West Bengal

West Bengal covers the bottleneck of India in the east, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. It shares international boundaries with Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal, and national borders with Sikkim, Assam, Orissa and Bihar. The alluvial plain in the south is watered by the legendary River Hooghly and its tributaries, while the Himalayan north is watered by the swift flowing Tista, Torsa, Jaldhaka and Ranjit rivers. The terrain varies from the northern highlands at the feet of the Himalayas to the tropical forests of Sunderbans.

Cities - Kolkata:

Kolkata, three hundred years old, traces its history to the landing of Robert Clive on the banks of the Hooghly beside three villages. Kolkata was the first headquarters of the East India Company, and it was from here that the British Raj was launched in India.

Delhi is the political capital of the nation, and Mumbai its financial capital, then Kolkata has long been acknowledged as its' intellectual capital.
Kolkata is a city with a soul and its' residents are passionately fond of it.

Darjeeling:

West Bengal's most popular hill station is a slice of England 2,134 metres above sea level. Surrounded by tea gardens growing the prized leaf known as "Darjeeling", the little town faces some of the Himalaya's highest peaks. Darjeeling is an abrupt variation from the lowlands of West Bengal. Buddhism is a major faith here, and Darjeeling and the nearby town of Kalimpong have, between them, several Buddhist monasteries, chiefly of the Yellow Hat sect.

Sunderbans Wildlife Sanctuary :

South of Kolkata on the Bay of Bengal is the area known as the Sunderbans, part of the world's largest estuarine delta formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. Sunderbans is home to the elusive Royal Bengal tiger, and a World Heritage listed park. The dense forests, fringed by mangrove jungles, are truly one of the great wild areas of the world. Most journeys through these humid forests are done by boat.

Return to State Tourism