West Bengal has begun assessing the infrastructure needed for a religious tourism circuit linking historic temples across Jalpaiguri district, Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh said during a visit to several sites on Sunday. The proposed circuit is intended to connect temples associated with the district’s religious and historical heritage.
Ghosh said the tourism department had identified the importance of developing a circuit covering important religious sites across Jalpaiguri. The minister said the district was rich in diversity and heritage, including locations associated with the memories of Devi Chowdhurani and Bhavani Pathak.
“We are assessing infrastructural shortcomings and identifying the facilities required at different locations,” Ghosh said, according to the report. He did not announce a project budget, a final list of sites, a construction schedule or a target date for completion.
During the visit, Ghosh went to the Devi Choudhurani temple in Shikarpur, the Bhramari temple in Bodaganj and the Devi Chowdhurani Shashan Kali temple near Gosala More in Jalpaiguri town. At the Gosala More temple, he held discussions with members of the temple committee and the priest about infrastructure-related issues at the site.
The minister said the department was engaging an expert agency to assess the requirements for implementing the circuit. He also said detailed discussions had taken place with the Jalpaiguri district administration. The assessment is expected to determine what facilities may be required at the different locations before the circuit can be implemented.
The announcement places site-level infrastructure at the centre of the proposal. However, the information currently available does not specify whether the planned works will include roads, pedestrian access, sanitation, drinking water, parking, signage, lighting, visitor amenities or conservation measures. These details are likely to emerge through the assessment process.
Debashis Sarkar, general secretary of the Devi Chowdhurani Shashan Kali temple committee, said the minister sought information about the temple during his visit. Sarkar said the committee provided the requested details and that Ghosh assured them the temple would be given importance in the proposed circuit.
The proposal follows a wider promise by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to develop religious tourism circuits across West Bengal. For Jalpaiguri, the immediate administrative task is to convert a group of dispersed religious sites into a functioning visitor network while identifying the infrastructure gaps at each location.
The tourism department’s next stated step is to appoint the expert agency and assess the practical requirements of the proposed circuit in coordination with the district administration. No formal implementation timeline has been announced.
