Siliguri

Siliguri (pronunciation ) is a metropolitan city which spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as The Gateway of Northeast India, Siliguri is popular for three T's -tea, timber and tourism.[9] It is located on the banks of the Mahananda River at the foothills of the Himalayas.[10] Siliguri is the third largest urban agglomeration in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Asansol.[11] It lies 35 kilometres away from its twin city, Jalpaiguri. The merging of the two cities make them the largest metropolis of the region.[12]

Siliguri
Metropolitan City / Urban Agglomeration
TOP TO BOTTOM :
Old view of Siliguri , ISKCON temple(left) , Heritage Toy Train at Siliguri Junction(right) , Ewam India Monastery , Lions clock tower(left) , Science centre Siliguri(right).
Nickname(s): 
• The Gateway of Northeast India[1]
Siliguri
Location in West Bengal
Siliguri
Location in India
Coordinates: 26.71°N 88.43°E / 26.71; 88.43
Country India
StateWest Bengal
DistrictDarjeeling (62%), Jalpaiguri (38%)
No. of Wards47[2]
Government
 • TypeMunicipal Corporation
 • BodySiliguri Municipal Corporation
 • MayorAshok Bhattacharya (CPI(M))
 • Sub Divisional OfficerP Harishanker (IAS)
Area
 • Metropolitan City / Urban Agglomeration260 km2 (100 sq mi)
 • Metro
1,451 km2 (560 sq mi)
Area rank3rd in West Bengal
Highest elevation
140 m (460 ft)
Lowest elevation
114 m (374 ft)
Population
 (2011 census)[4]
 • Metropolitan City / Urban Agglomeration701,489
 • Rank3rd in West Bengal
 • Density2,700/km2 (7,000/sq mi)
 • Metro513,264
Languages
 • OfficialBengali[6][7]
 • Additional officialEnglish[6]
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
734 001-734 015 (city limits), 734 401-734 436(suburbs), 735 133-735 135
Telephone code0353, 0354
Vehicle registrationWB 73/74
Lok Sabha constituencyDarjeeling, Jalpaiguri
Literacy85.46%[8]
Sex ratio1000♂/951♀[8]
Vidhan Sabha constituencySiliguri, Dabgram-Phulbari, Matigara-Naxalbari, Phansidewa
Websitewww.siligurismc.in, www.siliguri.gov.in
1The coordinates given here are in metric system and based upon the Microsoft Encarta Reference Library Map Center 2005 2 The Vehicle Code given here based upon the Siliguri Sub Divisional Court, Darjeeling District Court and Jalpaiguri District Court documentations.

History
Map of Darjeeling district (1838) during regime of Rajah of Sikkim

Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal. It is located conveniently, connecting four international borders i.e. China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. It also connects the North-East with the Indian mainland and is connected with all other districts of West Bengal. Located at the foothills of Eastern Himalaya, Siliguri is a trading and transportation hub. Over time, Siliguri has grown from a village into a commercially progressive city.[13] Siliguri and its countless strategic offerings were realised after independence.[14]

Middle Age history
Map of Darjeeling district (1876) after considered as "Regulated area" by British government.

According to Sailen Debnath, "Siliguri" means a stack of pebbles or stones. Till the 19th century this region was called as "Shilchaguri" when there was dense Dolka forest covering the area. Because of its appeal as an agricultural village, the Kingdom of Sikkim captured Siliguri making it the southernmost part of their kingdom until the Kingdom of Nepal interfered. Because of it Kirati and Nepalis came to settle in this region.[15]

At that time a river (Mahananda) port, South of Siliguri in Phansidewa had an important role in having trade bond with Malda, Bengal and Bihar. This riverine trade line was thus used by the Bhutanese and Sikkimese to bring goods into their mainland.

