Attractions of North Bengal
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f nature in all its beauty and variety beckons you and you are allured by mystical mountains, tea gardens, lush green forests, wildlife, palaces and a mix of people with diverse and colorful cultural heritage, then North Bengal is the place for you. North Bengal enjoys a strategic location with Bangladesh and Assam on its East and Bihar on its West .In the North it shares boundary with picturesque Nepal and Bhutan and is flanked by the magnificent Gangetic Bengal on the South. It includes in itself parts of the Darjeeling hills and the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur, Malda and Darjeeling districts.Siliguri,Alipurduar,Cooch Behar,Darjeeling,Kalimpong,Kurseong,Malda and Jalpaiguri are some of the major Towns of North Bengal.Siliguri is a bustling town and is the commercial capital of North Bengal.Naxalbari which is near Siliguri is an important place in North Bengal ,since it was the scene of the first Naxal agitation in Bengal and hence is named after the movement.Cooch Behar which is home to the famous Cooch Behar dynasty and with its famous Rajbari and beautiful palaces and well planned township can be easily called the cultural capital of North Bengal. Darjeeling which was once the summer capital of Bengal is a beautiful and idyllic hill station in North Bengal. Kalimpong, Mirik and Kurseong are other beautiful hill stations that form an important part of any visit to North Bengal.
North Bengal offers opportunities for everyone and caters to all kinds of travelers. From the beautiful mountains of Sandakphu, the tea gardens of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri, architectural splendor of Cooch Behar,the beauty of Darjeeling,Kalimpong and Kurseong,the magical forests of Jaldapara and Gorumara,the exotic wildlife like the Rhino, Red panda, Leopards , birds in the Kulik Bird sanctuary near Raiganj to the to the bustle of a busy and noisy Siliguri, North Bengal has it all.
North Bengal can also be a trekker’s paradise since it offers a beautiful and varied landscape Sandakphu, the Siliguri to Lawa Lollegaon track is beautiful option for a trek. Also a trek in Samsing and the Neora Valley National Park is also a wonderful option that can be explored. If architecture, palaces and history draws you then Cooch Behar is the place to be. Rajbari and Sagardighi are two important landmarks of this beautiful town. The entire North Bengal region is endowed with an abundance of natural forests. The Jaldapara wildlife sanctuary, the Gorumara National Park, Mahananda wildlife sanctuary and Buxa Tiger Reserve are some important forests of the region. North Bengal is home to several water bodies and wetlands and hence attracts a large number of migratory birds each year along with the numerous local ones. The Kulik Bird Sanctuary near Raiganj is a favorite hangout for bird lovers and is famous for the migratory birds that visit it each year.
North Bengal also boats of a culturally diverse mix of people. The local inhabitants of the area are known as Rajbansis. The tea gardens brought in people from neighboring Nepal and Bihar who came here as laborers and settled here. The partition also brought in hordes of Bengalis from Bangladesh. All the people who came and made North Bengal their home contributed their own in terms of culture, customs and cuisines and thus the area boasts of a colorful social milieu in terms of festivals, cuisines, culture and traditions.
National Parks of India
India has more than 200 wildlife sanctuaries and about 100 of them are classified as National Parks. Here is a list of national parks of India. The names of the national parks are organized according to the state in which they belong to. Some of the national parks are speared over many states and only one state in listed in such cases. You can see the same list of national parks in India here arranged in the alphabetical order of their names.