Demographics of West Bengal
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West Bengal (,
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourth-most populous and thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the
Bengal region Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the
Darjeeling Himalayan hill region Darjeeling Himalayan hill region or Darjeeling Himalaya is the mountainous area on the north-western side of the state of West Bengal in India. This region belongs to the Eastern Himalaya range. The Darjeeling district except the Siliguri subdiv ...
, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority. The area's early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Ancient Bengal was the site of several major
Janapadas The Janapadas () (c. 1500–600 BCE) were the realms, republics (ganapada) and kingdoms (saamarajya) of the Vedic period on the Indian subcontinent. The Vedic period reaches from the late Bronze Age into the Iron Age: from about 1500 BCE to th ...
, while the earliest cities date back to the Vedic period. The region was part of several ancient pan−Indian empires, including the
Vangas The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family ...
, Mauryans, and the
Guptas The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...
. The citadel of Gauḍa served as the capital of the Gauḍa Kingdom, the Pala Empire, and the Sena Empire.
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
was introduced through trade with the Abbasid Caliphate, but following the Ghurid conquests led by Bakhtiyar Khalji and the establishment of the
Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).
, the Muslim faith spread across the entire Bengal region. During the
Bengal Sultanate The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominan ...
, the territory was a major trading nation in the world, and was often referred by the Europeans as the "richest country to trade with".


Economy

, West Bengal has the sixth-highest
GSDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
in India. GSDP at current prices (base 2004–2005) has increased from Rs 2,086.56 billion in 2004–05 to Rs 8,00,868 crores in 2014–2015, reaching Rs 10,21,000 crores in 2017–18. GSDP percent growth at current prices varied from a low of 10.3% in 2010–2011 to a high of 17.11% in 2013–2014. The growth rate was 13.35% in 2014–2015. The state's per capita income has lagged the all India average for over two decades. As of 2014–2015, per capita NSDP at current prices was Rs78,903. Per-capita NSDP growth rate at current prices varied from 9.4% in 2010–2011 to a high of 16.15% in 2013–2014. The growth rate was 12.62% in 2014–2015. In 2015–2016, the percentage share of Gross Value Added (GVA) at factor cost by economic activity at the constant price (the base year 2011–2012) was Agriculture-Forestry and Fishery—4.84%, Industry 18.51% and Services 66.65%. It has been observed that there has been a slow but steady decline in the percentage share of industry and agriculture over the years. Agriculture is the leading economic sector in West Bengal. Rice is the state's principal food crop. Rice, potato,
jute Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', which is in the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ''Corchorus olit ...
, sugarcane and wheat are the state's top five crops. Tea is produced commercially in northern districts; the region is well known for Darjeeling and other high-quality teas. State industries are localised in the Kolkata region, the mineral-rich western highlands, and the Haldia Port region. The Durgapur-Asansol colliery belt is home to a number of steel plants. Important manufacturing industries include: engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, frigates, automobiles, railway coaches and wagons. The Durgapur centre has established several industries in the areas of tea, sugar, chemicals and fertilisers. Natural resources like tea and jute in nearby areas have made West Bengal a major centre for the jute and tea industries. Years after independence, West Bengal is dependent on the central government for help in meeting its demands for food; food production remained stagnant, and the Indian green revolution bypassed the state. However, there has been a significant increase in food production since the 1980s and the state now has a surplus of grains. The state's share of total industrial output in India was 9.8% in 1980–1981, declining to 5% by 1997–1998. In contrast, the service sector has grown at a rate higher than the national rate. The state's total financial debt stood at as of 2011. In the period 2004–2010, the average
gross state domestic product Gross regional domestic product (GRDP), gross domestic product of region (GDPR), or gross state product (GSP) is a statistic that measures the size of a region's economy. It is the aggregate of gross value added (GVA) of all resident producer unit ...
(GSDP) growth rate was 13.9% (calculated in Indian rupee terms) lower than 15.5%, the average for all states of the country. The economy of West Bengal has witnessed many surprising changes in direction. The agricultural sector in particular rose to 8.33% in 2010–11 before tumbling to −4.01% in 2012–13. Many major industries such as the Uttarpara Hindustan Motors car manufacturing unit, the jute industry, and the Haldia Petrochemicals unit experienced shutdowns in 2014. In the same year, plans for a 300 billion Jindal Steel project was mothballed. The tea industry of West Bengal has also witnessed shutdowns for financial and political reasons. The tourism industry of West Bengal was negatively impacted in 2017 because of the Gorkhaland agitation. However, over the years due to effective changes in the stance towards industrialisation, ease of doing business has improved in West Bengal. Steps are being taken to remedy this situation by promoting West Bengal as an investment destination. A leather complex has been built in Kolkata. Smart cities are being planned close to Kolkata, and major roadway projects are in the offing to revive the economy. West Bengal has been able to attract 2% of the
foreign direct investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct co ...
in the last decade.


