ANDAMAN & NICOBAR Islands: The Union Territory with the magical charisma to make any visitor dumb & speechless through its natural splendour

Posted byDhirendra S ChauhanPosted inUncategorized
  • CELLULAR JAIL , ANDAMAN
  • VIEW OF PRISON CELLS OF THE CELLULAR JAIL

OUR TOUR OF THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS :

In Oct.1998, We (a group of seven persons) set off on a 09 days(25/10/1998 to 02/11/1998) tour of the historical Andaman & Nicobar Islands & had a memorable experience of a lifetime. We were amazed by historical and cultural background of the Indian territory.On our return journey we could spare 4-days time to visit Calcutta, JagannathPuri dham,Puri beach, Konark sun temple,Nandan Kanan,Bhubaneshwar,famous Chilka lake& the Maa Kalijai temple in the Chilka lake.

ABOUT ANDMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS :

The Andaman Islands are an Indian archipelogy in the Bay of Bengal.Its the Union Territory of India comprising 572 islands(of which 37 are inhabited) ,are a group of Islands at the juncture of Bay of Bengal &the Arabian Sea.Established on 01/11/1956,its capital & largest city is Port Blair ,ranked 28th in area. Its official language: Hindi, English, spoken Bengali,Tamil Telugu,Malyalam,Nicobarese, Kurukh,Munda,&Kharia.The three districts are South Andamans with Port Blair as capital, North& middle Andamans with Mayabunder as capital & Nicobar distt with Car Nicobar as capital.

HISTORY OF THE ANDMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS:

(1)First inhabitants: Earliest Archeological evidence is some 2200 yrs.Since that time Andamanese have diversified into linguistically & culturally distinct territorial group. The Nicobaris appear to belong to various backgrounds.Some Nicobaries speak a Mon-Khmer language & the Shompenese whose language is of uncertain affiliation.(2)Chola Empire period (3)Danish colonial period & British rule (4)World War II :During the period A&N Islands were under the Japanese control and nominally Azad Hind Fauz .Bose visited the Islands during the war and renamed them as Shaheed dweep & Swarajdweep. On 07/10/1945,the Japanese surrendered the A&N Islands to the I.N.A. After Independence A&N became part of India in 1950and Union Territory in 1956.Since 1980 India is developing Defence facilities in the A&N Island having a strategic role in the bay of Bengal and the Molacca strait. On 26/12/2004,Tsunami & Earthquake in Indian ocean left 2000 dead, 4000 children orphaned and 40000 injured .The Lighthouse at Indira point was damaged.83 sq KM area land got submerged which the UT lost. Only the aboriginal people survived because of their oral traditions passed down from generations warned them to evacuate from the larger waves that follow Earthquakes.

RELIGION:Hinduism69.44%,Christians27.7%,Islam8.51%,Sikh0.33% Buddh0.08%

Agriculture:Paddy,coconut,mango,sapota,Orange,banana,Papaya,Pineaple, Industry: Handicrafts, polythene bags, PVC Pipes, soft drinks, bakery products, furniture ,major tourist hub -Adventure sports-snorkeling& sea walking, Naval museum, Trekking, bird watch. Power Generation is through Diesel Generating plants on large scale. INTERNET Expansion Project is scheduled to complete in Dec 2019. CHATHAM Island saw mill is the largest saw mill in Asia. Samudrika Naval maritime museum offers a good collection. Other attractions are :Fisheries Aquarium, Sovenirs shops, Marina park, Vir Savarkar park, Mahatma Ganndhi park, Lighthouse Restaurant for sea Food, Aberdien Bazar, Womens Jail.

College & Universities: Tagore Govt College of Education, Andaman Law College.

Famous tourist attractions :

CELLULAR JAIL: The cellular jail also known as Kalapani is an old colonial prison situated in Port Blair, capital of A&N Islands. Although the complex of cellular jail was constructed in 1906,the Britishers had been using A&N Islands as prisons since the sepoy mutiny of 1857. Soon after the mutiny widespread execution of the rebels and survivors were banished to the island as prisoners. It was used particularly to exile political prisoners and where subjected to many atrocities at the hands of the British. Notable freedom fighters were Shri Battukeshwar dutt, Yogendra Shukla and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. In the jail premises you cannot help overcome a strong patriotic fervor. Now its a government of India complex and recognized as a national memorial monument that showcases the life of prisoners during the British era. Its a horrifying and darkest period in the history of India. There are 694 cells and as the name suggest all the prisoners are kept separately in their cells. There is a common watch tower at the top of the prison building.