Modern history

Siliguri started as a small area i.e. now Saktigarh, southern part of city, on the bank of Mahananda River. Treaty of Sugauli in 1815 signed between Britain-Nepal, changed the prospect of Siliguri. As it became a point of transit with Darjeeling hills and Nepal mainland. 1815 onwards, Siliguri started growing rapidly as a small city due to its strategic convenience of trade. In 1865, the British captured Darjeeling & the entire Dooars region to build tea plantations and export the produce to England. For easy exportation they introduced the Siliguri Town railway station which stands to this day, and introduced the Toy train from the station to Darjeeling in 1880. This helped Siliguri to gain Sub-Divisional town status in 1907.[16]

Toy train passing through Siliguri after independence, in 1955
Siliguri Town railway station in 1881

The "Siliguri Corridor" was formed when Bengal was divided into West Bengal and East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) in 1947, with Sikkim later merging with India in 1975.[17] At this point many immigrants came to settle here for better facilities which led to an increased population. Later in 1950 Siliguri achieved municipal status.[18] Keeping in mind the importance of Siliguri, in 1951, the Assam rail link was established with newly made (1949) Meter gauge Siliguri Junction railway station. After few years in 1961 all these stations were connected with broad gauge New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station which later became the most important railway station in Northeast India.[19]

Due to tremendous growth, Siliguri is now far away from its past outlook, becoming the largest and fastest growing city in eastern India after Guwahati. The growth rate of Siliguri was 57.8% during 1971- 1981, considering this growth, Siliguri came under Integrated Urban Development Project program in 1981. Siliguri touched 46.83% of population growth rate in 1981–1991. A treaty between India and China for trade through Nathu La Pass, has expedited development and prospects of Siliguri as an international transportation and logistics hub. Later in 1994 Siliguri built a Municipal corporation which has been responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city of Siliguri. Siliguri has now achieved the status of becoming the 2nd largest metropolitan city in West Bengal, after Kolkata.[20]

Geography

Location

Siliguri located at the foothills of the eastern Himalayas at a location of 26.71°N 88.43°E / 26.71; 88.43. This city is spread over an area of 260 km2 within the Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken's neck. The city is surrounded by dense forests towards north and lifeline of Siliguri, Mahananda River flows through the city thereby bisecting it into two-halves. Also Teesta river is not so far from the city. Siliguri has an average elevation of 122 metres (400 feet).[21] As Siliguri is located in the Terai region, the soil is sandy in nature i.e. the ratio of sand and silt is much higher than clay. This region is very prone to earthquake as it owns several fault lines nearby.[22][23][24][25] The Siliguri subdivision is surrounded by Himalayan ranges towards north and towards south by the country Bangladesh, Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal and the Indian state of Bihar. On the east lies Jalpaiguri district and Kalimpong district and bounded on the west by the country of Nepal , thus strategically so important.[26]

Climate
Siliguri
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
8
 
 
23
3
 
 
18
 
 
25
10
 
 
33
 
 
28
12
 
 
94
 
 
31
21
 
 
300
 
 
33
24
 
 
658
 
 
35
25
 
 
818
 
 
34
26
 
 
643
 
 
31
25
 
 
538
 
 
28
23
 
 
143
 
 
26
16
 
 
13
 
 
24
10
 
 
5
 
 
23
4
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm

Siliguri falls under the humid subtropical climate (Cwa), when using the Köppen climate classification. Siliguri has mainly three distinct seasons:- Summer, Monsoon and Winter.

Summer
As Siliguri is located at the base of Himalayan mountain range, it experiences cooler temperature compared to other cities of West Bengal. In summer, temperatures go above 35 °C. However cool wind blowing from mighty Himalaya comes as a respite.
Monsoon
June marks the arrival of monsoon in Siliguri. It comes with heavy rains. This season lasts till the end of September. July and August receive the maximum rainfall, with an average up to 200 mm rainfall per day. The annual average rainfall ranges from 2600 mm to 4000 mm in Siliguri.[27]
Winter
Winter starts from November and lasts till February. Mercury dropps down to almost 3 °C[28][29] due to chilly wind from Himalaya. Dense fog and light rain is a characteristic feature of the winter in Siliguri.[30]
Climate data for Siliguri, India
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 23
(73)		 25
(77)		 28
(82)		 31
(88)		 33
(91)		 35
(95)		 34
(93)		 31
(88)		 28
(82)		 26
(79)		 24
(75)		 23
(73)		 28
(82)
Average low °C (°F) 3
(37)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 21
(70)		 24
(75)		 25
(77)		 26
(79)		 25
(77)		 23
(73)		 16
(61)		 10
(50)		 4
(39)		 17
(63)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 8
(0.3)		 18
(0.7)		 33
(1.3)		 94
(3.7)		 300
(11.8)		 658
(25.9)		 818
(32.2)		 643
(25.3)		 538
(21.2)		 142
(5.6)		 13
(0.5)		 5
(0.2)		 3,270
(128.7)
Source: Weather Atlas[31]