Transport

File:External view of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.jpg, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is a hub for flights to and from Bangladesh, East Asia, Nepal, Bhutan and north-east India. File:Durgapur Xpressway.jpg,
Durgapur Expressway Durgapur () is a planned tier-II urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the fourth largest urban agglomeration after Kolkata, Asansol and Siliguri in West Bengal ...
File:SBSTC bus in karunamoyee.jpg, An SBSTC bus in Karunamoyee File:Sealdah bound metro approaching Central Park.jpg, Kolkata Metro, India's first metro rail system
As of 2011, the total length of surface roads in West Bengal was over ; national highways comprise and state highways . As of 2006, the road density of the state was , higher than the national average of . As of 2011, the total railway route length was around . Kolkata is the headquarters of three zones of the Indian RailwaysEastern Railway and South Eastern Railway and the Kolkata Metro, which is the newly formed 17thzone of the Indian Railways. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) serves the northern parts of the state. The Kolkata metro is the country's first underground railway. The
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a narrow-gauge, gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It c ...
, part of NFR, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is an international airport located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, serving the Kolkata Metropolitan Area and is the aviation hub for eastern and northeastern India. It is located approximatel ...
at Dum Dum, Kolkata, is the state's largest airport.
Bagdogra Airport Bagdogra Airport is a customs airport located in the western part of Siliguri, in Bagdogra in northern West Bengal, India. It is operated as a civil enclave at AFS Bagdogra of the Indian Air Force. It is the gateway airport to the hill station ...
near Siliguri is a customs airport that offers international service to Bhutan and Thailand, besides regular domestic service.
Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport , is a domestic airport serving the cities of Durgapur and Asansol. It is located at Andal, Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It is named after Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The airport is roughly from Durgapur ...
, India's first private sector airport, serves the twin cities of Asansol-Durgapur at
Andal Andal ( ta, ஆண்டாள்), also known as Kothai, Nachiyar, and Godadevi, was the only female Alvar among the twelve Hindu poet-saints of South India. She was posthumously considered an avatar of the goddess Bhudevi. As with the Alv ...
, Paschim Bardhaman. Kolkata is a major river port in eastern India. The Kolkata Port Trust manages the Kolkata and the
Haldia Haldia is an industrial port city in Purba Medinipur in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a major river port and industrial belt located approximately southwest of Kolkata near the mouth of the Hooghly River, one of the distributaries of ...
docks. There is passenger service to
Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South And ...
on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
service operates to ports in India and abroad, operated by the Shipping Corporation of India. Ferries are a principal mode of transport in the southern part of the state, especially in the Sundarbans area. Kolkata is the only city in India to have trams as a mode of transport; these are operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company. Several government-owned organisations operate bus services in the state, including: the
Calcutta State Transport Corporation Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) was a West Bengal state government undertaken transport corporation. Headquartered in Kolkata, it was set up on 31 July 1948. Currently it operates under the name WBTC. It plied buses in Kolkat ...
, the
North Bengal State Transport Corporation North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) is a state government run transport corporation in West Bengal, India. It plies buses mainly in North Bengal but operates services to other parts of West Bengal and neighboring states like Si ...
, the South Bengal State Transport Corporation, the
West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) is a West Bengal state government undertaken corporation. It plies buses, trams and ferries in the state. It was formed by merging existing state transport agencies, namely the Calcutta State Transpo ...
and the Calcutta Tramways Company. There are also private bus companies. The railway system is a nationalised service without any private investment. Hired forms of transport include metered taxis and auto rickshaws, which often ply specific routes in cities. In most of the state, cycle rickshaws and in Kolkata, hand-pulled rickshaws and
electric rickshaw Electric rickshaws (also known as electric tuk-tuks or e-rickshaws or toto or e-tricycles) are small 3-wheeled vehicles powered by an electric motor and battery ranging from 650 to 1400 Watts. They save on fuel costs compared to auto rickshaws ...
s are used for short-distance travel.


Demographics

According to the provisional results of the 2011 national census, West Bengal is the fourth-most-populous state in India with a population of 91,347,736 (7.55% of India's population). The state's 2001–2011 decennial population growth rate was 13.93%, lower than the 1991–2001 growth rate of 17.8% and lower than the national rate of 17.64%. The gender ratio is 947 females per 1,000 males. As of 2011, West Bengal had a population density of making it the second-most densely populated state in India, after Bihar. The literacy rate is 77.08%, higher than the national rate of 74.04%. Data from 2010 to 2014 showed the life expectancy in the state was 70.2 years, higher than the national value of 67.9. The proportion of people living below the poverty line in 2013 was 19.98%, a decline from 31.8% a decade ago. Scheduled castes and tribes form 28.6% and 5.8% of the population, respectively, in rural areas and 19.9% and 1.5%, respectively, in urban areas. In September 2017, West Bengal achieved 100% electrification, after some remote villages in the Sunderbans became the last to be electrified. As of September 2017, of 125 towns and cities in Bengal, 76 have achieved
open defecation free Open defecation is the human practice of defecating outdoors ("in the open") rather than into a toilet. People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals, or other open spaces for defecation. They do so either because they do ...
(ODF) status. All towns in the districts of: Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Bardhaman and East Medinipur are ODF zones, with Nadia becoming the first ODF district in the state in April 2015. A study conducted in three districts of West Bengal found that accessing private health services to treat illness had a catastrophic impact on households. This indicates the importance of the public provision of health services to mitigate poverty and the impact of illness on poor households. The latest Sample Registration System (SRS) statistical report shows that West Bengal has the lowest fertility rate among Indian states. West Bengal's total fertility rate was 1.6, lower than neighbouring Bihar's 3.4, which is the highest in the entire country. Bengal's TFR of 1.6 roughly equals that of Canada. Bengalis, consisting of Bengali Hindus, Bengali Muslims,
Bengali Christians Bengali Christians ( bn, বাঙালি খ্রিস্টান) are adherents of Christianity among the Bengali people. Christianity took root in Bengal after the arrival of Portuguese voyagers in the 16th century. It witnessed furthe ...
and a few
Bengali Buddhists Bengali Buddhists ( bn, বাঙালি বৌদ্ধ) are a religious subgroup of the Bengalis who adhere to or practice the religion of Buddhism. Bengali Buddhist people mainly live in Bangladesh and Indian states West Bengal and Tripura. ...
, comprise the majority of the population. Marwari, Maithili and
Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...
speakers are scattered throughout the state; various indigenous ethnic Buddhist communities such as the
Sherpas The Sherpa are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, Tingri County in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Himalayas. The term ''sherpa'' or ''sherwa'' derives from the Sherpa language words ("east") ...
, Bhutias, Lepchas, Tamangs, Yolmos and ethnic Tibetans can be found in the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region. Native Khortha speakers are found in Malda district.
Surjapuri Surjapuri is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in Eastern India including North Bengal, West Bengal, and Banganchal of Eastern Bihar, as well as in Nepal. Among speakers in some regions, it is known as 'Deshi Bhasa'. It possesses similaritie ...
, a language considered to be a mix of Maithili and Bengali, is spoken across northern parts of the state. The Darjeeling Hills are mainly inhabited by various Gorkha communities who overwhelmingly speak
Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
(also known as Gorkhali), although there are some who retain their ancestral languages like Lepcha. West Bengal is also home to indigenous tribal Adivasis such as:
Santhal Santhal may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * Santhal Pargana division, in Jharkhand state, (north)eastern India * Santhal State, former petty princely state in Mahi Kantha, Gujarat, western India People * Santhal people (part of the Tea ...
, Munda, Oraon,
Bhumij Bhumij may refer to: *Bhumij people, tribal ethnic group of India * Bhumij language, the language of Bhumij people *Bhumija Bhumija is a variety of north Indian temple architecture marked by how the rotating square-circle principle is applied to ...
, Lodha, Kol and
Toto Toto may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Pets * Toto (Oz), Toto (''Oz''), a dog in the novel and film ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' * Toto, in Japanese ''The Cat Returns#Plot, The Cat Returns'' Characters of agency * a ...
. There are a small number of ethnic minorities primarily in the state capital, including :
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
, Tamils, Maharashtrians,
Odias The Odia (), formerly spelled Oriya, is an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the Indian state of Odisha who speak Odia language. They constitute a majority in the eastern coastal state, with significant minority populations in neighboring An ...
, Malayalis,
Gujaratis The Gujarati people or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language. While G ...
, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Jews,
Punjabis The Punjabis ( Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Panjābīs), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The ...
and Parsis. India's sole
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
is in eastern Kolkata.


