Mandarmani

Mandarmani

মন্দারমণি
Mandarmoni
Mandarmani মন্দারমণি Mandarmoni
village
	Mandarmani Sea Beach
	Location in West Bengal, India Mandarmani (India)
	Coordinates: 21°39′58″N 87°42′18″E / 21.666°N 87.705°E
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Purba Medinipur
Government
• Body	Gram panchayat
Area
• Total	25 km2 (10 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	12,307
• Density	492/km2 (1,270/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
ISO 3166 code	IN-WB
Vehicle registration	WB
Nearest city	Kolkata
Sex ratio	976 ♂/♀
Literacy	65%
Climate	average (Köppen)
Website	wb.gov.in

Mandarmani is a seaside resort village in the state of West Bengal, India, lies in East Midnapore district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the large and fast developing seaside resort village of West Bengal. It is almost 180 km from Kolkata Airport on the Kolkata - Digha route. Red crabs crawling around the 13 km long beach is a special attraction of Mandarmani. It is argued to be the longest driveable (drive in) beach in India.^[1]^[2]

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

History

Initially, after its discovery, this beach was named Mandarboni and also Madar Mani. But with time it came to be known as Mandarmani.^[1]

How to go

Mandarmani can be best reached by road, however local police currently restricts private cars to drive across the beach. A proper road has been built allowing tourists to reach their hotels from the backside. The nearest railway station is Contai and the nearest airport is Kolkata.^[3] There are also multiple buses running every half-hour from 7 am till 6 pm.

By car

From Kolkata, after crossing the Vidyasagar Setu, Kona Expressway leads to Mumbai Road. As the total drive takes about 3.5–4 hours from Kolkata via Kolaghat and Nandakumar. From Nandakumar there is a right turn towards Contai. In the said Kolkata- Digha highway there is stoppage named Chawalkhola where a left side village road ends at a sea-side village called Mandarmani.

There are two toll plazas on the route at Dhulagori and Sonapetya.

Activities

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