India Pinakpani · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
48 metres, to scale.
A slice through Gangani, West Bengal where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
48m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
15.0km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
2°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
28m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In April the afternoon reaches 39 °C. The best months to hike are from December to January. The floor passes 35 °C from April to May: walk at dawn and carry water. The wettest months are from June to September.
- 24°23°Jan
- 28°28°Feb
- 34°34°Mar
- 39°39°Apr
- 39°38°May
- 35°34°Jun
- 32°32°Jul
- 31°31°Aug
- 30°30°Sep
- 30°29°Oct
- 27°27°Nov
- 24°23°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Canyon in West Bengal, India
Gangani, West Bengal is a canyon in India, cut by the Shilabati river. The relief model measures 48 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Āmlāgoranearest town · 1.5 km in a straight line
- Gangani View Pointnearest viewpoint · 2.5 km from the floor
- Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport (RDP)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 86 km in a straight lineCar hire at CCU airport (Kolkata)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From December to Januarybest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The Shilabati runs highest from July to September.
The Shilabati carries about 38 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from July to September. It is lowest from November to May.
- 3.9 m³/sJan
- 4.2 m³/sFeb
- 5.2 m³/sMar
- 8.6 m³/sApr
- 27 m³/sMay
- 62 m³/sJun
- 112 m³/sJul
- 126 m³/sAug
- 115 m³/sSep
- 70 m³/sOct
- 26 m³/sNov
- 7.5 m³/sDec
From about 3.9 m³/s in the lowest month to 126 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 1,614 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 1viewpoints within 5 kmGangani View Point
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 2hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmStar Guest House, Lodge Saptopodi
- 2restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- marked hiking routes within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- car parks within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- campsites within 8 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Āmlāgora1.5 km in a straight line
- Chandrakona23 km in a straight line
- Bishnupur24 km in a straight line
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 24 | 28 | 34 | 39 | 39 | 35 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 27 | 24 |
| Afternoon · rim | 23 | 28 | 34 | 39 | 38 | 34 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 23 |
| Night · rim | 9 | 13 | 18 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 16 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 12 | 15 | 27 | 51 | 134 | 218 | 313 | 289 | 241 | 119 | 14 | 9 |
| Rainy days | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 23 | 28 | 27 | 23 | 13 | 2 | 1 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.7 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 8.1 | 7.3 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 6.4 | 6.8 | 5.7 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24 | 23 | 9 | 12 | 5.7 |
| Feb | 28 | 28 | 13 | 15 | 7.0 |
| Mar | 34 | 34 | 18 | 27 | 7.8 |
| Apr | 39 | 39 | 23 | 51 | 8.1 |
| May | 39 | 38 | 26 | 134 | 7.3 |
| Jun | 35 | 34 | 26 | 218 | 5.3 |
| Jul | 32 | 32 | 26 | 313 | 4.0 |
| Aug | 31 | 31 | 25 | 289 | 4.7 |
| Sep | 30 | 30 | 24 | 241 | 5.2 |
| Oct | 30 | 29 | 21 | 119 | 6.4 |
| Nov | 27 | 27 | 16 | 14 | 6.8 |
| Dec | 24 | 23 | 11 | 9 | 5.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (28 m) and the rim (78 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 298% | 44% | 206% | 188% | 150% | 112% | 87% | 117% | 57% | 64% | 41% | 3% |
| 2021 | 2% | 9% | 35% | 84% | 177% | 182% | 125% | 85% | 211% | 158% | 213% | 802% |
| 2022 | 266% | 297% | 2% | 27% | 112% | 63% | 58% | 122% | 80% | 112% | 0% | 0% |
| 2023 | 0% | 2% | 213% | 81% | 87% | 61% | 70% | 98% | 106% | 120% | 54% | 762% |
| 2024 | 95% | 161% | 176% | 4% | 121% | 38% | 94% | 153% | 189% | 145% | 7% | 64% |
| 2025 | 0% | 156% | 85% | 138% | 114% | 156% | 128% | 100% | 87% | 117% | 7% | 0% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q60750516) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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