Languages

The state's official languages are Bengali and English;




Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
has additional official status in the three subdivisions of Darjeeling district. In 2012, the state government passed a bill granting additional official status to Hindi,
Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
,
Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
, Santali and Urdu in areas where speakers exceed 10% of the population. In 2019, another bill was passed by the government to include Kamtapuri,
Kurmali Kurmali or Kudmali (ISO: Kuṛmāli) is an Indo-Aryan language classified as belonging to the Bihari group of languages spoken in eastern India. As a trade dialect, it is also known as Panchpargania (Bengali: পঞ্চপরগনিয় ...
and Rajbanshi as additional official languages in blocks, divisions or districts where the speakers exceed 10% of the population. On 24 December 2020, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...
as an additional official language. As of the 2011 census, 86.22% of the population spoke
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, 5.00% Hindi, 2.66% Santali, 1.82% Urdu and 1.26%
Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
as their first language.


Religion

West Bengal is religiously diverse, with regional cultural and religious specificities. Although Hindus are the predominant community, the state has a large minority
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
population. Christians, Buddhists and others form a minuscule part of the population. As of
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, Hinduism is the most common religion, with adherents representing 70.54% of the total population. Muslims, the second-largest community, comprise 27.01% of the total population, Three of West Bengal's districts: Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur, are Muslim-majority. Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism and other religions make up the remainder. Buddhism remains a prominent religion in the Himalayan region of the Darjeeling hills; almost the entirety of West Bengal's Buddhist population is from this region. Christianity is mainly found among the tea garden tribes at tea plantations scattered throughout the Dooars of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts. The Hindu population of West Bengal is 64,385,546 while the Muslim population is 24,654,825, according to the 2011 census.


Culture


Literature

The Bengali language boasts a rich literary heritage it shares with neighbouring Bangladesh. West Bengal has a long tradition of folk literature, evidenced by the '' Charyapada'', a collection of Buddhist mystic songs dating back to the 10th and 11thcenturies; '' Mangalkavya'', a collection of Hindu narrative poetry composed around the 13thcentury; ''
Shreekrishna Kirtana Shreekrishna Kirtana Kabya ( bn, শ্রীকৃষ্ণকীর্তন কাব্য) or Sri Krishna Kirtana Kabya is a pastoral Vaishnava drama in verse composed by Boru Chandidas. It is considered to be the most significant work after ...
'', a pastoral Vaishnava drama in verse composed by
Boru Chandidas Chandidas (born 1408) was a medieval poet of Bengal, or possibly more than one. Over 1250 poems related to the love of Radha and Krishna in Bengali with the ''bhanita'' of Chandidas are found with three different sobriquets along with his name, ...
; ''
Thakurmar Jhuli ''Thakurmar Jhuli'' ( bn, ঠাকুরমার ঝুলি; ''Grandmother's Bag f tales') is a collection of Bengali folk tales and fairy tales. The author Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder collected some folktales of Bengali and published som ...
'', a collection of Bengali folk and fairy tales compiled by
Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar (15 April 1877 – 30 March 1956) was an Indian writer in Bengali of fairy tales and children's literature. He was born at Ulail in Dhaka district of Bengal province in British India (now Dhaka District of Bangl ...
; and stories of Gopal Bhar, a court
jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...
in medieval Bengal. In the 19th and 20thcenturies, Bengali literature was modernised in the works of authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, whose works marked a departure from the traditional verse-oriented writings prevalent in that period; Michael Madhusudan Dutt, a pioneer in Bengali drama who introduced the use of blank verse; and Rabindranath Tagore, who reshaped
Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...
and music.
Indian art Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, N ...
saw the introduction of
Contextual Modernism ''Santiniketan: The Making of a Contextual Modernism'' was an exhibition curated by R. Siva Kumar at the National Gallery of Modern Art in 1997, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of India's Independence. The exhibition, through bringing ...
in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies. Other notable figures include Kazi Nazrul Islam, whose compositions form the avant-garde genre of ''
Nazrul Sangeet Nazrul Sangeet ( bn, নজরুল সঙ্গীত), also Nazrul Geeti ( bn, নজরুল গীতি; ), refers to the songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul Geeti incorporate revolut ...
'',
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ ...
, whose works on contemporary social practices in Bengal are widely acclaimed, and
Manik Bandyopadhyay Manik Bandyopadhyay lias Banerjee(; 19 May 1908 – 3 December 1956) is an Indian Litterateur regarded as one of the major figures of 20th century Bengali literature. During a lifespan of 48 years and 28 years of literary career, battling with ...
, who is considered one of the leading lights of modern Bengali fiction. In modern times, Jibanananda Das has been acknowledged as "the premier poet of the post-Tagore era in India". Other writers include: Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, best known for his work '' Pather Panchali'';
Tarashankar Bandopadhyay Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (23 July 1898 – 14 September 1971) was an Indian novelist who wrote in the Bengali language. He wrote 65 novels, 53-story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies, 2 travel stories and composed several songs. ...
, well known for his portrayal of the lower strata of society; Manik Bandopadhyay, a pioneering novelist; and Ashapurna Devi,
Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay ( bn, শীর্ষেন্দু মুখোপাধ্যায়; born 2 November 1935) is a Bengali author from India. He has written stories for both adults and children. He is known for creating the relativel ...
,
Saradindu Bandopadhyay Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (30 March 1899 – 22 September 1970) was an Indian Bengali-language writer. He was actively involved with Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. The creator of the Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi, Sharadindu compos ...
,
Buddhadeb Guha Buddhadeb Guha (29 June 1936 – 29 August 2021) was an Indian writer of fiction in Bengali language. Apart from writing, he was a trained singer and a painter too. Career Born in Calcutta, Guha studied at St. Xavier's College of the Universi ...
, Mahashweta Devi, Samaresh Majumdar, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay, Shakti Chattopadhyay,
Buddhadeb Basu Buddhadeva Bose (; 1908–1974), also spelt Buddhadeb Bosu, was an Indian Bengali writer of the 20th century. Frequently referred to as a poet, he was a versatile writer who wrote novels, short stories, plays and essays in addition to poetry. ...
, Joy Goswami and
Sunil Gangopadhyay Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (7 September 1934 – 23 October 2012) was an Indian poet, historian and novelist in the Bengali language based in the city of Kolkata. He is a former Sheriff of Calcutta. Gangopadhyay obtained his ma ...
.


