Spreading across a vast delta where the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers merge into the Bay of Bengal, the Sundarbans is the world's largest single contiguous tidal mangrove forest, covering roughly 10,000 square kilometres. Its name comes from the sundari tree, which rises from the muddy waters and withstands the saltwater. Twice a day the tide submerges half the forest; when it retreats, thousands of breathing roots rise from the mud like cones. This labyrinth of hundreds of narrow waterways, hidden channels and alluvial islets can only be entered by boat, and the scenery changes at every bend.
The Sundarbans is a living frontier where land and water, fresh and salt, constantly exchange hands. It is the last great wild refuge of the world-famous Bengal tiger, which swims and chases its prey through the water; it is also home to spotted deer herds, saltwater crocodiles, river otters and kingfishers. Where river mist blankets the water at dawn to the echo of oars, and warm light gilds the mud flats at dusk, this delta is not merely a forest — it is a wild sanctuary that breathes and lives with the tide.