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West Bengal
Places to visit
Darjeeling
West Bengal's most popular hill station is a slice of England 2,134 metres above sea level. Surrounded by tea gardens growing the prized leaf known as "Darjeeling", the little town faces some of the Himalaya's highest peaks. Darjeeling is an abrupt variation from the lowlands of West Bengal. Buddhism is a major faith here, and Darjeeling and the nearby town of Kalimpong have, between them, several Buddhist monasteries, chiefly of the Yellow Hat sect.
For more on Darjeeling, click here
Sunderbans Wildlife Sanctuary
South of Kolkata on the Bay of Bengal is the area known as the Sunderbans, part of the world's largest estuarine delta formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers. Sunderbans is home to the elusive Royal Bengal tiger, and a World Heritage listed park. The dense forests, fringed by mangrove jungles, are truly one of the great wild areas of the world. Most journeys through these humid forests are done by boat.
For more on the Sunderbans, click here
Shantiniketan
136 km from Kolkata is this one-of-its- kind university, started by Rabindranath Tagore as an experimental open-air classroom.
Vishnupur
The temples of Vishnupur are an architectural treasure trove.
Digha
The seven km long flat, hard beach, dotted with casuarina plantations, is close to the border with Orissa and a 5 hour drive from Kolkata. Here the river Hooghly becomes indistinguishable from the Bay of Bengal.
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