Music and dance

A notable music tradition is the Baul music, practised by the Bauls, a sect of mystic minstrels. Other folk music forms include Gombhira and
Bhawaiya Bhawaiya is a musical form or a popular folk music that originated in Northern Bengal, especially the Rangpur Division in Bangladesh, Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India, and the Undivided Goalpara district of Assam, India. It has recu ...
. Folk music in West Bengal is often accompanied by the ektara, a one-stringed instrument. Shyama Sangeet is a genre of devotional songs, praising the Hindu goddess Kali;
kirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...
is devotional group songs dedicated to the god Krishna. Like other states in northern India, West Bengal also has a heritage in North Indian classical music. Rabindrasangeet, songs composed and set to words by Rabindranath Tagore, and Nazrul geeti (by Kazi Nazrul Islam) are popular. Also prominent are Dwijendralal, Atulprasad and Rajanikanta's songs, and ''adhunik'' or modern music from films and other composers. From the early 1990s, new genres of music have emerged, including what has been called Bengali ''Jeebonmukhi Gaan'' (a modern genre based on realism). Bengali dance forms draw from folk traditions, especially those of the tribal groups, as well as the broader Indian dance traditions. Chhau dance of Purulia is a rare form of masked dance.


Films

West Bengali films are shot mostly in studios in the Kolkata neighbourhood of
Tollygunge Tollygunge (Bengali: টালিগঞ্জ; nicknamed 'Mini Mumbai' or 'Mini Bombay') is a locality of South Kolkata, in West Bengal, India. It is famed as the centre of the Indian film industry, known as Tollywood, Marathi Cinema, South Indi ...
; the name "Tollywood" (similar to Hollywood and Bollywood) is derived from that name. The Bengali film industry is well known for its art films, and has produced acclaimed directors like
Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...
who is widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, Mrinal Sen whose films were known for their artistic depiction of social reality, Tapan Sinha, and Ritwik Ghatak. Some contemporary directors include veterans such as: Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Tarun Majumdar, Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen, and Rituparno Ghosh, and a newer pool of directors such as Kaushik Ganguly and
Srijit Mukherji Srijit Mukherji is an excellent national award winning Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema. His regular collaboration with veteran actor Prosenjit Chatterjee brought him into the ...
. Uttam Kumar was the most popular lead actor for decades, and his romantic pairing with actress
Suchitra Sen Suchitra Sen ( ; born as Roma Dasgupta (; 6 April 1931 – 17 January 2014) was an Indian actress who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema. The movies in which she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar became classics in the history of Bengali cinema ...
in films attained legendary status.
Soumitra Chatterjee Soumitra Chatterjee (also spelt as Chattopadhyay; 16 June 193515 November 2020) was an Indian film actor, play-director, playwright, writer, thespian and poet. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of ...
, who acted in many Satyajit Ray-films, and Prosenjit Chatterjee are among other popular lead male actors. , Bengali films have won India's annual National Film Award for Best Feature Film twenty-two times in sixty seven years, the highest among all Indian languages.


Fine arts

There are significant examples of fine arts in Bengal from earlier times, including the terracotta art of Hindu temples and the Kalighat paintings. Bengal has been in the vanguard of modernism in fine arts. Abanindranath Tagore, called the father of modern Indian art, started the Bengal School of Art, one of whose goals was to promote the development of styles of art outside the European realist tradition that had been taught in art colleges under the British colonial administration. The movement had many adherents, including: Gaganendranath Tagore,
Ramkinkar Baij Ramkinkar Baij ( bn, রামকিঙ্কর বেইজ) (25 May 1906 – 2 August 1980) was an Indian sculptor and painter, one of the pioneers of modern Indian sculpture and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. Early life and ...
, Jamini Roy and Rabindranath Tagore. After Indian Independence, important groups such as the
Calcutta Group The Calcutta Group was a group of modern artists in India, formed in 1943 in Kolkata. It has the distinction of being the first artistic movement of its kind in both Bengal and all of India. Though short-lived – the group disbanded in 1953 ...
and the Society of Contemporary Artists were formed in Bengal and came to dominate the art scene in India.


Reformist heritage

The capital, Kolkata, was the workplace of several social reformers, including Raja Ram Mohan Roy,
Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. ...
and
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
. Their social reforms eventually led to a cultural atmosphere that made it possible for practices like sati, dowry, and
caste-based discrimination Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...
, or untouchability, to be abolished.''History of the Bengali-speaking People'' by Nitish Sengupta, p 211, UBS Publishers' Distributors Pvt. Ltd. . The region was also home to several religious teachers, such as
Chaitanya Chaitanya or Chaithanya may refer to Philosophy *Chaitanya (consciousness), Hindu philosophical concept People *Chaitanya (name) *Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Media * ''Chaitanya'' (film), a 1991 Telugu film ...
,
Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...
, Prabhupada and Paramahansa Yogananda.


