Cooch Behar: A musical fountain will be launched at Bairagi Dighi, the waterbody located opposite to the famous Madanmohan temple, during the Raash Utsav that will commence tomorrow.

In Cooch Behar, there are a number of giant ponds which were dug by the royals. The most prominent among them is Sagar Dighi that is surrounded by all important government offices and the district court.

The next prominent pond is Bairagi Dighi. Several devotees, who come to the temple, visit the dighi and its banks every day.

"To attract more people to the town and the temple and its surroundings, we have decided to install a musical fountain at the Bairagi Dighi. It will be opened just a few hours ahead of the Raash Utsav tomorrow," said north Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh.

The fountain, administrative sources said, has been installed by spending Rs 3 crore. North Bengal development department and state tourism department have jointly funded the project.

"It will be a new attraction for people, particularly in the evening hours. The temple and the palace remain illuminated but from Friday onwards, people can enjoy the music and the fountain till late evening," said Sunil Agarwal, the additional district magistrate (development).

Both Ghosh and state tourism minister Gautam Deb will be present at the inauguration.

The fountain has also created an enthusiasm among local people. This is because, they said, earlier, a "dancing fountain" was installed in the garden located close to the Cooch Behar palace.

"It was an attraction for people visiting the palace. But due to lack of maintenance, the fountain has been non-functional for at least 10 years. For a town like Cooch Behar that is visited by several tourists and devotees, it was disappointing to have a non-functional fountain. It is good that we would have a new one, perhaps a better one, at another prominent location of the town," said Partha Saha, a schoolteacher.