Lably
Skip to content

Tourism in West Bengal

  • 13 min read
  • 10 chapters

Related on Lably

Through East India, India and Natural region

Lab · Class 8East India CompanyLab · Class 6–9The Chola EmpireLab · Class 6–11How India Is GovernedLab · Class 6–12Ancient Indian Ocean Trade

West Bengal is located on the eastern bottleneck of India stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. Some of India's most preferred travel destinations like; the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the northern extreme of the state, the highest peak of the state Sandakphu (3,636 m or 11,929 ft) and the Sundarbans mangrove forests in the extreme south.

During the British colonial era from 1700 to 1912, Kolkata was the capital of British India and witnessed a spate of frenzied construction of buildings, largely influenced by the conscious intermingling of Neo-Gothic, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Oriental and Islamic schools of design. Unlike many north Indian cities, whose construction stresses minimalism, the layout of much of the architectural variety in Kolkata owes its origins to European styles and tastes imported by the British and to a much lesser extent, by the Portuguese and French.

Currently Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan is the brand ambassador of West Bengal Tourism. The promotional films on West Bengal starring Shah Rukh Khan have been directed by Indian National Award winning filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.

Architectural and geographical

The state of West Bengal has significant architectural and natural heritage. The capital of the state, Kolkata is also known as the "City of Palaces". It is also known as the "City of Joy" as coined by French author Dominique Lappierre through his synonymous book. West Bengal is famous for its terracotta temples of Bishnupur.

Hazarduari Palace, a tourist attraction, is known to have the second largest chandelier in the world and also the largest staircase in India. This three-storey palace was built in 1837 by Duncan McLeod for Nawab Nazim Humaun Jah, the then Nawab of Bengal. The palace was built in the Indo-European style. It derives its name from the thousand doors in the palace (among which only 900 are real). In 1985, the palace was handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for better preservation. The Hazarduari Palace Museum is regarded as the biggest site museum of ASI and has 20 displayed galleries containing 4742 antiquities, 1034 of which are displayed for the public. They include various weapons, oil paintings of Dutch, French and Italian artists, marble statues, rare books, old maps, land revenue records and palanquins (mostly belonging to 18th and 19th centuries). Cooch Behar Palace built in 1887, was designed on the model of Buckingham Palace in London, during the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan.

The Victoria Memorial, Howrah Bridge (Rabindra Setu) and the Second Hooghly Bridge (Vidyasagar Setu) are iconic of Kolkata. Aside from colonial and heritage buildings, there are also high rising monuments and skyscrapers in the city. There are also a couple of cemeteries established by the British when Kolkata was the capital of British India. These include the South Park Street Cemetery and Scottish Cemetery.

The River Ganga flows through the state. World heritage sites in West Bengal include the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Sundarbans National Park. Neora Valley National Park, which is one of the richest biological zones in the entire Northeast, situated in the Kalimpong subdivision under Darjeeling District, is in West Bengal.

The Ganges Delta (also known as the Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta, the Sunderbans Delta, or the Bengalla Delta) is in the South Asia region of Bengal, consisting of West Bengal and its neighbouring country of Bangladesh. It is the world's largest delta, and empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the most fertile regions in the world, thus earning the nickname "The Green Delta". It stretches from the Hooghly River on the west to the Meghna River on the east. It is approximately 350 km (220 mi) across at the Bay of Bengal. Kolkata and Haldia are the principal Indian seaports on the delta.

The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden or Calcutta Botanical Garden (previously known as Indian Botanic Garden) is the largest and oldest reserve of greeneries of its kind in Southeast Asia. It is also a premier institution for botanical and horticultural research in India. The garden is situated on the west bank of the River Hooghly in Shibpur, Howrah, nearly 8 km from center of city Kolkata. Located here is the Great Banyan Tree. It was the widest tree in the world in terms of the area of its canopy and is estimated to be about 200 to 250 years old. It became diseased after it was struck by lightning, so in 1925 the middle of the tree was excised to keep the remainder healthy.

West Bengal also has some more geographical indications like Nakshi Kantha (handicraft), Darjeeling tea (agricultural), Santipore saree (handicraft), Shantiniketan leather goods (handicraft), Fazli mango (agricultural), Khirsapati or Himsagar mango (agricultural), Laxman Bhog mango (agricultural), Baluchari saree (handicraft) and Dhaniakhali saree (handicraft).

Sign in to keep reading

9 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in India

MuslimsAdherents of IslamPresidencies and provinces of British India1612–1947 British directly-ruled administrative divisions in IndiaStates and union territories of IndiaIndia is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 sSikhsReligious groupInternational Alphabet of Sanskrit TransliterationTransliteration scheme for Indic scriptsPrime Minister of IndiaHead of government