Cuisine

Rice and fish are traditional favourite foods, leading to a saying in Bengali, "''machhe bhate bangali''", that translates as "fish and rice make a Bengali". Bengal's vast repertoire of fish-based dishes includes hilsa preparations, a favourite among Bengalis. There are numerous ways of cooking fish depending on its texture, size, fat content and bones. Most of the people also consume eggs, chicken, mutton, and shrimp. '' Panta bhat'' (rice soaked overnight in water) with onion and green chili is a traditional dish consumed in rural areas. Common spices found in a Bengali kitchen include
cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a
bay leaf The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...
, mustard,
ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
,
green chillies Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
and turmeric. Sweets occupy an important place in the diet of Bengalis and at their social ceremonies. Bengalis make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including '' Rôshogolla'', ''Chômchôm'', ''Kalojam'' and several kinds of '' sondesh''.
Pitha Pithas are a variety of food similar to pancakes, dumplings or fritters, originating from the Indian subcontinent, common in Bangladesh and India. Pitha can be sweet or savoury, and usually made from a dough or batter, which is then steamed, fri ...
, a kind of sweet cake, bread, or dim sum, are specialties of the winter season. Sweets such as ''narkol-naru'', ''til-naru'', ''moa'' and ''payesh'' are prepared during festivals such as Lakshmi puja. Popular street foods include Aloor Chop, Beguni,
Kati roll A kati roll (sometimes spelt kathi roll; bn, কাঠি রোল) is a street-food dish originating from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. In its original form, it is a skewer-roasted kebab wrapped in a paratha bread, although over the years m ...
, biryani, and phuchka.


Clothing

Bengali women commonly wear the '' sari'', often distinctly designed according to local cultural customs. In urban areas, many women and men wear western attire. Among men, western dress has greater acceptance. Particularly on cultural occasions, men also wear traditional costumes such as the '' panjabi'' with '' dhuti'' while women wear '' salwar kameez'' or ''sari''. West Bengal produces several varieties of cotton and silk ''saris'' in the country. Handlooms are a popular way for the state's rural population to earn a living through weaving. Every district has weaving clusters, which are home to artisan communities, each specialising in specific varieties of handloom weaving. Notable handloom saris include ''tant'', ''
jamdani Jamdani ( bn, জামদানি) is a fine muslin textile (figured with different patterns) produced for centuries in South Rupshi of Narayanganj district in Bangladesh on the bank of Shitalakhwa river. The historic production of jamdani was ...
'', ''garad'', ''korial'', ''baluchari'', ''tussar'' and muslin.


Festivals

Durga Puja is the biggest, most popular and widely celebrated festival in West Bengal. The five-day-long colourful Hindu festival includes intense celebration across the state.
Pandal A ''pandal'' in India and neighbouring countries, is a fabricated structure, either temporary or permanent, that is used at many places such as either outside a building or in an open area such as along a public road or in front of a house. This ca ...
s are erected in various cities, towns, and villages throughout West Bengal. The city of Kolkata transforms Durga Puja. It is decked up in lighting decorations and thousands of colourful pandals are set up where effigies of the goddess Durga and her four children are displayed and worshipped. The idols of the goddess are brought in from Kumortuli, where idol-makers work throughout the year fashioning clay models of the goddess. Since independence in 1947, Durga Puja has slowly changed into more of a glamorous carnival than a religious festival. Today people of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds partake in the festivities. On Vijayadashami, the last day of the festival, the effigies are paraded through the streets with riotous pageantry before being immersed into the rivers.
Rath Yatra Ratha Yatra (), or Chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. The term particularly refers to the annual Ratha Yatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states, particularly the Odia festival that involve a ...
is a Hindu festival which celebrates Jagannath, a form of Krishna. It is celebrated with much fanfare in Kolkata as well as in rural Bengal. Images of Jagannath are set upon a chariot and pulled through the streets. Other major festivals of West Bengal include:
Poila Baishakh Pohela Boishakh ( bn, পহেলা বৈশাখ) is the first day of the Bengali calendar which is also the official calendar of Bangladesh. This festival is celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in the Indian states of We ...
the Bengali new year,
Dolyatra Holi (), also known as the Festival of Colours, the Festival of Spring, and the Festival of Love,The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...". is an ancient Hindu religious festival ...
or Holi the festival of lights,
Poush Parbon Poush ( bn, পৌষ; ne, पौष) is the 9th month of both the Bengali calendar and the Nepali calendar. It overlaps December and January of the Gregorian calendar. It is the first month of the winter season. This month marks the start of Win ...
, Kali Puja, Nabadwip Shakta Rash, Saraswati Puja, Deepavali, Lakshmi Puja, Janmashtami, Jagaddhatri Puja, Vishwakarma Puja,
Bhai Phonta Bhai Dooj, Bhaubeej, Bhai Tika, Bhai Phonta or Bhratri Dwitiya is a festival celebrated by Hindus on the second lunar day of the Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight) of Kartika, the eighth month of the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar or the Shalivahana ...
,
Rakhi Bandhan , genre = Drama , creator = Blues Productions , based_on = , developer = , writer = Snehasish Chakroborty , director = Bidyut Saha , creative_director = ...
,
Kalpataru Day Kalpataru Day also called Kalpataru Diwas or Kalpataru Utsav is an annual religious festival observed by monks of the Ramakrishna Math monastic order of Hinduism and lay followers of the associated Ramakrishna Mission, as well as the worldw ...
,
Shivratri Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ca ...
,
Ganesh Chathurthi Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayak Chaturthi (), or Ganeshotsav () is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu god Ganesha. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and p ...
, Maghotsav, Kartik Puja,
Akshay Tritiya Akshaya Tritiya, also known as Akti or Akha Teej, is an annual Hindu and Jain spring festival. It falls on the third ''tithi'' (lunar day) of the bright half (''Shukla Paksha'') of the month of Vaisakha. It is regionally observed as an auspicio ...
, Raas Yatra,
Guru Purnima Guru Purnima (Poornima) is a tradition dedicated to all the spiritual and academic Gurus, who are evolved or enlightened humans, ready to share their wisdom, based on Karma Yoga. It is celebrated as a festival in India, Nepal and Bhutan by Hi ...
, Annapurna Puja, Charak Puja, Gajan, Buddha Purnima, Christmas,
Eid ul-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...
,
Eid ul-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's comm ...
and Muharram.
Rabindra Jayanti Rabindra Jayanti (রবীন্দ্র জয়ন্তী) is an annually celebrated cultural festival, prevalent among Tagorephiles (people who love Tagore and his works) around the world, in the remembrance of Rabindranath Tagore's birth ...
, Kolkata Book Fair,
Kolkata Film Festival The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is an annual film festival held in Kolkata, India. Founded in 1995, it is the third oldest international film festival in India. The festival is organized by the West Bengal Film Centre under the W ...
, and Nazrul Jayanti. All are important cultural events.
Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , dat ...
is the most important Muslim festival in West Bengal. They celebrate the end of
Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
with prayers, alms-giving, shopping, gift-giving, and feasting. Christmas, called ''Bôŗodin'' (Great day) is perhaps the next major festival celebrated in Kolkata, after Durga Puja. Although Hinduism is the major religion in the state, people show significant passion to the festival. Just like Durga Puja, Christmas in Kolkata is an occasion when all communities and people of every religion take part. Large masses of people go to parks, gardens, museums, parties, fairs, churches and other places to celebrate the day. Surprisingly, a lot of Hindus go to Hindu-temples and the festival is celebrated there too with Hindu rituals. The state tourism department organises a gala Christmas Festival every year in Park Street. The whole of Park Street is hung with colourful lights, and food stalls sell cakes, chocolates, Chinese cuisine, momo, and various other items. The state invites musical groups from Darjeeling and other North East India states to perform choir recitals, carols, and jazz numbers. Buddha Purnima, which marks the birth of Gautama Buddha, is one of the most important Hindu/Buddhist festivals and is celebrated with much gusto in the Darjeeling hills. On this day, processions begin at the various Buddhist monasteries, or ''gumpas'', and congregate at the
Chowrasta (Darjeeling) Chowrasta ("Intersection" lit. ''where four roads meet'') is a historical public square in the Victorian era hill resort town of Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal, India. Located in the heart of the town it was the fashionable place of ...
Mall. The Lamas chant mantras and sound their bugles, and students, as well as people from every community, carry the holy books or ''pustaks'' on their heads. Besides Buddha Purnima, Dashain, or
Dusshera Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu ...
, Holi, Diwali, Losar, Namsoong or the Lepcha New Year, and Losoong are the other major festivals of the Darjeeling Himalayan region. Poush Mela is a popular winter festival of Shantiniketan, with performances of folk music, Baul songs, dance, and theatre taking place throughout the town. Ganga Sagar Mela coincides with the
Makar Sankranti Makar(a) Sankranti (), also referred to as Uttarayana, Maghi, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of January 14 annually, this occasion marks the transition of the Sun from the zodiac of Sag ...
, and hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims converge where the river Ganges meets the sea to bathe enmasse during this fervent festival.


