Seri-tourism in Murshidabad district: Some potential locations

Murshidabad (originally ‘Muksudabad’’) became the capital of independent Bengal during the regime of Murshid Quli Khan in 1717. After the battle of Plassey, the British shifted the capital to Kolkata in 1773. The district is predominantly characterized by remarkable heritage precincts and attracts considerable tourists round the year.

Murshidabad is famous for its splendor ‘Murshidabad Silk’ and different sericulture activities. About 20,000 families in the block of Khargram and Nabagram are associated with sericulture activities. Besides, some families of other blocks are also engaged in sericulture. The production of mulberry cocoons and raw silk in the district is increasing gradually. Recently, MSME-DI, Govt of India (2016) had identified that sericulture based units like nylon net, bamboo rearing tray, matka spinning unit, bio-fertilizer, silk reeling, pupa oil extraction, etc. may have enormous potential in the district. Pisciculture, poultry and dairy farming are also some of the major areas which can be immensely benefited from seri-waste.

Seri-tourism is a new concept, basically where sericulture and tourism intersect. In this confluence of tourism, sericulture growers / rearers, silk reelers and weavers invite the public onto their domain to experience the out of doors, the leisure pace, and the healthy and nutritious produce during the time of traditional tours. Some of the potential seri-tourism areas of the district are highlighted below:

