West Bengal Essentials

West Bengal spans from the Eastern Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, featuring a diverse range of cultural and historical landmarks. In the north, Darjeeling offers the UNESCO-listed Himalayan Railway, the Batasia Loop war memorial, and sunrise views of Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill. Kolkata, the state capital, houses the 19th-century Indian Museum and the colonial-era Writers' Building. Spiritual sites include the terracotta temples of Bishnupur, the riverside Dakshineswar Kali Temple, and Belur Math. Shantiniketan’s Visva-Bharati University showcases the educational legacy of Rabindranath Tagore.

Carsten.nebel / CC BY-SA 3.0

Tiger Hill, Darjeeling

Tiger Hill is a mountain located in Darjeeling, in the Indian State of West Bengal.

P.K.Niyogi / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Dakshineswar Kali Hindu Temple

Dakshineswar Kali Temple or Dakshineswar Kalibari is a Hindu navaratna temple in Dakshineswar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Tinucherian / CC BY 3.0

Indian Museum

The Indian Museum is a massive museum in Central Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math / CC BY-SA 3.0

Sri Ramakrishna Temple

Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of…

KaushikBiswas / CC BY-SA 3.0

War Memorial, Batasia Loop

The Batasia Loop is a spiral railway created to lower the gradient of ascent of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in Darjeeling district of…

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

UNESCO World Heritage site established between 1879 and 1881. This 2-foot narrow-gauge railway operates between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, reaching an elevation of 2,258 meters at Ghum. It features engineering highlights like the Batasia Loop and several Z-reverses.