Education

University of Calcutta 7383.JPG, University of Calcutta, the oldest public university of India. West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (front entrance, 2006).jpg, The front entrance to the academic block of NUJS, Kolkata. RKMVERI Prajna Bhavan HR.jpg, Prajna Bhavan, housing the School of Mathematical Sciences and School of RKMVU. West Bengal schools are run by the state government or private organisations, including religious institutions. Instruction is mainly in English or Bengali, though Urdu is also used, especially in Central Kolkata. Secondary schools are affiliated with the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Institute of Open School (NIOS), West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, or the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education. As of 2016 85% of children within the 6 to 17-year age group attend school (86% do so in urban areas and 84% in rural areas). School attendance is almost universal among the 6 to 14-year age group then drops to 70% with the 15 to 17-year age group. There is a gender disparity in school attendance in the 6 to 14-year age group, more girls than boys are attending school. In Bengal, 71% of women aged 15–49 years and 81% of men aged 15–49 years are literate. Only 14% of women aged 15–49 years in West Bengal have completed 12 or more years of schooling, compared with 22% of men. 22% of women and 14% of men aged 15–49 years have never attended school. Some of the notable schools in the city are:
Ramakrishna Mission Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur is a unit of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, which is a branch of Ramakrishna Mission with headquarters at Belur. It is affiliated to the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education a ...
, Baranagore Ramakrishna Mission,
Sister Nivedita Girls' School Ramakrishna Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita Girls' School or Sister Nivedita Girls' School is a girls' school at Bagbazar, North Kolkata. It was established by Scottish-Irish social worker, author, speaker and disciple of Swami Vivekananda, Siste ...
,
Hindu School Hindu School is a state government-administered school in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest modern educational institution in Asia (then known as ''Hindu College''). The institution played a key role during Bengal R ...
,
Hare School Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, India, teaching grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. It is a state government-administered boys sc ...
,
La Martiniere Calcutta ''La Martiniere ''(informally known as LMC) is an elite, independent private day school located in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal. It comprises two single-gender boys and girls schools. It was established in 1836 in accordance with the will of t ...
,
Calcutta Boys' School The Calcutta Boys' School is an independent private day school located in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal. was founded by the Rev. James Mills Thoburn (Methodist Missionary to India, and later Missionary Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church ...
, St. James' School (Kolkata),
South Point School South Point is a higher-secondary co-educational private school located in Kolkata, West Bengal and affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education, consisting of three organisations – South Point School (Nursery to Class V), South Poi ...
, Techno India Group Public School,
St. Xavier's Collegiate School , motto_translation = Nothing Beyond , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , denomination = Jesuits , patron = Francis Xavier , established = , session = April–Mar ...
, and Loreto House, Loreto Convent, Pearl Rosary School are some of which rank amongst the best schools in the country. Many of the schools in Kolkata and Darjeeling are colonial-era establishments housed in buildings that are exemplars of neo-classical architecture. Darjeeling's schools include: St. Paul's, St. Joseph's North Point, Goethals Memorial School, and Dow Hill in Kurseong. West Bengal has eighteen universities. Kolkata has played a pioneering role in the development of the modern education system in India. It was the gateway to the revolution of European education during the British Raj. Sir William Jones established the Asiatic Society in 1794 to promote oriental studies. People such as Ram Mohan Roy,
David Hare David Hare may refer to: *David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist *David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer *David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...
, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Alexander Duff and William Carey played leading roles in setting up modern schools and colleges in the city. The University of Calcutta, the oldest and one of the most prestigious public universities in India, has 136 affiliated colleges. Fort William College was established in 1810. The Hindu College was established in 1817. The
Lady Brabourne College Lady Brabourne College (LBC) is an institution for women's education in Kolkata, India. The college admits undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees from the University of Calcutta. It is a state government administered college and is ...
was established in 1939. The Scottish Church College, the oldest Christian liberal arts college in South Asia, started in 1830. The Vidyasagar College was established in 1872 and was the first purely Indian-run private college in India. In 1855 the Hindu College was renamed the Presidency College. The state government granted it university status in 2010 and it was renamed Presidency University. Kazi Nazrul University was established in 2012. The University of Calcutta and Jadavpur University are prestigious technical universities. Visva-Bharati University at
Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
is a central university and an institution of national importance. Other higher education institutes of importance in West Bengal include: St. Xavier's College, Kolkata,
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is a leading business school of India. Established in 1963, it works as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. It also functions as a civil services tr ...
, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (the first
IIM The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are central government-owned-public business schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of busin ...
), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Indian Statistical Institute, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (the first
IIT The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Institu ...
),
Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur (IIEST Shibpur), erstwhile Bengal Engineering College (also known as B.E. College), formerly Bengal Engineering and Science University (also known as BESU), is a public research u ...
(the first
IIEST Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology (abbreviated as IIEST) was a planned group of academic institutions in India for research and education in engineering, originally proposed by the Government of India in 2007 to meet the inc ...
),
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kalyani Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kalyani (IIIT Kalyani) is an Indian Institute of Information Technology located at Kalyani, West Bengal. The institute was set up by the Government of India Ministry of Human Resource Development, G ...
