Mandarmani is a seaside resort village 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 ...

, and lies in East Midnapore district, 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 ...

. It is one of the largest seaside resorts of West Bengal, fast-developing.

Geography

Location

It is almost 200 km 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 ...

Airport on the old Delhi route. Red crabs crawling around the 13 km long beach is a special attraction of Mandarmani. It was argued to be the longest drive-in beach in

. It is located under Contai Sub-division area. Geomorphologically, this area has relatively low waves than nearer tourist beach of Digha. However still this beach is deposition with formation of neo dunes in several areas specially around Dadanpatrabar.

Etymology

Initially, after its discovery, this beach was named Mandarboni and also Madar Mani. But with time it came to be known as Mandarmani.

Transportation

Mandarmani can be best reached by road, however local police currently restricts private cars to drive across the beach. A proper road has been built allowing tourists to reach their hotels from the backside.

By train

The nearest railway station 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 ...

(17 km) and Ashapurna Devi railway station and the nearest airport is

. There are also multiple buses running every half-hour from 7 am till 6 pm.

By car

From Kolkata, after crossing the

Vidyasagar Setu Vidyasagar Setu, also known as the Second Hooghly Bridge, is an Cable-stayed bridge, cable-stayed six-laned toll bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India, linking the cities of Kolkata and Howrah. Opened in 1992, Vidyasagar Setu was ...

, Kona Expressway leads to Mumbai Road. As the total drive takes about 3.5–4 hours from Kolkata via Kolaghat and Nandakumar. From Nandakumar there is a right turn towards Contai. In the said Kolkata- Digha highway there is stoppage named Chawalkhola where a left side village road ends at a sea-side village called Mandarmani. There are two toll plazas on the route at Dhulagori and Sonapetya.

Activities

The beach is the primary attraction offering tourists to enjoy the sea from early morning to late afternoon. From 3 PM onwards, people head out nearer resorts where beach bikes, ropeway etc. can be availed. There are also a string of local shops selling shells, handmade jewellery and handicrafts. A few locals also offer groups to take trip towards the mohana (Estuary) during sunset.

Gallery

File:Mandarmani, East Midnapur, West Bengal.jpg, Mandarmani beach File:Mandarmani sea.jpg, Mandarmani sea beach File:Mandarmani Ghat - Dadanpatrabarh - East Midnapore 2015-05-02 8999.JPG, Mandarmani ghat File:Mesmerising Mandaramani.jpg, Mandarmani beach File:Mandarmani Beach Sunset.jpg, Sunset at Mandarmani Beach File:Mandarmani Sea beach 05.jpg, Mesmerizing beach of Mandarmani

References

External links

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MIDNAPORE.IN - Legacy of Midnapore

All about Mandarmani
Beaches of West Bengal Tourist attractions in Purba Medinipur district Villages in Purba Medinipur district {{PurbaMedinipur-geo-stub