The West Dinajpur District was bifurcated into Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur on 01.04.1992. The erstwhile Balurghat Sub-Division along with Banshihari and Kushmandi Blocks (which were in Raigunj Sub-Division prior to the bifurcation) comprise the new district, Dakshin Dinajpur. Balurghat is the district Headquarters of the Dakshin Dinajpur district. The Area of the district is 2162 sq km. The population of the district is 15,03,178 as per 2011 Census. The district is divided into 2 Subdivisions 8 Blocks and 1534 Villages. The district is drained by a number of North-South flowing river like Atreyee, Punarbhaba, Tangon and Brahmani. It is predominantly an agricultural district with large area of land being under cultivation. The places of tourist interests in the districts are Sarongbari, Indo-Bangladesh Border, Balurghat town, college museum of Balurghat, Khanpur, Patiram Thakur Estate, Bolla Kali Temple, and Tapan Dighi
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Tourist Places :
Sarongbari :
Sarongbari is a small forest and a very attractive picnic spot. One small hut has been constructed with drinking water facilities and is managed by Hili Panchayat Samiti. Prior permission is to be sought from the Block Development Officer, Hili, to enter this spot
College Museum :
The college museum of Balurghat, though a small one, is worth seeing. Many antique collections including coins, inscriptions, sculptures, terracotta, ornamental stones, etc. of ancient ages are preserved here. Two incriptions have been deciphered by Prof A K Goswami which has thrown new light on the religious belief of the Pala period
Khanpur :
It is situated on the Patiram-Trimohini road about 18 Kms away (North-East) from Balurghat town. This place is very famous for the TEBHAGA Movement. History tells us that in the year 1946, the share croppers of this area raised a movement for establishing their ¾ percentage share of the crops
To combat this movement the British Force along with local Zamindars started various oppressive measures including plunder, rape, setting fire, etc. In the face of such oppression, the movement instead of subsiding, further flared up. The local cultivators also lent their whole-hearted support to the movement. On 20 February, 1947, a large contingent of Police force went to Khanpur to arrest the leaders of the Tebhaga Movement. Under the leadership of SriI Chiarshai Sekh, the people disconnected the road. The Police arrested Smt Jasoda Rajbanshi, W/oNilKantha Rajbanshi (Party Secretary), Sri Gopeshwar Das Mohanta, Sri Ghutui Kolkamar, Sri Gajimuddin and Sri Sashi Barman.
However, the share croppers under the leadership of Chiarshai Sekh succeeded to snatch away those arrested cultivators from the police jeep and damaged the vehicle. The Police then opened fire. As per report police fired about 121 rounds upon the public. As a result 21 (twenty one) cultivators died on the spot. Among these victims were people belonging to the Hindus, Muslims and the Schedule Tribes. There is a small memorial in the spot inscribing the names of the patriotic souls
Bolla Kali Temple :
About 20 Kms away from Balurghat town on the Balurghat- Malda Highway, the village BOLLA is situated. There is a famous Kali temple named after “BOLLA Ma Kali’. There is a story behind this temple. It is said that one Zamindar was arrested by the British as he could not pay the tax for his Zamindari. Goddess Kali came to his rescue and the Zamindar was freed the very next day. As a token of gratitude, he built a temple of Goddess ‘Kali’ and started worshipping her. As the Zamindar was freed on a Friday following the Rash Purnima Friday, Kali Puja is being observed here on every Friday following the Rash Purnima. Thousands of devotees throng the place to offer prayers and puja from different parts of the district. The Puja Committee organise a 3 (three) day fair on the occasion. This is also famous for sacrificing animals (Bali)