The Jalpaiguri district administration has taken the initiative to launch “Sampriti Partyatan” or harmony tourism to promote the religious and historical architecture.
The administration has already started promoting the tour through a video clip that has been recently released. Temples, mosques, churches, and Buddhist installations, which are located across the northern district of the state, are shown in the video.
“We plan to introduce this new concept of tourism, which would draw pilgrims as well as general tourists to the district. They will be taken to different religious places, which also have historical significance, by bus. The idea is to promote these sites,” said Shama Parveen, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri.
The Garteshwari Temple in Jalpaiguri
Soon, a second video on the tour will be released on social media, administrative sources said. The North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), a state-run transport company, has been engaged to provide transportation for the tour.
According to the plan, around 7am, a bus with tourists will take them to sites like Jogomaya Kalibari, St Michael’s & All Angels Church, the Baikunthapur Palace, which are in the town, and will move to the Devi Choucdhurani Temple that is in Goshala More, on the outskirts of Jalpaiguri.
In due course, tourists will be taken to the Jatleshwar, Jalpesh, and Bateshwar temples in the Mainaguri block.
They will also visit the famous Tinbigha Corridor and take the Joyee Bridge over the Teesta to reach Haldibari, from where they will reach the Trisrota Mahapeeth in Satkura at south Berubari. While returning to Jalpaiguri, the visitors will go to a temple in Dhologram at Malkani.
The trip will end at Kalu Sahib’s “mazar”, an old shrine in the town.
“The initiative was taken on June this year with the motto of amity and peaceful coexistence of different religions. Due to certain reasons, it took time to finalise the tour. But the basic planning has been carried out, and it will be launched soon. Some more locations are likely to be included in the trip,” said a source.
“Food and refreshments will be provided during the trip. The cost of the tour will not be exorbitant and will be finalised soon,” the source added.
Sabyasachi Roy, an advisor to the Jalpaiguri Tour Operators’ Welfare Association, welcomed the initiative.
“It is an important initiative to increase the footfall of tourists in Jalpaiguri. We also want to introduce a similar tour on our own and hope the administration will cooperate with us,” said Roy.