Havelock Island (great Andamans), Elephant beach with coral reef, Ross Island(the biggest island with pristine beaches ,coconut groves ,adventure sports ) and Smith island at Diglipur ,Neil island for peaceful time off is Andamans rustic piece known for nice sunset, Chidiya tapu ,Corbyns cove island, MG marine national park, Mount Harriat national park, cinque Island, Barron Island, little Andaman, Netaji SC Bose dweep, Mud volcano Diglipur.

  • LIGHT & SOUND SHOW AT CELLULAR JAIL
  • WATER SPORTS COMPLEX
  • BOAT RIDE AT THE WATER SPORTS COMPLEX, ANDAMANS

Our Andaman Nicobar visit:

DAY-1 :Today we set off for our tour of the Cellular Jail, Water Sports,the Light & Sound show scheduled in the evening for which one has to buy separate entry tickets. Enjoyed the water sports immensely along with the L&S show. We also got the opportunity to see Vir Savarkars prison cell. It was a very sad& sentimental occasion for all of us.

  • TO JOLLY BUOY ISLAND
  • JOLLY BUOY ISLAND
JOLLY BUOY ISLAND
ENJOYING AT JOLLY BUOY ISLAND

DAY-2 :Enjoyed our visit to Jolly Buoy island tour,Wandoor islands and mahatma Gandhi Park visit. It was a very exciting and educating tour.

  • Havelock Island
  • Womens’ Jail

DAY-3. Had a very interesting tour of the Zoo,Corbyn Coves beach, Phoenix jetty and took a exciting 7- island Harbour cruise

  • Barron Island Volcano
  • Chatham Saw Mill

DAY-4-We visited the Samudrika fish aquarium,Marina park,Mayabunder cruise. This completes the list of all the places we intended to explore.It was a magical place where we found ourselves spell-bound and ,at times,could not blink our eyes dreading to lose the enchanting expanse of beautiful sceneries,sunsets and the colourful flaura & fauna.

  • ANDAMAN TEAL HOUSE,PORT BLAIR
  • CHIDIYA TAPU
  • Ross Island

DAY-5, After the most exquisite and amazing tour of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, we took our return flight to Dumdum, Calcutta.

Day-6,7,8,&9 :Before proceeding home we had a few days at our disposal to visit Calcutta, Jagannathpuri ,Konark & Bhubaneshwar, Chilka lake and enjoyed the visits enormously. With us we carried fond reminiscences of the amazing/magnificent tour.

  • SCIENCE CITY ,CALCUTTA
  • VICTORIA HALL ,CALCUTTA
  • PURI TEMPLE
  • PURI BEACH
  • PURI BEACH
  • CHILKA LAKE
  • KONARK SUN TEMPLE
  • PURI BEACH
  • NANDAN KANAN, BHUBANESWAR
  • ZOOLOGICAL PARK
  • AT KALAJAI MAA ,CHILKA LAKE
  • KALAJAI MAA,CHILKA LAKE
  • BOAT STATION FOR KALAJAI MATA
  • BY MOTOR BOAT TO KALAJAI MATA TEMPLE
  • KALAJAI MATA

Published by Dhirendra S Chauhan

I am a travel enthusiast from Jaipur, India always full of curiosity to explore new places marked by some cultural, geographical & historical significance around the globe. Also I love visiting places full of adventure/mystery & have undertaken many amazing trekking expeditions to difficult locations needing toughness of body, soul &the spirit. I have explored most of Indian states/UTs to learn about their culture,had cultural exchange with people & learnt to respect their religious beliefs/customs.In September 2019, we went on our first foreign trip(50 days)to Netherlands, France, Belgium& Switzerland.Again in July 2022 ,we got a chance to visit Europe & have visited(75-day trip)Italy ,Portugal, Germany,Spain & Vatican city. The trips were full of amazing monuments,natural landscapes & places of great scenic beauty.Enjoyed the visit enormously.Having traveled so much I felt like travel blogging & here I am doing just that !Apart from travel-blogging I also like poetry. Basically I am an Electrical Engineer retired recently from Central Govt. Service after serving for 38 yrs. Meanwhile I have completed my Master of Social Work degree to pursue my Social obligations towards my fellow beings & am engaged in rendering Social Services to the needy &the disadvantaged ! Also I will like to pursue my new-found interest/hobby of writing Travelogues to benefit my readers by providing max. details like statistics, demography, historical origin, way of life , professions , languages spoken & the culture/customs associated with any place. While enjoying any tourist place, I simply advocate that one must also try to learn about the place. I travel and then share the collected information with the potential traveler .Hence the name of my site - Travel and share.😊

