Baranagar village in Murshidabad district has been selected as the best tourism village in India in the agri-tourism village category in the Best Tourism Village competition held by the ministry of tourism.
Baranagar is located at Jiaganj block and Lalbagh sub-division in Murshidabad. The most attractive tourist sites are the palace of Rani Bhabani and the Baranagar terracotta temple complex. Both were built by Rani Bhbani in the 18th century. During her time, Baranagar was called the Varanasi of Bengal. The temples are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Kali. The temples depict scenes from the Hindu mythology, folklore and daily life and they are classical examples of Bengal school of temple architecture.
The Baranagar temple complex is a popular destination for tourists and pilgrims who want to enjoy the religious heritage of Bengal. The temple complex consists of Char Bangla temple, Bhubaneshwar temple, Raj Rajeshwari temple, Ganeshwar Shiva temple, Panchamukhi Shiva temple, Siddheshwari temple, Aadhya temple and Binod Akhra.
The local community is involved in activities to promote and sustain the heritage of the village such as rural handicrafts. Baranagar is famous for weaving trade especially for production of fine cotton fabrics, like Baluchuri, Jamdani and Tangail. The local population is also involved in bamboo cane crafts and pottery among others.
In the vicinity of the temple complex, local people sell food and beverages like milk products, jam and jelly, puffed rice etc.
Village tourism is coming up in Bengal in a big way with more and more people visiting the areas. Homestays have come up across the state. In Jhargram, along with homestays, farm stays have come up where people are visiting regularly. A senior officer of the state tourism department said there has been a major shift in the mindset of the domestic tourists and that instead of visiting other states they have started exploring Bengal and prefer to visit rural areas to have a taste of village life.