Presented by

Bidhan Chandra Chaudhuri

MLIS 2007 – 2008Roll No. 10

Guided by

Dr. Subarna Kumar DasSenior LecturerDept. of LIS, J.U.

Sagar Island• South 24 Parganas

West Bengal • IndiaCoordinates: 21°36′ to 21° 56’ North latitude and 88°2’ to 88°11’ East latitudeTime zone: IST (UTC+5:30)

• Sagar dwip is the largest dwip (island) in the Bay of Bengal

• Sagar Island 150 km (80 nautical miles) south of Kolkata. The island is large — with an area of around 300 sq km.

• It has 44 villages and a population of over 160,000.

• It is also rich in mangrove swamps, waterways and small rivers.

Places of Interest

• Kapil Muni temple at South Sagar • Fairgrounds at South Sagar • Sea beach at South Sagar • Sagar Marine Park at South Sagar • Sagar Lighthouse and Port at

Beguakhali • Ramkrisna Mission Ashram • Sushama Devichowdhurani

Marine Biological Research Institute. (SDMBRI) at Bamankhali

• Chimaguri Mudflat- It is the entry point to the Mangrove Forest

• Wind Mills - The island gets its electricity from the wind energy

Kapil Muni Tample

Sab Teertha Baar Baar Ganga Sagar Ek Bar

• You can go to all the holy places, but a pilgrimage to Ganga Sagar equals them all.

• A dip means redemption for all wrong done.

This place is Sagar Island, on the confluence of the Ganga with the Bay of Bengal.

A Holy dip

Gangasagar Mela is the largest fair celebrated in West Bengal and second largest in India. This fair is held where the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal form a nexus. Hence the name Gangasagar Mela. It is celebrated during 12th to 15th January every year. A holy dip is celebrated on Makar Sankranti, last day of the Bengali Month Poush.

Common Belief

• There is a common belief among the locals that the girls who take the holy dip get handsome grooms and the boys get beautiful brides.

• They head towards the Kapilmuni Temple situated nearby, to worship the deity as a mark of respect.

• The temple is run by the Ramanandi saints of the Hanuman garhi of Ayodhya.

• The priest once appointed from that group of saint of Ayodhya and ultimately after some times they demanded and established their claim over the temple.

• http://www.indiaprofile.com/pilgrimage/gangasagarmela.htm

Kapil Muni

Communication

• From Kolkata/Sealdah

By Train

By CSTC BusBy Private Car

• From Sagar IslandBy BusBy Private JeepBy Private Car

• http://wikitravel.org/en/Sagar_Island

Train Service from Sealdah

• Both the points Namkhana and Harwood Point can be reached by train from Sealdah Station. There are direct trains to Kakdwip from Sealdah Station with link trains to Namkhana. Train fare up to Kakdwip is Rs. 18 only. From Kakdwip, Harwood Point is only 5 Km. and Namkhana is 12 Km. by bus or jeep.

CSTC Bus Service from Esplanade/Babughat/Taratala

• Sagar Island can be approached from either Harwood point or Namkhana. Both the points are linked by Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) or West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation buses. Distance of Harwood Point is around 80 Km. from Kolkata and Namkhana is 13 Kilometers more. Bus fare from Kolkata (Esplanade) to Namkhana is around Rs. 60 (during Mela 2008). During the Mela, busses will end at the ferry crossing in Harwood point (or also called 'Lot 8'), and they will start in Kolkata also from Babughat, Howrah Railway Station and Taratola in South Kolkata

Private Car Service

• It is possible to go the entire length by private car or hired car from Kolkata. At Harwood Point there is provision to transport vehicle with the help of a barge locally known as LCT. There are no fixed time for the crossings, because it is totally dependent on the water-level and thus, on the tides. The charge for a light or medium vehicle is Rs.300/-. The fare increases at the time of Ganagasagar Mela (The Fair).

Ferri Service

• To reach Sagar Island one must cross the Muriganga river/creek by ferry service. Ferry service is available in both Harwood point and Namkhana and controlled by West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation. Frequency of crossings are more in Harwood point and it is once in every half an hour. The fare for a single crossing for a person is Rs. 6/- as on December 2005. The fare increases at the time of Ganagasagar Mela (The Fair); Rs. 40.00, during 2008 Mela.