Index	Area	Major sericulture related activities / products	How to reach	Salient seri-tourism features and Link for detail information	Nearby conventional tourism site*
A	Important handloom potential areas in Murshidabad
A-1	Nagar & Margram	Silk kora than Silk shirting	About 35 KM via SH 11; frequent bus, trekker and hires vehicles area available	A-1, A-2 & A-3: Three areas comprises of about 16,000 silk-handloom units of West Bengal. Among these about 130 weavers’ (silk) co-operative societies with 12000 weavers (approx.) working with 9400 looms. These cooperative societies mostly market their products through their own sale outlets (Berhampore and other cities) or through Govt. marketing agencies like Tantuja, Tantushree etc A-2: Oldest silk reeling location of the state and famous for ‘Matka spinning’ (unique in the country).Majority of the Matka spinerers (about 40,000 in West Bengal) are present at this zone. A-3: Unique Korial and Garad producing areas of West Bengal. http://westbengalhandloom.org/htm/c_murshidabad.html http://dcmsme.gov.in/dips/201617/DIPS%20MURSHIDABAD.pdf.	Ratenswar (Bhattabati) temple; Ruins of Atai mosque near atai serpur; Kiriteswari, the oldest temple in Murshidabad district and only ‘Sati Peetha’ in Murshidabad where Sati's ‘kirit’ or crown fell at ‘Kireetkona’ village.
A-2	Islampur Chak	Matka shirting Silk kora than Silk dyeing unit	About 30 KM via Jalangi Road; frequent bus, trekker and hires vehicles area available.		The village is situated at the bank of river Bhirab- a tributary of river Padma.
A-3	Mirzapur	Korial saree, Garad saree Garad shirting, Silk sora than	About 58 KM via NH 34 and near to Raghunathganj; frequent bus, trekker and hires vehicles are available.		Brindaban Behari temple at Raghunathganj; House of Dada Thakur, ‘Giriar’ war field; Farraka barrage (50km) and Thermal Power Station (NTPC); Kherur Mosque near Sekhdighi (12km); Sagardighi thermal power station at Manigram(12km).
B	An ancient place of silk trade
B-1	Cossimbazar area	Ruin of the British factory (Nil ground).	about 3 km from Berhampore town well connected by rail and road	http://murshidabad.net/history/places-topic-places-zone-two.htm	Cossimbazar palace, new palace, Dutch cemetery, Pataleswar Shiva Temple & Sati daha ghat, Biayaspur Shiva Temple
C	Central Sericultural Research & Training Institute (CSR&TI, Berhampore)
C-1	CSR&TI, Berhampore	A premier Institute provides R&D support for the promotion of silk industry in eastern and northeastern India.	About 0.2 km from Berhampore court railway station	Sericulture museum; library with nice collection of books on sericulture; arrange demonstration of silkworm rearing and silk reeling on request. http://www.csrtiber.res.in	Thibaw (A member of the royal family of Burma) tomb in the campus of CSR&TI.
D	Sericulture villages and other silk associated activities in Murshidabad:
D-1	Panchgram-Nabagram-Madgram -Kiriteshwari  area	Major sericulture- rearing, reeling and weaving areas of Murshidabad	Around 15 sq. km area in and around Nabagram town; frequent bus, trekker and hires vehicles are available.	http://www.seriwbgov.org [for the contact of different DoT(seri) Govt. of WB units in Murshidabad]. Walk through / exposure visit / interaction with sericulture-commercial / seed rearers and reelers; sericulture related SHG groups / NGOs.	A. Panchtupi temple complex; Pancharatna terracotta temple at Gobarhati; Kaliswar Shiva temple at Baghdanga B. Kiriteswari temple in ‘Kireetkona’ village; Tomb of Nawab Seraj-ud-Daulla at Khosbug;
D-2	Sagarpara	Important sericulture- seed rearing areas of Murshidabad	Around 55 km east of Berhampore town ; frequent bus, trekker and hires vehicles are available	http://www.seriwbgov.org [for the contact of DoT(seri) Govt. of WB unit in Sagarpara]. Walk through / exposure visit / interaction with sericulture - seed rearers;	Padma river at Jalangi (about 5 km)
D-3.1	Automatic reeling unit at Shibpur	Activities: Raw Silk Reeling Product: Raw Silk yarn	Around 10km from Berhampore towards Palsanda via NH34; frequent transports are available.	Automatic Reeling Machine ( ARM ): It is a newly established reeling unit first of its kind in whole eastern and northeastern India. The estimated raw silk production by the unit is around 30 metric tons of raw silk. It caters service to the primary cocoon producer, especially the bivoltine cocoon rearers who find a organized place to dispose off their produce for producing graded silk of 2A category of international standard.	Kiriteswari temple, Dahapara dham, Khoshbagh
D-3.2	PRITEX – Silk Printing Unit at Gopegram (Nabagram)	Activities: Fabric Printing Product: Block, Screen, Dispersed printed Sarees	Around 2 km from ARM unit towards Palsanda via NH34; frequent transports are available	PRINTEX: The major printing cluster is located in Serampore area of Hooghly district in West Bengal. The activities could not be diversified in other areas of the state in the past, though scattered units at cottage sector are available in different parts. PRINTEX is also a newly established organized unit to cater service to the individual weaver and large no. of Co-operative and Apex Societies.	Same as D-3.1 segment.
D-4	Jiaganj	Activities: Yarn dyeing, Fabric dyeing Products: Silk Jamdani Saree	Around 210 km from Kolkata and 20 km from Berhampore court in Sealdah-Lalgola route. Frequent rail & road transports are available.	‘Baluchari’ fabric is named after the village ‘Baluchar’, a peripheral village of Jiaganj town located on the bank river of Bhagirathi in Murshidabad district. Baluchari weaving was flourished during the period of Murshid Quli Khan, the Diwan of Bengal, an erstwhile Hindu Bramin who embraced Islam and these textiles are famous for their elaborate ‘anchal’ (palloo). It has been eulogized as the “loveliest and most charming of all silks of India”. Geographically, there is no existence of ‘Baluchar’ village today and said to be drowned under the river Bhagirathi. The weavers have been migrated to Bishnupur block of Bankura district of West Bengal. Presently the activity of weavers of this area is restricted to the production of silk Jamdani saree. murshidabad.net/history/places-topic-places-zone-four.htm; www.telegraphindia.com/1050313/asp/calcutta/story_4488216.asp;	Murshidabad district museum at Jiaganj; Jain temple complex in Ajimganj and Jaiganj, Baranagar (Rani-Bhabani) temple complex; Dahapara Ashram.

* Major conventional tourist attractions are: Hazarduari (palace of a thousand Doors), Nizamat Imambara, Wasef Manzil , Tripolia Gate, Dakshin Darwaza, Chak Darwaza, Gharighar, Bachchawali Tope (a canon), Moti Jhil (Pearl Lake) Madina,Nasipur palace, Khatgola garden and Katra Mosque. http://wbtourism.gov.in/guest/=AFVxIFVzc2dRBDcwUlVkpVYVpFSX5mQv1UbOVjVshWV

For other tourist attractions: http://itihasparikrama.com; http://imurshidabad.net. Berhampore and Murshidabad (Lalbagh) have sufficient budget and moderate hotels and some government accommodation facilities.