Sonajhuri Haat | Sanibarer Haat | Khoai | A must visit place in Santiniketan, Bolpur (2019)

Khoai, a place in Shantiniketan, is an ecological formation of small canyons resulting from constant erosion caused by wind and water. This place is marked by a patch of dry forest of Sonajhuri trees, and hence came the name Sonajhuri forest in the place of Khoai.
The beauty of khoai in and around Bolpur, Santiniketan enthralled Rabindranath Tagore and he immortalized khoai in his numerous writings.
The Sonajhuri forest in Khoai is surrounded by the famous Kopai River, the river to which all Bengalis are introduced as “Amader Choto Nodi......”. we all pretty do remember this beautiful poem.
Every Saturday is marked with a Haat in Khoai named as Saturday haat, wherein the artists and few sellers would sell their arts and different goods sitting in the forest. Khoai is a must visit place in shantiniketan for its simplicity and calming beauty is soothing, and it is probably one of the cleanest forest in west Bengal.

Sonajhuri forest is perfect for strolling around. During the winters, the entire sonajhuri forest is covered with beautiful tiny golden sonajhuri flowers. This place is absolutely pollution free as no vehicles are allowed inside. No electric connection is provided for keeping the natural vibes of a forest, so the haat starts at 11am of morning and continues till sunset every Saturday.

Everything that you will get to see in the haat is quiet attractive and you would want to buy many things for the beauty of the product and also for very much pocket friendly prices. You could find there dresses like sarees, kurtis and men could get kurtas Punjabis. Also you will get different kind of jwelleries, handmade show pieces, bags, bangles, pursers and many more things. You need to visit the place to see the variety of things being sold amidst of the forest.AlsoBaulsplay rhythmical music with their single stringed instrument ektara and singing along the music by sitting under the sonajhuri trees altogether brings a different magical charm to the environment which will definitely bring out relaxation.

Where to stay if you want to visit the forest? You could find plenty of hotels in shantiniketan at prices of different ranges. Mostly it varies from 700 to 1800 for a day, so yes every type of hotels are available. However during the time of holi and poush mela, the hotel expenses rises significantly by an average amount of 1000 and also availability of hotels decreases a lot due to huge tourists visiting the place at these times. So if your purpose is to visit the forest and other tourist spots, and not poush mela or basantautsav (holi), then you could visit the place at any time excepting these events. Winter time is generally more preferred by people. You will get very normal food over here, including rice and roti both, and in prices ranging from 40 to 100 for one.

Voice over and description given by Nishi Paul

Music : Barely Small by FreedomTrailStudio from YouTube Audio Library

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