Earlier, there was a Portuguese settlement at Bandel. The Church and the Monastery were built around 1660 by the Portuguese. The word 'Bandel' was derived from a Portuguese word which meant 'mast of ship'. Bandel Church is the oldest Christian church in West Bengal and a nice Tourism attraction. It is dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Rosário, also known as "Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem", meaning "Our Lady of the Good Journey". The keystone of an older church with the year 1599 on it adorns the riverside gate of the monastery attached to it.
Bandel is located at 22°55′22″N 88°22′46″E / 22.922743°N 88.379542°E / 22.922743; 88.379542 and it has an elevation of 16 m. The main river that flows by Bandel is Ganges. The town is in Gangetic plain.
Climate
Like the rest of the Ganges delta of West Bengal, the climate is tropical wet-and-dry in nature. A prolonged hot and humid weather is the main characteristic of the climate of Bandel. The Monsoon stays from early June to mid-September. Winter persists for almost three months, from mid-November to mid-February. The weather remains dry during the winter and humid during summer.
Dunlop Factory: The famous Dunlop factory is situated at Sahaganj near Bandel. However, it has been shut down owing to some issues in its administration. BTPS: Bandel Thermal Power Station was started with a capacity of 82.5 MW in 1965. It has since been expanded and currently has a rated capacity of 530 MW. It is operated under the West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL). A very old factory PANCH STEEL was purchased and set up a wagon factory Jupiter Wagons Limited. Bakery: Bandel is the base of many bakery industries. Bandel Bazar:Bandel Bazar is one of the biggest and important markets of the district. It's the hub of agricultural import and export. Vegetables, fruits (especially mango, watermelon), and rice are exported from the market. Banks: At Bandel, there are branches of banks such as Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Punjab & Sind Bank, State Bank of India, UCO Bank, and United Bank of India. Jupiter Wagons Ltd: Jupiter, an engineering company which manufacture railway based products such as Fright Wagons, Bogie & CMS Crossings, is located in front of Bandel ITI.
At Bandel there are two railway stations, Hooghly railway station and Bandel Junction. Bandel Junction is an important railway station of Eastern Railway and is a model rail station. The station is situated approximately 40 km from Howrah station on the Howrah-Bardhaman Main Line. The Bandel-Katwa meets the Howrah main line, here at Bandel Jn. Another branch line connects Bandel with Sealdah and Kolkata station via Naihati Junction. An EMU car-shed as well as a goods yard is situated in the neighbourhood of Bandel station.
Like other parts of Kolkata suburban area auto rickshaws can easily be found on the roads and streets of Bandel. Besides, there are buses, taxis, rickshaws. These all contribute to the public transport of Bandel.
The nearby airport is the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata.
Like other parts of West Bengal, Durga Puja is the biggest festival of Bandel. Kartik Puja is one of the famous festivals celebrated in Bandel (Sahaganj-Bansberia area). Also Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, Viswakarma Puja, Saraswati Puja, Poila Boisakh-Ganesh Puja, Chhat Puja, Dol Yatra are widely celebrated at Bandel. Olichandi Mela (fair) is the biggest fair observed at Bandel in early summer after the Dol Yatra. Christmas is well celebrated at Bandel church and lots of people come here for this occasion. Eid is the major festival celebrated by the Muslim community of Bandel. Another festival, 'vel-vel', is exclusive to Bandel, which is celebrated few weeks after the Dol Yatra.
Debanandapur is the birthplace of the Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and is about 3 km west from Bandel Station. His dwelling house is still there. There also is a library named Sarat Smrithi Pathagar, which includes a museum room containing the things used by the famous writer. The village has some 19th-century atchala temples. It is one of the seven important villages named Saptagram at the time of Mughals.
Sahaganj is 4 km from Bandel station. A unit of Dunlop India Ltd. is located here. Ruias purchased Dunlop India Ltd. from the Dubai-based Jumbo group owned by late Manu Chhabria.The pin code is 712104. and resumed production in January 2007 after 8 years. After few months of starting production Ruias also stopped production again, till December 2012 there is no hope of light for the workers. Jupiter, an engineering company which manufacture railway based products such as Fright Wagons, Bogie & CMS Crossings, is located in front of Bandel ITI.
Tribeni is 8 km from Bandel on the Bandel-Katwa line. Tribeni Tissues Limited, a specialty paper manufacturing company and a major supplier of tissue paper to the cigarette industry, is located at Tribeni. It was taken over by ITC in 1990. Tribeni in West Bengal is derived from the junction of three rivers Hooghly (A branch of Ganges), Kunti & Swaraswati. Tribeni burning ghat has Hindu Religious values.
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