Demographics
Religion in Siliguri[32]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 91.98%
Islam
 
 5.37%
Christianity
 
 0.94%
Buddhist
 
 0.65%
Others
 
 1.05%

Based on Census data of 2011, the city has a population of 513,264, while the population of Siliguri UA/Metropolitan is 701,489.[4][5] Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. In Siliguri, 10% of the population is under six years of age.

Bengalis form the majority of the Siliguri population but due to the city's booming economy, it has drawn people from Bihar, Jharkhand, North Bengal, North-East, Sikkim and other parts of India in search of livelihood. Siliguri also has a large population of Tibetans and a notable number of Bhutanese permanently settled in the city.[34]

Economy

Trading is the main business of Siliguri. Siliguri, situated in the chicken's neck, has land border with 4 countries in it's proximity. Nepal lies 10km to the west of the city, Bhutan 40km to the northeast, China approximately180km to the north and Bangladesh is directly accessible via the border crossing at Phulbari. Siliguri is being used by the government of Nepal and Bangladesh to facilitate the transportation of rice and other necessary and urgent commodities. In Siliguri there are also business routes to Bhutan. Siliguri is also the transit point for the Silk Route or trade route between Tibet (China) and India.[35][36]

Siliguri 4 "T" s - Tea, Timber, Tourism and Transport are the main businesses of Siliguri.

Tea

The tea industry of Siliguri caters to all parts of the business from tea production, manufacture and supplying tea. The Siliguri Tea Auction Centre was established in 1976 with an adequate number of seller members, buyer members, brokers and a registered warehouse area. Its sales reached a peak in 1988 selling 99.0 million kilograms of tea.[37]

Timber

Siliguri has a number of WBFDCL joinery and carpentry units supplying high quality furniture as well as joinery items to the public at competitive prices. Besides, sawn timber is sold to buyers and dealers in bulk from the Government Saw Mills in Siliguri. WBFDCL is responsible for selling sawn timber like Sal, Teak, Dhupi and Jarul at fixed prices to the public through its retail sales centres in West Bengal including Siliguri.[38]

Tourism

Siliguri has a flourishing tourism industry. This is both due to the advantageous position that Siliguri has in being the last major rail terminus before heading for the eastern hill stations like Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Gangtok, Mirik and having some attractive tourist destinations within the city limits. Economic boom in SIliguri is also witnessed in the coming up of several upscale shopping malls like Cosmos, Sun Flower in Sevoke Road, City Style, Vishal Mega Mart in Burdwan Road and others[39]

Small Scale Industry

From decorative items of clay to woollen garments and carpets, canework, bamboo crafts to furniture, Tibetan paintings and Sikkimese wall art and replicas, wooden art products including wooden fashioned prayer wheels; the range of handicrafts and antics which are on offer here is simply amazing. There is an increasing demand for these handicrafts from the hilly regions not only among tourists but also among the general population all over the world.

Siliguri also possesses two cooperatives owned by the state government i.e. the Himul Milk Processing and Dairy Cooperative and the Kanchan Food Processing Cooperative. These aim to enlarge the commercial and financial limits of Siliguri.

Lastly, several specialized economic centres like the Food Park, Information Technology Park, Health City, Inland Container Depot, Small Engineering Park and other township projects have been set up in the city of Siliguri to enhance its growing economic development. [40]

Flora and Fauna

Fauna
Wild Indian Elephant at Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary

Siliguri situates in the Terai region ("moist land"), is a belt of marshy grasslands and dense Tropical deciduous moist forests at the base of Himalaya range which is rich in biodiversity, containing numerous rare species of flora and fauna. These forests are characterised by their distinct wildlife variety, as an example Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary near Siliguri is famous for Elephants. Sukna is the gateway to this sanctuary which is 12 km away from Siliguri.