,
National Institute of Technology, Durgapur National Institute of Technology Durgapur (also known as NIT Durgapur or NITDGP), formerly known as Regional Engineering College, Durgapur (also known as REC Durgapur or RECDGP), is a public technical university in the city of Durgapur in We ...
,
National Institute of Technical Teachers' Training and Research, Kolkata National Institute of Technical Teachers' Training and Research Kolkata , (also known as NITTTR Kolkata) is a technical teacher's training institution situated in the Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The institute has established extension centers ...
,
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata (NIPER Kolkata) is an Indian public pharmaceutical research university, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. As one of the seven National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Edu ...
, and West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. In 2003 the state government supported the creation of
West Bengal University of Technology Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), formerly known as West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT), is a public state university located in Kalyani, West Bengal, India. It is funded completely by the Government of West Be ...
,
West Bengal University of Health Sciences West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS) is a Public medical university in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 2003 by an Act of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for better management of the health and medical educ ...
,
West Bengal State University West Bengal State University (WBSU) is a public university situated in Berunanpukuria, North 24 Paraganas, West Bengal, India. It was established by an Act of the Legislative Assembly on 2007. History The Government of West Bengal through ...
, and
Gour Banga University University of Gour Banga is a public state university located in Malda, West Bengal, India. It is one of the newest state universities established in 2008 by the Government of West Bengal on Act XXVI 2007. History The university completed ...
. Jadavpur University (Focus area—Mobile Computing and Communication and Nano-science), and the University of Calcutta (Modern Biology) are among two of the fifteen universities selected under the "University with Potential for Excellence" scheme. University of Calcutta (Focus Area—Electro-Physiological and Neuro-imaging studies including mathematical modelling) has also been selected under the "Centre with Potential for Excellence in a Particular Area" scheme. In addition, the state is home to Kalyani University,
The University of Burdwan The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public university in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 wit ...
,
Vidyasagar University Vidyasagar University was established by an Act of the West Bengal legislature which was notified in the ''Calcutta Gazette'' on 24 June 1981. It is an affiliating university in Paschim Medinipur district of southern West Bengal, India. It o ...
, and North Bengal University all well established and nationally renowned schools that cover education needs at the district level and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. Apart from this there is a Deemed university run by the Ramakrishna mission named Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University at Belur Math. There are several research institutes in Kolkata. The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science is the first research institute in Asia.
C. V. Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...
was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery (Raman Effect) done at the IACS. The
Bose Institute Bose Institute (Basu Bigyan Mandir) is a public research institute of India and also one of its oldest. The Institute was established in 1917 by Acharya Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, the father of modern scientific research in the Indian subcont ...
,
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) is an institution of basic research and training in physical and biophysical sciences located in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, India. The institute is named after the famous Indian physicist Meghnad Saha. ...
,
S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS) is an autonomous research institute dedicated to basic research Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of imp ...
, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute,
Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute The Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (also known as CSIR-CMERI Durgapur or CMERI Durgapur) is a public engineering research and development institution in Durgapur, West Bengal, India. It is a constituent laboratory of the I ...
Durgapur,
Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers (ICAR-CRIJAF), established in 1953 as Jute Agricultural Research Institute (JARI), is only research institute on jute & allied fibres crops in India and is a constituent unit of India ...
,
National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology National Institute of Natural Fibre Engineering and Technology (NINFET), formerly National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology (NIRJAFT), is an institute under Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Government of India ...
,
Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) is an autonomous research institute dedicated to inland fisheries management and augmentation under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research of Government of India. It was established on 1 ...
, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani, and the
Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre The Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) is a research and development unit of the Department of Atomic Energy. The VECC is located in Kolkata, India and performs research in basic and applied nuclear sciences and development of the latest n ...
are the most prominent. Notable scholars who were born, worked, or studied in the geographic area of the state include physicists: Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha, and
Jagadish Chandra Bose Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (;, ; 30 November 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a biologist, physicist, Botany, botanist and an early writer of science fiction. He was a pioneer in the investigation of radio microwave optics, made significant contr ...
; chemist
Prafulla Chandra Roy Sir Prafulla Chandra Ray, CIE, FNI, FRASB, FIAS, FCS (also spelled Prafulla Chandra Rây and Prafulla Chandra Roy; bn, প্রফুল্ল চন্দ্র রায় ''Praphulla Chandra Rāy''; 2 August 1861 – 16 June 1944 ...
; statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and
Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, FRSS Cambridge Philosophical Society, FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian people, Indian mathematician and statistician best known for ...
; physician Upendranath Brahmachari; educator
Ashutosh Mukherjee Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (anglicised, originally Asutosh Mukhopadhyay, also anglicised to Asutosh Mookerjee) (29 June 1864 – 25 May 1924) was a prolific Bengali educator, jurist, barrister and mathematician. He was the first student to be awar ...
; and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore, C. V. Raman, Amartya Sen, and Abhijit Banerjee


