Sagar Island

Sagar Island Latest News

The West Bengal Chief Minister recently laid the foundation stone of a 5-km-long bridge over the river Muriganga to connect Sagar Island with the mainland.

About Sagar Island

• Sagar Island, also known as Gangasagar or Sagardwip, is located in the Ganges delta, in West Bengal.
• It is about 100 km south of Kolkata. 
• It is part of the South 24 Parganas district. It consists of 43 villages. 
• It lies at the mouth of the Hooghly River (a major distributary of the Ganges), an arm of which separates it from the mainland to the east. 
• Although Sagar Island is a part of Sundarbans, it does not have any tiger habitation or mangrove forests or small river tributaries as is characteristic of the overall Sundarban delta. 
• Situated at a point where the Ganges River system meets the Bay of Bengal, the island is held to be particularly sacred and is a noted Hindu pilgrimage center.
  • Thousands of pilgrims make their way to Sagardwip every year in mid-January to take a holy dip in the river during the Ganga Sagar Fair. 
  • The Ganga Sagar Fair is the second most attended fair in the world, after the popular Kumbh Mela.
  • The Kapil Muni temple on the island is a popular pilgrim centre.

Source: TH

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