These sub Himalayan forests are home of various types of wild animals like elephant, tiger, Indian bison, barking deer, wild pigs, monkey, civet, snakes, lizard, mountain goat, sambar, Chetal and fishing cat. These forests are also home of about 243 different bird species like Pied hornbill, egrets, kingfisher, drongo, fly catcher, woodpeckers and others. Another common sight is migratory water birds.[41]

Flora
Orchid
Sukna forest, Siliguri

Siliguri and surrounding Sub Himalayan forests are rich in fauna diversity, the plains of North Bengal (Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar etc.) are surrounded by deep forests. These forests are home of various rare and common species of plants. The forest here is moist Tropical and characterised by dense growth of tall Sal i.e. Shorea robusta. Sal occupies about 80% of all vegetation in these tropical forest.

These forests are categorised by their dominating plant species such as 1) East Himalayan Sal Forest present on the lower slopes of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary contains Sal, Khair, Simul, Sissoo, Riverine grasslands and various rare species of plants like Orchids 2) East Himalayan Upper Bhabar Sal mainly present at Jalpaiguri district which is characterised by dense population of Microstegium chiliatum, Sal i.e. Shorea robusta. Others are Terminalia tomentosa , Schima wallichii And the 3) Eastern Tarai Sal Forest generally found in lower altitudes compared to other two types of forest. This type of forest characterised by various species of Bamboos , Ferns , Sal which is found in Baikunthapur Forest, nearby Siliguri city.[42]

Rapid growth of city causing deforestation, making Siliguri warmer day by day and disbalancing the ecosystem.

Transport

Road

NH 27 crosses through the heart of the city[43] which is now a part of AH2 project. Siliguri originates the century-old Hill Cart Road that is NH 110 which connects Siliguri and Darjeeling[44] (77 km) made in British period. Siliguri also originates NH 10 which connects Gangtok,[45][46] NH 12 which connects Pankhabari-Mirik. The highways NH 327, that connects Siliguri — Panitanki and NH 327B connecting Panitanki - Mechi Bridg, are also part of AH2.

Bus service
Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus
Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus
Tenzing Norgay Bus Terminus is the main bus terminus serves as bus depot for both Government & private bus service which operated by NBSTC.[47] It connects to all other districts and cities in West Bengal like Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Malda, Balurghat, Raiganj, Berhampore, Kolkata, Asansol, Suri etc.[48][49] Lots of private buses connect short as well as long-distance routes including some cities of Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya. City buses, cabs, auto's are available to cover the whole city. E-rickshaws also available for covering short distance inside city.
P.C. Mittal Memorial Bus Terminus
P.C. Mittal Memorial Bus Terminus
P.C. Mittal Memorial Bus Terminus is Located at Sevoke Road in Siliguri. This bus Terminus was inaugurated by Honourable Chief Minister of West Bengal on 3 February 2001. This bus terminus handles more than 300 buses and bound for Dooars, Coochbehar, Bhutan and adjoining areas. The bus terminus has acted as a catalyst to a boom in construction activity in the whole area.
Sikkim Nationalised Transport Bus Terminus
Sikkim Nationalised Transport Bus Terminus (Siliguri) is located at hillcart road in siliguri. This bus terminus is operated by Sikkim govt. Mainly Sikkim based bus are operated from here. This bus terminus is one of the busy and important bus terminus in siliguri area.Sikkim Nationalised Transport Bus Terminus(Siliguri), which connects Sikkim.[50][51]

Rail

Being a transportation hub,[52] Siliguri is well connected through railway with almost all parts of the country. There are seven stations that serve the city.