From Sagar Island

• After reaching Sagar Island one have to cross the whole stretch of Sagar Island (32 Km.) by local bus or shared taxi or private taxi. The bus fare should be around Rs.10. A private jeep charges around Rs.800-900 for one way, so if shared by 9 passengers a fare of Rs.100 is a fair price. There is no accommodation available on the point of crossing (Kachuberia), so everybody has to travel the whole stretch of the Island and reach the southernmost part, where accommodations are abundant.

From Haldia

• Except from Namkhana and Harwood Point, there is also a direct ferry service available to Kachuberia (Sagar Island) from Haldia.

Accommodation

During Sagar Mela, there are a number of accommodation in the form of camps/hutments from many commercial and non commercial organizations.

If you bring your own mattress and sleeping bag you'll will find a shelter in any way, though.

It is advisable to book your accommodation prior to go to Sagar Island in the time of Sagar Mela.

The following organizations provide shelter for tourist and pilgrims round the year:

Accommodation

State Youth Hostel- Charge for a Double bed room with attached bath is Rs. 100 per day. Check in time is at 12 noon. (Booking Office: Directorate of Youth Services, 32/1, B.B.D. Bag (South), Calcutta - 700001. Ph: +91-33 2248 0626.)

Bharat Sevashram Sangha and a couple of other ashrams They usually offer accommodation and meals for free (they are oriented to pilgrims), but would expect a donation.

Larica Sagar (Tourist Lodge), Telephone +91 3210 240226-227.

State Youth Hostel

Safety Measure

• Carry mosquito net• Carry Electric Torches and other means of

Emergency Lights. • Avoid traveling at night with insufficient

light• Apply some snake repellents in their room

before going to bed • It is better to use a mosquito net to protect

oneself not only from mosquitoes, but also from snakes

Pilgrims

• In 2007, about 300,000 pilgrims took the holy dip on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. The figure was lower by around 200,000 because of Kumbh Mela.

• Almost five lakh pilgrims thronged Sagar Island in 2008.

Government Activities

• They arrange for the accommodation, sanitation, fooding, water supply, etc. all the infrastructure facilities for the tourists.

• The local people are appointed as skilled, unskilled, and semi-skilled workers in construction of road, yatrinibas, Hoghla cottage, latrine, bathroom etc. and hence they get opportunity to earn.

Government Activities

The Coast Guard and the Navy, with their dorniers and howercrafts and divers, join-in the local administration to keep a strict vigil to prevent any accident or untoward incident.

Volunteers of HAM brigade-posted with readily available alternate communication facility through their handsets- also aid the security agencies at all the sensitive points of the fair. Their association helped in preventing the lifting of children for trafficking. Besides, these volunteers are a boon in the wake of any unforeseen natural calamity.

Government Activities

Eastern Railways provides special train service during the Fair.

Telecommunication make massive arrangements providing IST, STD and Internet services to the visitors and the media 24 hours a day during the five-day fair.

Impact on Socio-economic Life

As per demand of tourists, communication with kolkata and related other places are improving day by day

The ferri ghat at Gangasagar is adequately developed

The local people earn a lot during the festival. They are engaged in preparing hogla cottage, latrines, fooding and other infrastructural activities. They also run hotels, tea-stalls, shops.

Telephone booths are also helpful to the local people

Impact on Socio-economic Life

A drastic change is observed in dress, style and fashion of the local boys and girls.

Pollute physical and social lifeVillage boys are becoming alcoholic day by

day.Simple honest people are gradually becoming

dishonest, business-minded and cunningDue to insufficient latrine visitors use village

path and beach area as their toiletRubbish, plastic packets, garbage and bad

smell spread all around pollute the environment

Users

• Millions of Hindu pilgrims and devotees from all over india and from neighbouring countries like, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

• Tourist of different religions, casts, creeds from all over the world.

Limitations

Poor and illiterate village people are far from the reach of internet facility though majority of pilgrims are from that community.

Collection developments are mainly done through webpage searching. Personal visit is not possible due to shortage of time.

Uploading files to the internet sometimes create a lot of problems.

Design and development of HTML files are really an interesting one as well as a critical tasks as we do not get sufficient time to learn it.

Conclusion

Economically backward village people of Sagardwip are eagerly waiting for the festival as this is meant for their major source of income. The development of the island is due to the festival.

The greatness of the mela can be assessed from the fact that over a million pilgrims come from far-flung corners of India and beyond, speaking different languages and belonging to diverse castes and creeds, for a sacred dip at this holy confluence.