35 thoughts on “ANDAMAN & NICOBAR Islands: The Union Territory with the magical charisma to make any visitor dumb & speechless through its natural splendour”

    1. Thank you so much Sir for appreciating the post so much although I don’t think it deserves so much praise!As for the photos, they were shot by a very cheap camera just for fun and not for posting on any social site!I have posted four more blogs which you can visit on my site if interested!Pl comment on them for desired encouragement!Thanks again!

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  5. Glad to hear that you liked my way of depicting informations and photos of a splendid destination named -the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, which in itself,is a historical place although for a wrong cause; to carry out atrocities on our freedom fighters in their struggle a

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  6. continued……struggle against the British rule.I think all this must have impacted your “Nationalist sentiments” and you liked this post as you just admitted.Thanks and keep following /encouraging me.

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    2. Really great work sir. Such a detailed and informative blog with some real nice pics. After reading this I am for sure going to plan a trip to Andaman & Nicobar Island. Thank you and please keep sharing your experiences.

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      1. With due regards, I take this opportunity to whole- heartedly thank you for such nice words of appreciation which I may not have fully deserved! None the less you are fully authorized to bother me with any queries regarding any part of India for travel tips! You can follow my blog for more travel tales! Although I am a baby at blogging (only 1 month old) but getting good audience-response as I got today! Thank you so much, Sir !

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  12. Great work sir. Such a detailed and informative Blog, after reading this I am for sure going to plan a trip to Andaman & Nicobar Island. Thank you and please keep sharing your experiences.

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  13. Very useful and valuable information , especially who are intending to visit A&N. Hopefully, we will keep getting such good information from time to time. Thanks.

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  14. Your work is delightful. This blog truly expresses the joy one gets to travel with family and create cheerful memories for lifetime

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  16. Best thing to notice is it’s rare to find a mix of beautiful beaches along with a deeply engraved history of our freedom fighters. This blog in itself is a balanced publication of the turquoise beaches without undermining the importance India’s journey and sacrifices prior to 1947

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    1. Yes ,you are very much right beta! This writeup has impartial emphasis on Cellular Jail (which has a dark past relating to the atrocities of the Britishers on our freedom fighters) as well as the natural splendor of the pristine beaches and the great no. of islands offering numerous watersports for the visitor!Keep reading, keep supporting!

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  17. Have only heard of the beauty of this place. Can now imagine easily through your well placed words . Also its hard to believe that you have travelled this place almost 20 years back . The content and memories seems so fresh and precisely penned.

    I must say , your writing skills are so impactful and makes us believe that you are not a travel writer but a WRITER who travels !!

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    1. Now that’s too huge a statement of praise for a month- old travel writer who has a long way to go into this wide field of travelblogging!I hope I deserve some of it !And Akanksha you got it right like the solution of the riddle as to who came first in this world : the egg or the hen ? Of course I am predominantly a writer first then a traveler !Thanks for the support! Happy reading !

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  18. Read your blog and I really loved it. You have amazingly portrait every memory of yours in words.
    Keep on sharing your experiences.

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  20. DS: I like the way you have built the story by providing a context and history, then presented your travel experience. You have made it interesting to read and it may perhaps inspire some to travel there, it really is a beautiful place and I have some great pictures in my archives. In addition for scuba diving enthusiasts, it is one of the better places in India, if not the best. Thank you DS, well presented.

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    1. I truly feel indebted to you sir ,for presenting the true picture of my blog and for your genuine appreciation! This will go a long way in encouraging me to write better! I will look forward to your welcome comments on my other blogs too!Thanks!

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