New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station
New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station
New Jalpaiguri Junction railway station established in 1960[53] (station code NJP)[54] is an A1 category[55] broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station under Katihar railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone. It is the biggest railway station of Northeast India which serves the city Siliguri. This station is well connected to almost all parts of the country except Goa.[56] Also this station ranked 10th cleanest railway station in India in 2016 survey[57] and came among the top 100 booking stations of Indian railway.[58] NJP is halting point for 154 trains and it originates 16 trains daily with 4 rajdhanis and 1 shatabdi express.[59]
Siliguri Junction railway station
Siliguri Junction
Siliguri Junction railway station (station code SGUJ)[60] established in 1949[61] is another major broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station of Siliguri. Till 2011 it was the only triple gauge ( broad gauge, meter gauge and narrow gauge) railway station in India.[62] After 2011 meter gauge was shut down but the track is still present between Siliguri Junction railway station and Bagdogra railway station. This station is halting point for 26 local and express trains and originates 14 trains.[63]
Siliguri Town railway station
One of the oldest railway station (station code SGUT)[64] of the region opened in 1880, 139 years ago[65][66] for Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy train) which were connecting Siliguri and Darjeeling. It lost its importance due to newly made Siliguri Junction railway station and New Jalpaiguri junction. Siliguri Town railway station is also a broad gauge and narrow gauge railway station which is halting point for 8 trains only.[67]
Bagdogra railway station
Bagdogra railway station (station code BORA)[68] comes under greater Siliguri metropolitan area. It is 10 km from Siliguri junction and 3rd largest railway station after NJP and Siliguri Junction.This stationserves Bagdogra and adjacent areas. Bagdogra railway station is on Siliguri-Aluabari broad gauge single line via Thakurganj. This station is halting point for 14 trains.[69]
Matigara Railway Station
Matigara Railway Station (station code MTRA)[70] is situated at Mathapari, West Bengal.[70] Trains passing through this station include MLFC - SGUJ DEMU and SGUJ- MLFC DEMU. This station has a single platform and two tracks. one broad gauge line and one metre gauge line.
Rangapani railway station
Rangapani railway station (station code RNI)comes under greater Siliguri metropolitan area. It is 14 km from Siliguri City center and serves Rangapani and adjacent areas. Rangapani railway station is on Howrah-New Jalpaiguri line. This station is halting point for 2 passenger trains.
Gulma railway station
Gulma railway station (station code GLMA) comes under Siliguri Urban area. It is 12 km from Siliguri City center and serves Champasari anchal,Gulma areas. Gulma railway station is on New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar-Samuktala Road Line. This station is halting point of 5 trains. Mainly passenger train are halt in this station.

Air
Bagdogra airport

Bagdogra Airport is an international airport located towards the west of Siliguri city, operated as a civil enclave at AFS Bagdogra of the Indian Air Force. This airport is a major transport hub in the region with flights connecting Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Dibrugarh and has international connectivity with Paro and Bangkok. The airport also has regular helicopter services to Gangtok. Due to its location near Darjeeling hills and Sikkim, Bagdogra airport sees thousands of tourists annually.

Central government of India confirmed customs airport status to this airport in 2002 with limited international operations.[71][72] Recently in 2014–15, air traffic at Bagdogra crossed 1 million for the first time with 43.6% growth rate. This is one of the few airports in India with zero sales tax on aviation turbine fuel.[73]

Educational facilities
North Bengal University administrative building.
North Bengal St. Xavier's College.
Surendra Institute of Engineering and Management.
Don Bosco school, Siliguri.

University

Colleges
General degree colleges[75]
Medical colleges
Engineering colleges
B.Ed. Colleges
  • Siliguri B.Ed College[80]
Other Colleges
  • Inspiria Knowledge Campus
  • Darjeeling Tea Research & Management Association[81]
  • IIAS School of Management[82]

Schools
Bengali Medium Schools
English Medium Schools
Army Schools
  • Army Public School (Bengdubi & Khaprail)[101]
  • Army Public School, Sukna[102]
  • BSF Senior Secondary School Kadamtala[103]
  • Kendriya Vidyalayas[104]

