Siliguri India Tourist Attractions

 Siliguri is the administrative headquarters of Siliguri subdivision, a part of the Darjeeling district of West Bengal in India. Siliguri is situated on the banks of Mahananda River in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is a principal commercial, tourism, transportation, and educational centre in the northern part of West Bengal. It is also the transit point for air, road and railway traffic to the northeast states and the neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan. Siliguri has been witnessing an economic boom in the organised retail, hospitality and real estate industries due to its strategic geographical location and subsequent growth of population.

While it is a popular place to shop and do business for people from the North East and Bhutan, it has little to offer in the way of tourist attractions and so there is no good reason for tourists to linger in Siliguri. However, travelers heading towards Bhutan, Darjeeling and Sikkim may need to spend a night here.

The people of Siliguri have a reputation for their business prowess, but at the same time are known to be friendly and welcoming to outsiders.

History

The antiquity of Siliguri is shrouded in mystery. According to Sailen Debnath, Siliguri means a heap of stones or pebbles; and in the nineteenth century often the area was called Silichaguri. Before the Sugauli Treaty in 1816 between British India and Nepal, Siliguri played as a transit point between Nepal and the hilly areas of Darjeeling (Doreje-liang) and ‘Karseong’. Sailen Debnath points out that before the rise of Nepal as an expanding power under Prithvi Narayan Shah (1769-1775), Siliguri area, as belonged to trans-Morang zone (i.e. at the meeting ground of western and eastern Morang), was a part of the southernmost fringe of the kingdom of Sikkim. Just to the south of Siliguri, at Phansideoa there was a river port having trade relations with Maldah and thereby with other areas of Bengal and Bihar. The Sikkimese and the Bhutanese (mainly via Kalimpong as it was under Bhutan since the beginning of the eighteenth century) used the river bank near Siliguri in order to go down the Mahananda with their merchandise to Phansideeoa.

Siliguri gradually developed as a small town since 1835 when the British occupied Darjeeling; and more since 1865 when they occupied the whole of the Dooars and Kalimpong. The partition of India in 1947 and the creation of East Pakistan, paved the path of Siliguri becoming an indispensable transit point and strategically important area; and the same incident led to the rise of population because of the coming of immigrants. The city of Siliguri in its present form started from the bank of Mahananda to Saktigarh, a small village which is now in southern part of the city. When the British East India Company introduced railway to North East India, it enhanced the importance of the region. The population of the town continuously increased leading to its expansion because of the huge immigrants from Nepal, Southern Bhutan and adjacent Indian states apart from eastern Bengal.

Geography

Siliguri is located in the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck - a very narrow strip of land linking mainland India to its north-eastern states. The total area of Siliguri City is 48  km2, most of which lies in Darjeeling district, however a part of the city spreads over neighbouring Jalpaiguri district. Siliguri, situated as it is in the plains at the base of the Himalaya mountains, connects the hill stations such as Gangtok, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik and northeast states to the rest of India. It is the largest city of North Bengal. Mahananda River bifurcates the city. The city is surrounded by dense forest ranges and is prone to wild animals straying into populated areas. Nepal lies in the west of the city 10 km from Bagdogra, Bhutan on the North East about 40 km, Bangladesh in the south of Fulbari.

Climate

Siliguri has a humid subtropical climate, with three distinct seasons observed, summer, winter and monsoon. The summer starts in late March, with the monsoon season starting in late May. The monsoons subside by early October. Winters in Siliguri start in November and last until early March, with very mild temperatures in the day, although with chilly nights. July is the hottest month with an average maximum temperature of 35 °C, whereas January is the coldest month with an average minimum temperature of 3 °C. The months of October-November, and February-March are the best time to visit Siliguri.

Transport
By train
Siliguri has two important railway stations - Siliguri Junction and New Jalpaiguri Junction (NJP) - and Siliguri Town railway stations. NJP connects Siliguri with Gauhati/Dibrugarh in the north-east, Calcutta in the east (actually south of Siliguri), Delhi/Jaipur/Jodhpur/Kashmir, etc. in the north, Mumbai/Gujarat, etc. in the west and Trivandrum/Cochin/Bangalore, etc. in the south. All the railway tracks in Siliguri are broad gauge now and meter gauge has ceased to exist. The narrow gauge track to Darjeeling remains, of course. NJP is about a twenty to thirty minute ride from the city center.

Some trains pass through both Siliguri Junction and NJP but the majority of the trains pass through only NJP. There NJP is the favored railway station to take a train from Siliguri to any place in India.
 
