Bolpur
Introduction
Bolpur is 99 miles from Howrah by road and 24 miles by train from Khana junction of the Eastern Railway. Bolpur was noted from before as a big trade center. It is in the midst of an area, which has a big, traditional past. Supur, the neighboring village of Bolpur has a temple of Surath- eshwar Siva, which is said to have been regularly worshipped by the legendary Surath Raja. There is a legend that Surath Raja had offered the sacrifice of one lakh of animals to Chandika Devi and that is why the place came to be known as Balipur laterchanged into Bolpur. Only four miles to the north east of Bolpur at a village Shain there is a cold water spring known as Muni Kunda.

According to local legend this was the Ashram of Risvasringa Rishi. On Uttarayan Sankranti a large mela is held at this place. The local legend, however, mentions that Lomapada, the king of Anga induced Risvasringa's father Vivandaka who left this place and set up a new Ashram at Vandirban. Vandirban is supposed to be a part of Birsinghapur in Birbhum district. The image of Lord Siva that Vivandaka Rishi worshipped and obtained Siddhi (Salvation) is now known as Siddhinath or Vandeshwar, which is Birsinghapur. This is one of the Anadi lingams. Ramayan mentions Vivandaka Rishi.

Ektesvara
Introduction
The cult of Saivism has a deep hold on Bengal . Temples dedicated to Lord Siva are very common. Almost every village in Bengal has Saivaities, Shaktas and Vaishnavas but the number of Sivatemples is by far the largest. Even when Bengal was caught and swept over by the very strong current of Vaishnavism, the worship of Siva and Sakti had not disappeared. The ancient Bengali literature has delinea- tion of Siva and his consort Parvati in prose, poetry, ballads, stories and songs. A Bengali girl in her teen fondly makes images of Lord Siva prompted by her mother. The idea is that she will get a good husband.

Santiniketan-Bolpur
Santiniketan
"Cargo of my life''s best treasure", is how the great poet and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore described Shantiniketan. Established in 1863 by his father, Debendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore started experimental open-air classes for students in 1901 and called it Shantiniketan or the Abode of Peace. Gurudev Tagore developed this small school for five students to a huge educational institution of international repute and called it Vishwa Bharati University . Tagore''s vision was a world where man exists in perfect harmony with nature. Shantiniketan is the embodiment of serenity and peace, far removed from the concrete jungle. His motto was to teach one and all blending the east into west and putting the students nearer to nature with all the latest knowledge. He also expected that the knowledge and education from this University would be distributed by the students to the rural area of India .