampore) is a city in Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Srirampore subdivision. It is a part ...
, Tarakeswar and many other parts of West Bengal. Buses are available from Howrah as well, a connection has been made from Sealdah to Digha where a private bus arrives at 8:30 am throughout the week. It takes the shortest route from Sealdah connecting S.N Banerjee road, Taltala, Wellington, Dharmatala to Howrah station, it departs from Howrah Station within 5 min to Digha. Digha is connected to Kolkata Metropolitan Area with E17 (Barasat), E17/1 (Barasat), E19 (Habra), E19D (Dumdum station), E45 (Joka), E46 (Saltlake Karunamoyee), E54 (Sreerampore), E55 (Madhyamgram), E56 (Baduria), ACT5 (Barasat), ACT8 (Habra), ACT9 (Saltlake Karunamoyee), ST31 (Dharmatala) etc.Transport Department, Government of West Bengal: Bus Services
/ref>


Train service

In 2004, train services have started for Digha railway station (Station Code : DGHA). Now there are three new trains from
Howrah Station Howrah railway station (also known as Howrah Junction) is a railway station located in the city of Howrah, of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, West Bengal, India. It is the largest and busiest railway complex in India, as well as one of the busie ...
too.


Air

* Digha Heliport


Area

Digha's old beach is not as wide as it used to be due to heavy soil erosion. Big stones and concrete steps are used to hold together the beach. The record number of
storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...
s have caused many of the unplanned shacks and smaller hotels to succumb to the sea. Since it is one of very few popular beaches in West Bengal, it gets overcrowded, especially during the cooler winter break. A new beach has been developed "New Digha" which is about from the old beach. This new beach is bigger than the old one. It is not surrounded by a congested locality like the older beach. The latest attraction of New Digha is the Science Centre established by the National Council of Science Museums. The entire stretch of the Digha seaface from Old Digha to New Digha is filled with
casuarina ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...
plantations.


Places of interest


Marine Aquarium and Research Centre (MARC)

It was established in the year 1989 during the Seventh Five Year Plan. The major objective of the Centre is to display the marine biodiversity of the region and impart its values to the common people and to carryout the research activities.


Jagannath Dham, Digha

The Jagannath Temple, Digha is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath, located in the coastal town of Digha, Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal. The temple enshrines the deities Jagannath, a form of Vishnu, along with his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra. The temple was inaugurated on 30 April 2025 after a prana pratishtha (consecration) ceremony. The temple is sacred to the Vaishnava tradition of Hindus and has been constructed as a replica of the famous Jagannath Temple in Puri, Odisha.
Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...
, Balabhadra and
Subhadra Subhadra (, ) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is a princess from the Yadava clan and the sister of Krishna and Balarama. Subhadra married Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers and had a son named Abhimanyu. Sub ...
, along with Sudarshan, will be worshipped as deities in the temple.


Shiva Temple At Chandaneswar

This place is only away from Digha the century-old Temple of Shiva at Chandaneswar, near Bengal and Orissa Border. Chandaneswar is part of
Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
. During the Bengali month of
Chaitra Chaitra () is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Choitro. Chaitra or Cha ...
, an annual fair is organised here. Nearly half million people and pilgrims visit the temple.


References


External links


Digha Beach Website

West Bengal Tourism site on Digha
* {{Purba Medinipur District Cities and towns in Purba Medinipur district Tourist attractions in Purba Medinipur district Populated coastal places in India Beaches of West Bengal