Media
Newspaper
English newspapers including The Telegraph,[105] Times of India , The Statesman,[106] The Economic Time, The Asian Age are widely circulated throughout the city. Several Bengali newspaper including Uttarbanga Sambad,[107] Anandabazar Patrika,[108] Bartaman,[109] Uttarer Saradin,[110] Aajkaal, Pratidin, Ganashakti[111] are available. Leading Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar[112][113] and Janpath Samachar[114] are also published from Siliguri. 'Himalaya Darpan' is a notable Nepali language newspaper which is circulated in Siliguri.[115] online based news portal, Siliguri Times[116] and Khabar Arohan,[117] Bong Siliguri Times, CCN News, Siliguri Barta are there for providing live updates regarding Siliguri and adjacent areas.
Radio
All India Radio Siliguri was commissioned in 1963 as an additional station of AIR Kolkata.[118] It has two groups of transmitter i.e. high power BEL HMB 140 (AM) -2 [2×100 kW] and medium range GCEL 136 (FM) - 2 [2×5 kW] for broadcasting programs.[119] 'Prantik' was the first program broadcast from here in 1969.[118] In the course of time many notable individuals like Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Ustad Rashid Khan, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Shashi Kapoor, Manabendra Mukhopadhyay, Madhuri Chattopadhyay, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi etc. visited AIR Siliguri.[120] Popular programs executing from here are Pratyusha, Yuva Anusthan, Grame Ganje, Mahila Majlis, Mananiyeshu, Sishumahal and Arogya.[121] Two radio channels are operated from AIR Siliguri through which programs are broadcasting daily :
No. Name[122] Frequency[123] Language
01Primary Channel (PC)PC: 421.9 Metres 711 kHz (Medium wave)Bengali
02Vividh Bharati Service (VBS)VBS: 101.4 MHz (High wave)Bengali/Hindi
In addition to All India Radio, Siliguri has several private FM radio channels :
No. Name[124][125] Frequency[126] Language
01Nine FM91.9 FMHindi
02Radio High[127]92.7 FMHindi
03Red FM93.5 FMHindi
04Radio Misty94.3 FMBengali
05Radio Mirchi98.3 FMBengali
06Air Rainbow[128]102.3 FMHindi/English
Television
Siliguri receives almost all television channels those are received by rest of the country. Apart from the national terrestrial network Doordarshan,[129][130] cable TV serves most of the houses.[131][132] Siliguri also receives some Nepali[133] and Bangladeshi channels too. Siliguri has three local channels: CCN,[134] Amar Cable and HTV. There is a TV tower in Kurseong,[135] about 25 km from Siliguri.

Sports facilities

Siliguri hosts numerous sporting events and matches to influence and build up young athletes from the city. Some of the important sports enthusiast local clubs in Siliguri organise several cricket, football, volleyball, swimming competition, TT matches etc. S.A.I or Sports Authority of India in Kanchenjunga Stadium conducts football and athletics.[136] With the provision for an international outdoor and indoor stadium, Siliguri has enough opportunities to host national level matches.[137] This has also led to Siliguri being a prominent city to produce national champions like Mantu Ghosh, the gold medalist winner in the bi-annual South Asian Games (SAF) for table tennis, Ankita Das,[138] Nandita Saha[139] and Soumyajit Ghosh[140] another internationally acclaimed table tennis player and Wriddhiman Saha – Indian international cricketer who plays Test matches for Indian national team.[141] Siliguri has done a tremendous job for Indian table tennis.[142] Also there is Bikash Ghosh Memorial Swimming Pool beside Kanchanjunga stadium in city which conducts swimming competitions there. White water rafting also done nearby the city in Teesta river.[143]

U-19 football tournament at Kanchenjunga Stadium, Siliguri.
Municipal corporation indoor stadium.

Kanchenjunga stadium

This is the main stadium in Siliguri,[144] a multipurpose stadium, mainly used for football matches although it hosted several cricket matches till date. It has a capacity of 30,000[145] people at a time. Recently this stadium is all set to get a facelift.[146]

Football:

Cricket:

Municipal corporation indoor stadium

Indoor sports including Table tennis, Badminton, Taekwon-do, Lawn tennis and Chess are being played here.In fact Siliguri is renowned for being the training grounds of table tennis players.This stadium can hold 5000 people at a time. Senior National Table Tennis Championship[151] was recently organised here.[152] Sports festival, 2017 also held in this indoor stadium.[153]

