Cooch Behar Tourist Places list
Site Name: Cooch Behar.
Site Type: Temple.
Location: Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and
the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It
is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at 26°22′N 89°29′E.
Nearest Railway
Station: Alipurduar junction.
Nearest
Airport: Coochbehar airport.
How to Reach:
1. From
Siliguri by buses{lots of them both private & govt. run},train{from NJP},
SUVs,hired cars.
2. Proposed Coochbehar airport is coming up
shortly which will be connected to major Indian cities.
3. From
Assam by train,buses,cars.
Get around: Many
forms of transport are available in Cooch Behar.You can get a
taxi,auto,rickshaw,bus...anything and all
See:
The
places of interest in Cooch Behar are the following:
1. Madan
Mohan Bari (A temple)
2. Sagar
Dighi (A lake)
3. Raj
Bari or Cooch Behar palace
4. Rani
bagan
5. Torsha
river bank
6. Naranarayan
Park and many more
7. Madan
Mohan Temple
8. Madhupur
9. Baneswar
10. Rashik
Bil
Do: Roam
all around,hang out with friends,get out for dinner,enjoy with family in the
parks...and what not?
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| Cooch Behar Map |
Eat: Many
restaurants are scattered throughout the city.You can try anyone of them. Food
is mainly mixed
Bengalicuisine though occasionally others like North Indian, South Indian, Chinese, etc. can be found. Prices are quite affordable though may have minor variations.
Bengalicuisine though occasionally others like North Indian, South Indian, Chinese, etc. can be found. Prices are quite affordable though may have minor variations.
Drink: Drinking
water can be obtained easily from govt. supply lines,however can also get
packaged drinking water.Any other form of beverage are also available....try'em
out.
Sleep: Get
in one of those hotels vailable in a wide variety of ranges.....check'em out
according to your needs.
History: Cooch Behar or the Koch State was a part of the Ratnapth of ancient Kamrup till the middle of the seventh century; and according to Sailen Debnath, the area became a part of the Kamata kingdom or
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| Cooch Behar Palace |
Kamatapur since the second half of the seventh century and its political status remained so except the interludes created by the rule of the area by the Tibetans in the last leg of the seventh century, by the Bengal Palas intermittently till the rise of King Jalpeswar in the ninth century and the Kamrupa-Palas till the twelfth
century. Kamatapur, according Sailen, as was established by Sangaldip, suffered from the lack of political continuity till the year 1185 when king Prithu became its ruler. During the period of the next king Sandhya, the capital of Kamatapur was shifted from Panchagarh to Singijani in Cooch Behar; and in the year 1257 it was again shifted to Gosanimari in Cooch Behar. The Khen dynasty was the last ruling dynasty of Kamatapur until the year 1498 when Ala-uddin
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| Coochbehar Airport |
Viswa
Singha, the first ruler and founder of the Koch Kingdom retrieved Kamatapur by
a chain of successful
wars against the occupants of Gaur. He liberated Cooch Behar, writes Sailen Debnath, from his second capital at Hingulavas in the Dooars, whereas his first capital was at Koch-Hazo. Viswa Singha was able to recover the northern and eastern part of part of Kamatapur before 1509 when he became the king as well; though some historians opine that he became king in 1510 or 1530 CE. Under his son, Nara Narayan, the
Kamata Kingdom reached its
zenith. Nara Narayan's younger brother, Shukladhwaj (Chilarai), was a noted
military general who undertook expeditions to expand the kingdom, and he became
governor of its eastern portion. After Chilarai's death, his son Raghudev
became governor of this eastern portion. Since Nara Narayan did not have a son,
Raghudev was seen as the heir apparent. However, a late child of Nara Narayan
removed Raghudev's claim to the throne. To placate him, Nara Narayan had to
anoint Raghudev as a vassal chief of the portion of the kingdom east of the
Sankosh river. This area came to be known as Koch Hajo. After the death of Nara
Narayan in 1584, Raghudev declared independence, and the kingdom ruled by the
son of Nara Narayan, Lakshmi Narayan, came to be known as Cooch Behar. The
division of the Kamata Kingdom into Koch Behar and Koch Hajo was permanent.
Koch Behar aligned itself with the Mughal Empire and finally joined the India
as a part of the West Bengal, whereas remnants of the Koch Hajo rulers aligned
themselves with the Ahom kingdom and the region became a part of Assam.
wars against the occupants of Gaur. He liberated Cooch Behar, writes Sailen Debnath, from his second capital at Hingulavas in the Dooars, whereas his first capital was at Koch-Hazo. Viswa Singha was able to recover the northern and eastern part of part of Kamatapur before 1509 when he became the king as well; though some historians opine that he became king in 1510 or 1530 CE. Under his son, Nara Narayan, the
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| Torsa River near Cooch Behar |
The
early capital of Koch Kingdom (Cooch Behar) was not static and became stable
only when shifted to
Cooch Behar town. Maharaja Rup Narayan, on the advice of
an unknown saint, transferred the capital from Attharokotha to Guriahati (now
called Cooch Behar town) on the banks of the Torsa river between 1693 and 1714.
After this, the capital was always in or near its present location.
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| The office of the District Magistrate |
In
1661 CE, Maharaja Pran Narayan planned to expand his kingdom. However, Mir
Jumla, the subedar of Bengal under the Mughal emperor Aurangazeb, attacked
Cooch Behar and conquered the territory, meeting almost no resistance. The
town of Cooch Behar was subsequently named Alamgirnagar. However, Maharaja
Pran Narayan regained his kingdom within a few days.
During
1772–1773, the king of Bhutan attacked and captured Cooch Behar. To expel the
Bhutanese, the kingdom of Cooch Behar signed a treaty with the British East
India Company on 5 April 1773, and the king of Cooch Behar became a feudal
ruler under the British.
Cooch
Behar Palace
The
Victor Jubilee Palace was based on Buckingham Palace and built in 1887, during
the reign of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan. In 1878, the maharaja married the
daughter of Brahmo preacher Keshab Chandra Sen, and this union led to a
renaissance in Cooch Behar state. Maharaja Nripendra Narayan is known as the
architect of modern Cooch Behar town.
Under
an agreement between the kings of Cooch Behar and the Indian Government at the
end of British rule, Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan transferred full authority,
jurisdiction and power of the state to the Dominion Government of India,
effective 12 September 1949. Cooch Behar District became part of the state of
West Bengal on 19 January 1950, with Cooch Behar town as its headquarters
