Destination India

West Bengal (PART-VI)

South Dinajpur

 

 

South Dinajpur came into existence after the division of old West Dinajpur into North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur in April, 1992. Its history dates back to the Pal and Sen Dynasties of North Bengal and shares a rich historical heritage. Archeological excavations have revealed that a highly developed civilization flourished here in the past. 

Balurghat is the district headquarters of South Dinajpur. A small town with lot of greenery and void of any form of pollution. The Raghunathpur forest is located one kilometer away from Balurghat. Another small forest called Dogachhi is located 6 km from the town.

The people of South Dinajpur or Dakshin Dinajpur are largely dependent upon agriculture for their livelihood. The four rivers, namely, Brahmani, Atreyee, Tangon and Punarbhaba flow through South Dinajpur and sustain a large community of fishermen.

South Dinajpur has many interesting places to visit:

Bangarh

Historically probably the most important of all places in the entire district, Bangarh boasts of the largest share of archaeological ruins and icons to be found in Dakshin Dinajpur. It is situated at a distance of 45 km from Balurghat town and 65 km from Malda town. Bangarh was the capital of the Koti Barsha district. During the Gupta period, the whole of North Bengal was known as Pundra Vardhana Bhukti (Pradesh). It was again sub-divided into a number of Vishyaas (Districts). Koti Barsha was one of the districts. Its old name was Debkot/Debikot. Different ancient archaeological sites are located in a radius of 8km of this area.Khanpur. It is situated on the Patiram-Trimohini road about 18 km away (north-east) from Balurghat town. This place is very famous for the Tebhaga Movement. History tells us that in the year 1946, the share croppers of this area started a movement for acquiring \'be percentage share of the crops.

Hili

 

Hili is situated along the Indo-Bangladesh international border. It is 25 km from Balurghat. Here you can see hundreds of large trucks plying across the border for the exchange of goods and commodities. Hili has one tourist bungalow owned by the Public Works Department. 

 

Sarongbari

Sarongbari is an attractive picnic spot within a small forest; a small hut and drinking water facilities is available for the tourists.

College Museum

 

It is a small museum in Balurghat that houses many valuable collections of antiques like coins, sculptures, terracotta, inscriptions and ornamental stones from ancient periods.

Bolla Kali Temple

The village Bolla is situated 20 km away from Balurghat town on the Balurghat- Malda Highway. There is a famous Kali temple named after Bolla Ma Kali. The story behind the temple says that a Zamindar was arrested by the British as he could not pay the tax for his Zamindari. Goddess Kali came to his rescue and the Zamindar was freed the very next day. As a token of gratitude, he built a temple of Goddess Kali and started worshipping her.

Image Courtesy: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=balurghat+south+dinajpur