By busSiliguri Bus Station is located across the street from the Sher-e-Punjab Hotel on Hill Cart Road (Tenzing Norgay Road).

There are regular buses to/from Kolkata. The well-known and comfortable Siliguri Rocket, run by the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), leaves Kolkata at 8PM arriving Siliguri at 8am . Some private bus lines also ply the route. 

Under a joint understanding between Indian and Bangladeshi transport authority, there are regular bus services to/from Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh. BRTC (Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation) buses leave Dhaka everynight at 8 PM and reach India-Bangladesh border at Changrabanda post at early morning. These buses will not cross the border and the passengers have to clear customs, walk a few hundred yards to cross the border and board the waiting Indian buses for another three hour ride to Siliguri. The buses are air conditioned, very comfortable and depart on time. 

There is a regular bus service from Phuentsholing in Bhutan and the Bhutanese border town of Jaigon. The bus from Phuentsholing heading towards Siliguri leaves at 7am,7:30am,8:15am and 3pm daily and takes approximately 4.5hrs.

By plane
The closest major international airport is at Kolkata, approx 570km south of Siliguri. The Bagdogra Airport is just 14km from the heart of Siliguri and has links with most major Indian cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Guwahati, while Druk Air operates flights from Bangkok twice a week (incoming in Sundays and Wednesdays, outgoing on Tuesdays and Saturdays). Flights on the Bangkok route begin or terminate in Paro, Bhutan. Taxis are available from the airport to Siliguri, as well as to Darjeeling and Gangtok, though these are expensive. Cheaper options are available from Siliguri bus station.

By Taxi

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City Transport

Moving in and around Siliguri is cheap. Cycle-rickshaws, Auto-rickshaws, buses, taxis are easily available in almost every region. One can walk around the market place. Cycle-rickshaws can be hired to move around within the radius of 1-2 km. The fares are pretty nominal. To go about 5-10 km, one can hire/share auto-rickshaws. You just need to flag down one and when you leave you pay a fixed amount.

SIliguri Tourism

• Salugara Monastery. A monastery in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The compound includes a 100 foot stupa consecrated by the late Kalu Rinpoche.
• Sevoke Kali Mandir, Sevoke. This is around 20 kms from Siliguri, near the coronation bridge. This is a temple of goddess Kali, the goddess of destruction, and is considered very holy. People from far off places come here to pray and worship her.
• Iskon Temple . International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as Hare Krishna Movement manages the ISCKON temple, Siliguri. The temple houses many idols of Advaita Acharya, Lord Narasimha, Lord Chaitanya and many more.
• The Coronation Bridge at Sevoke. This is about 23 km from the city on way to Gangtok/Kalimpong and Dooars on the National Highway 31.
• Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Sukna. This is a wildlife sanctuary at the foothills of the Himalayas. You can hire a vehicle and enter the sanctuary at a minimal entry fee. Different types of wild animals are found here. However it is famous for its wild elephants and peacocks. It is said that these elephants travel for around 1000kms sometimes and come here. However, the sanctuary is closed in the rainy seasons, from 15 July to 15 September.
• Tea Gardens, Dagapur. You can take a view of some tea plantations over here in dagapur.
• Kalchakra Monastery, Salugara (7 KMs from Siliguri towards Sevoke). 15 - 20 minutes from Siliguri. The Kalchakra Monastery at Salugara was inaugurated by the Dalai Lama when he visited Salugara, a suburb in Siliguri, for the Kalchakra ceremonies in 1996.  edit
• Dudhia, Siliguri-Mirik Highway. A common tourist spot on the Siliguri-Mirik highway.  edit
• Science City, Matigara. The campus has a museum, a planetarium and an Interpretation Centre that displays various type of flora.

Other Activities

• Swimming, Viramma Club, Siliguri Club, Cinderella Club, Stadium Swimming Pool.
• Club Cabana. Siliguri's most popular disco.
• Siliguri Club. Houses the biggest swimming pool in the whole of North Bengal.
• Blue Mountain Club. A relaxing country-club with landscaped gardens.
• The Kunchenjunga stadium and the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Exhibitions and varied  events.
• Tea Estate Tours. Visit the serene and spacious tea farms located in and around the city.
• Savin Kingdoms, Dagapur (near Darjeeling More). An amusement park located among tea plantations.dagapur temple
• Blue Mountains, dagapur. If you have a country club membership you can go to this club and engoy the evening in the foothils and watch the scenic beauty of siliguri with a drink in your hand.
• Basil World, this is another amusement park located in the outskirts or Siliguri. However, you will have to hire a veichle to go there because no publice transport runs on that route.

Siliguri Photo Gallary

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