Siliguri

關於Siliguri

Siliguri, also known as Shiliguri, is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as the "Gateway of Northeast India", It is located on the banks of the Mahananda in the foothills of the Himalayas. Siliguri is the third largest urban agglomeration in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Asansol.

Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal, with convenient access to three international borders: Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. It also connects the North-East with mainland India. Located in the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, Siliguri is a significant trading and transportation hub.

According to Sailen Debnath, "Siliguri" means a stack of pebbles or stones. Until the 19th century this region was called as "Shilchaguri" when there was dense Dolka forest covering the region.

Sir William Wilson Hunter in his work A Statistical Account of Bengal, mentioned the name of this place as "Sannyasikata".

Siliguri was a small agricultural village...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.