Mainaguri

Maynaguri Mainaguri
Town
Nickname(s): The Gateway of Dooars
Maynaguri Location in West Bengal, India
Coordinates: 26°33′50″N 88°49′12″E / 26.564°N 88.820°E / 26.564; 88.820Coordinates: 26°33′50″N 88°49′12″E / 26.564°N 88.820°E / 26.564; 88.820
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Jalpaiguri
Elevation	84 m (276 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	30,490
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	735224
Lok Sabha constituency	Jalpaiguri
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Maynaguri
Website	jalpaiguri.gov.in

Mainaguri is a town and a municipality in Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is known as the "Gate way of Dooars" and is a regionally significant tourist destination for its temple to Shiva & nearby Gorumara Wildlife Sanctuary.

Location

Mainaguri is located at 26°34′N 88°49′E / 26.57°N 88.82°E / 26.57; 88.82.^[1] It has an average elevation of 84 metres (275 feet).

Mainaguri is about 10 km north-east of Jalpaiguri and 50 km from Siliguri. Local attractions include Jalpesh Shiva Temple, Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary. The nearest airport is Civil Enclave Bagdogra, and the nearest railway station is New Mainaguri.^[2]

Five roads connect Mainaguri with

1. Siliguri, Jalpaiguri (West)
2. Alipurduar, Cooch Behar (East)
3. Changrabandha, Mathabhanga (South)
4. Malbazar, Lataguri (North)
5. Ramsai (North-west).

^[3]

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[4] Mainaguri had a population of 27,086. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Mainaguri has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 70%. In Mainaguri, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Education

Maynaguri provides a quality education to its surrounding students. Students of this area repeatedly do well in board exams. This town provides higher education on general studies.

Colleges

• Maynaguri College is affiliated by North Bengal University.
• Maynaguri Government Polytechnic College.
• Maynaguri ITI College.
• B-ed College.

Schools

• Maynaguri High School (established in 1946).
• Maynaguri Girls' High School (established in 1947).
• Subhashnagar High School.
• Sahidgarh High School.
• Khagrabari Girls' High School.
• Polwhele High School Domohani.
• Evergreen Public School.
• St. Paul School.

Primary Schools

• Morning Star K.G. School(Pvt).
• Sishu Angan School(Pvt).
• Vidyasagar Sishu Niketan(Pvt.)

A famous library, Radhika Library has been operating since 1910. Radhikanath Nandi who was the Deputy Collector of the Khasmahal office at Mainaguri, helped to begin the library. At the beginning, 1 ana was decided as the monthly fees of the library. It used to be a rural library. It was upgraded as town library on 1 March 1983. It has more than 14,000 books and around 600 members.^[5]

Transport

Road:

NH31

The main mode of transport in the area is roadways. Most of the places are well connected by roads and to rest of India. N.H. 31 is the main highway of the area. Regular bus services provided by North Bengal State Transport Corporation and Assam State Transport Corporation and other private parties run between all important places of the area. Share jeeps and maxi-taxies are quite popular in the area.

Rail:

A DMU train @ New Maynaguri

Maynaguri lies in the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways. There are railway links to the rest of the country directly and via Kolkata. The major railway junction of New Jalpaiguri (Code:NJP) is 45 km from the town. New Maynaguri railway station(NMX) serves the town directly. A new line via Maynaguri Road station will be opened shortly. It is expected that the work of New Maynaguri-Jogighopa line will be finishedin March 2015. Another rail station of this city is Maynaguri Road(MYGD). It is about 5 km from the city. Maynaguri Road station is an important station of Malbazar-Changrabandha line. previously it was known as Doars railway. Maynaguri Road station is also 'Y' connected with New Maynaguri and New Domohoni rail station.

Jalpesh Shiva Temple

Jalpesh Temple of Lord Shiva

The Jalpesh Temple is approximately 3 kilometres from away Mainaguri 26°31′32″N 88°52′1″E / 26.52556°N 88.86694°E / 26.52556; 88.86694, and is dedicated to Lord Jalpeshwar (Siva). The temple was built in a style akin to Islamic architecture. Inside, there is a Shivling called 'Anadi'. Mahashivaratri is the main festival celebrated in this temple, which is 126 feet high and 120 feet wide.^[6] Pilgrims come during Sravani Mela in July–August and during the fair of Jalpesh Mela in February–March to offer special puja to Siva. After worshipping, devotees, whose number reach approximately 1.2 million, collect water from River Teesta and walk barefoot 15 kilometres to the temple.^[7]

Jalpesh Temple was founded by Bisu Singh of Cooch Behar in A.D. 1524. His son, Maharaja Narayan, rebuilt the temple in A.D. 1563. Pran Narayan in turn rebuilt the temple in A.D. 1663 ^[8]

Other places of interest

Jatileswar Temple of Lord Shiva

1. Jatileswar Temple(dedicated to Lord Jatileshwara or Lord Shiva);

2. Bateshwar Temple;

3. Mahakal Temple;

4. Ramsai Wildlife(Gorumara National Park);

5. Khuksiya Park(Beautiful park with a pool having boating facility & Light and sound show with fountain during week-end nights);

Festivals

Various festivals are celebrated throughout the year. Kali Puja of Maynaguri is renowned. It also celebrates ID and Christmas Day with similar pompousness.

Sports & Entertainment

Maynaguri has a famous playground (Known as Maynaguri Football Ground) where several football tournaments are held every year.

Other than that several fairs (Baishakhi mela, Mela during durgapuja etc), Book Fair, one yearly cultural function organised by local clubs is also held. This ground is an inseparable part of the people of Maynaguri.

Food & Drink

Here are a few restaurants are available which are not very renowned. But still among them these are quite good options.

• Hotel Ashiyana [Nice AC cottages & fantastic ambience with quality food]
• SO-HO, A/C FAMILY RESTAURANT AND BAR [Standard quality food]

References