Often referred to as the land of temples and lakes, Cooch Behar is gearing up to introduce religious tourism in a major way.

The Cooch Behar Debottar Trust Board holds substantial property in the district and all are important from the tourism and religious points of view. To utilise the assets and give pilgrims and tourists a treat alike, the state tourism department has engaged the West Bengal Consultancy Organisation as consultants to the project.

A four-member WEBCON team led by its project advisor (tourism), Mr Ratan Chandra Mahapatra visited different properties of the CBDTB between 21 May to 25 May. The team also met district administration officials and elected representatives to seek their opinion on the proposed project.
According to the Cooch Behar ADM (general) Mr Pannalal Mahapatra, the WEBCON team visited 29 temples under the custody of the CBDTB and examined the infrastructure available in those temples.

The ADM informed that there were plans to add guesthouses and rest sheds for visitors and devotees to the temples. `Drinking water and all other basic amenities would be available for the visitors near the temples once the proposed plan is implemented,` he added.

Among the properties of the CBDTB, the Madan Mohan Thakurbari in Cooch Behar is the most famous and the site draws millions of people from all across the world every year. The Kamateswari temple in Gosanimari, the priests’ quarters at Anathnath Thakurbari, quarters of badyakar and mali of Madan Mohan Thakurbari, Kabirajkhana, Kabiraj bagan are some assets under the trust that are of immense historical value and testimony to the former Cooch Behar kingdom’s glorious past.

In addition to the assets strewn all over the district, the CBDTB also has property in Uttar Pradesh. The Cooch Behar Kalibari and Balarko Kund at Varanasi, along with the Cooch Behar Maharaja Kunja at Vrindavan are major religious and historical sites of the country.