Media

In 2005 West Bengal had 505 published newspapers, of which 389 were in Bengali. '' Ananda Bazar Patrika'', published in Kolkata with 1,277,801 daily copies, has the largest circulation for a single-edition, regional language newspaper in India. Other major Bengali newspapers are: '' Bartaman'', '' Sangbad Pratidin'', ''
Aajkaal ''Aajkaal'' (pronounced: ) is a Bengali newspaper which is one of the principal newspapers published in Kolkata, India. It covers myriad subjects (broadly business, entertainment, politics, etc.) from Kolkata and the world, and has developed a ...
'', '' Jago Bangla'', ''
Uttarbanga Sambad ''Uttarbanga Sambad'' is a Bengali language broadsheet published from Siliguri. RNI , Reg. No. WBBEN/2007/24656 , Name: SAMBAD AAJKER UTTARBANGA , Publication City: COOCH BEHAR , Link: http://rni.nic.in/registerdtitle_search/registeredtitle ...
'' and ''
Ganashakti ''Ganashakti Patrika'' (1967-present) is an Indian Bengali daily newspaper published from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Initially the paper started as an organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) West Bengal State Committee.
''. Major English language newspapers include '' The Telegraph'', '' The Times of India'', '' Hindustan Times'', ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'', ''
The Statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...
'', '' The Indian Express'' and '' Asian Age''. Some prominent financial dailies such as: '' The Economic Times'', '' Financial Express'', '' Business Line'' and '' Business Standard'' are widely circulated. Vernacular newspapers such as those in Hindi, Nepali,
Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
, Odia, Urdu and Punjabi also exist. DD Bangla is the state-owned television broadcaster.
Multi system operator A multiple-system operator (MSO) is an operator of multiple cable or direct-broadcast satellite television systems. A cable system in the United States, by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) definition, is a facility serving a single communi ...
s provide a mix of Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, English and international channels via cable. Bengali 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, News18 Bangla, Republic Bangla,
Kolkata TV Kolkata TV is a 24-hour Bengali news channel launched by SST Media in 2006. Ex ABP man Suman Chattopadhyay is responsible for its birth. Now it is owned by Kaustuv Ray, chairman of RP Group. The slogan used by the channel is ''Raatdin Saatdin' ...
,
News Time News Time Bangla is a 24-hour Bengali news channel launched in 2010. In 2011 they broadcast the 33rd Federation cup held in Kolkata. See also *International broadcasting *List of Indian television stations There are currently 900 permi ...
,
Zee 24 Ghanta ''Zee Media Corporation Limited'' (abbreviated as ZMCL; formerly Zee News Limited) is the news broadcasting company of the Essel Group which is controlled by Subhash Chandra. The company is engaged mainly in the business of broadcasting of news ...
,
TV9 Bangla TV9 Bangla is an Indian Bengali-language news channel based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was launched on 14 January 2021. See also *List of Bengali TV channels *List of Indian television stations There are currently 900 permitted pr ...
, CTVN Plus and Channel 10. All India Radio is a public radio station. Private FM stations are available only in cities like Kolkata, Siliguri, and Asansol. Vodafone Idea, Airtel, BSNL, Jio are available
cellular Cellular may refer to: *Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics * Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more * ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie *Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands *Cell ...
phone providers. Broadband Internet is available in select towns and cities and is provided by the state-run BSNL and by other private companies.
Dial-up access Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...
is provided throughout the state by BSNL and other providers.


Sports

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
and association football are popular. West Bengal, unlike most other states of India, is noted for its passion and patronage of football. Kolkata is one of the major centres for football in India and houses top national clubs such as Mohun Bagan Athletic Club,
East Bengal Club East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional Sports club, multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's association football, football team that competes in t ...
and Mohammedan Sporting Club. West Bengal has several large stadiums.
Eden Gardens The Eden Gardens is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 66,000. Eden Gardens is often re ...
was one of only two 100,000-seat cricket stadiums in the world; renovations before the
2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus ...
reduced the capacity to 66,000. The stadium is the home to various cricket teams such as the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Bengal cricket team and the
East Zone The East Zone cricket team is a first-class cricket team that represents eastern India in the Duleep Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Inter Zonal. It is a composite team of five first-class Indian teams from eastern India competing in the Ran ...
. The
1987 Cricket World Cup The 1987 Cricket World Cup (officially known as the Reliance Cup 1987 for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth Cricket World Cup. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan – the first such tournament to be held outsid ...
final was hosted in Eden Gardens. The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.
Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan The Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK; ), commonly known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium located in Bidhannagar, with current capacity of 85,000 spectators. Named after Swami Vivekananda, the stadium f ...
(VYBK), is a multipurpose stadium in Kolkata, with a current capacity of 85,000. It is the largest stadium in India by seating capacity. Before its renovation in 2011, it was the second-largest football stadium in the world, having a seating capacity of 120,000. It has hosted many national and international sporting events like the SAF Games of 1987 and the 2011 FIFA friendly football match between Argentina and Venezuela featuring Lionel Messi. In 2008 legendary German goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn played his farewell match on this ground. The stadium hosted the final match of the
2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India between 6 and 28 October 2017, after the ...
. Notable sports persons from West Bengal include former Indian national cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly, Pankaj Roy, Olympic tennis
bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...
list Leander Paes and chess grand master Dibyendu Barua.


See also

* Bangal * Bengali Language Movement *
Ghoti people ''Ghoti'' is a creative respelling of the word ''fish'', used to illustrate irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation. Explanation The word is intended to be pronounced in the same way (), using these sounds: * ''gh'', pronounced as ...
*
List of colleges and universities in West Bengal The Indian state of West Bengal is the site of India's first modern university and 33 universities are listed under the University Grants Commission (India). Background In West Bengal the medium of instruction in colleges and universit ...
*
List of people from West Bengal This is a list of notable people from West Bengal, India. This list does not include the significant number of prominent East Bengali refugees from East Bengal who settled in West Bengal after the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947. ...
*
Outline of West Bengal The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to West Bengal: West Bengal – state in eastern India and is the nation's fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants. Spread over , it is bordered by ...
*
Tourist attractions in West Bengal Tourist attractions in West Bengal refers to the tourist attractions in the Indian state of West Bengal. West Bengal is a States and territories of India, state in the East India, eastern region of India and is the nation's List of states and unio ...


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Richard Maxwell Eaton, The rise of Islam and the Bengal frontier, 1204–1760, 1993, University of California Press, California, California,1993, . * Ross Mallick. (1955). Development Policy of a Communist Government: West Bengal Since 1977, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (Reprinted 2008) . * * *
Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...
, Law Department, Legislative Notification. No. 182- L – 24 January 2013. West Bengal Act XXXVI of 2012. The West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Act, 2012. * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
West Bengal Tourism
* * {{Authority control 1947 establishments in India Bay of Bengal Bengal Bengali-speaking countries and territories English-speaking countries and territories Hindi-speaking countries and territories States and territories established in 1947 States and union territories of India