Visitors Attractions
The Coronation Bridge.
Heritage Toy Train at NJP.
Bengal safari park.
Gajoldoba view point.
Coronation Bridge
An example of stunning architecture, also known as Sevoke bridge situates on lower Himalaya about 20 km from Siliguri made up of steel in year 1930.[154] This bridge spans across Teesta River.[155]
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
DHR or toy train that runs between New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri and Darjeeling which was built between 1879 and 1881. This rail route is designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site.[156][157]
Bengal safari
Its about 8 km away from Siliguri. North Bengal Wild Animals Park offers visitors an impressive opportunity to experience the wild and the untamed life closely (such as Jungle fowl, Sambar deer, Royal bengal tiger, Wild boars, Spotted deer, Wild bear, Rhinoceros etc.). It is fundamentally a part of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over an area of 700 acre.Park conducts herbivore safari, carnivore safari, elephant safari etc.[158][159]
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary is located 13 km away from Siliguri on the foothills of the Himalayas,between Teesta and Mahananda.The sanctuary spans over 159 km2 of reserve forest. In 1959, it got the status of a sanctuary mainly to protect the Indian bison and Royal bengal tiger. This sanctuary is home to rare Mountain goat, Chital, Barking dear, Fishing cat, Sambar deer, tiger, elephant and Indian bison and migratory birds. It offers mild to medium trekking challenges at some points.[160]
North Bengal science centre
One and only science Centre of North Bengal established in 1997. The main attractions are Digital Planetarium, Science Shows (Super Cold Show-Showing low temperature properties of matter, Amazing Chemistry, Unexpected Science etc.), 3D Theater, Taramandal Shows, different science topic galleries and its green Science Park with T-Rex dinosaur statue at entrance.[161][162]
Salugara monastery
located 6 km away from Siliguri. Main attraction is the 100 ft stupa, which is believed to be founded by the Tibetan Lama, Kalu Rinpoche.[163] The ideal tranquil location for meditation was established by Tibetan monks and followers of Dalai Lama.[164]
ISKCON temple
Also known as Sri Sri Radha Madhav Sundar Mandir, one of the biggest Krishna centres in the North-Eastern region of India. This temple was built by ISKCON, which stands for International Society for Krishna Consciousness.[165]
Ewam India Buddhist monastery
located about 11 km from Siliguri. Placed in the lap of nature nearby Bengal safari.[166]
Sed-Gyued monastery
located nearby Salugara monastery. It is a breathtaking monument which was destroyed by the Army of China, and then rebuilt. The monastery is home to more than 90 monks of the Gelukpa division, and is used as a research centre.[167]
Sevoke kali temple
An ancient temple on Teesta banks,in the lap of Himalaya, close to the Coronation Bridge.This temple dedicated to Maa Kali, the Goddess of Destruction and believed to be extremely powerful and divine.[168]
Hong Kong market
Hong Kong Market, apparently the Chandni Chowk of Northeast India, is a street market with variety of shops popping out on the alleyways. It is the only place where anyone can get all imported (mainly China and southeast Asia) and branded products in low price. To get a great deal make sure you bargain big.[169]
Dreamland amusement park
located near Fulbari, 12 km from Siliguri junction, is an agricultural land converted in a fun house. It has 5-6 usual rides with a mini Ropeway also.
Savin kingdom
It is an amusement & water Park which is located near Dagapur in Siliguri. The park is a great place for fun and leisure in the nearby. The water park has pool, slides, artificial wave, rain dance etc.[170] It also has various joy rides like adrenaline junkeis, sky train, break dance, go-carting, artificial bulls, etc. Multiplex, kids zone, restaurant are also out there.[171]
Gajoldoba view point
Located about 28 km from Siliguri, famous for the huge reservoir formed by Teesta barrage. This reservoir is home for variety of migratory birds (like River lapwing, Great Crested Grebe, Indian Cormorant, Purple Heron , Eurasian Wigeon, Common Shelduck , Cotton Teal, Tufted Duck, Little Ringed Plover, Great Cormorant etc.). Due to shuttling of migratory birds, Pakhibitan sanctuary established here. One can spend time amidst the nature. Boating facility also available here.[172]

Notable people
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See also

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