Asansol is West Bengal's second-largest city, in the Chota Nagpur coalfields about 200 km northwest of Kolkata. It grew in the 19th century as the British developed the coal seams of the Burdwan district — coal remains the city's defining industry, which locals sometimes call "black diamond." The city has one of the oldest railway stations in the state, still an important junction on the Howrah-Delhi main line.
It is primarily an industrial and transit city rather than a tourist destination. Those stopping here are usually passing between Kolkata and the hill stations, or visiting the nearby Maithon and Panchet dams on the Damodar River, which offer pleasant lake scenery and boating. The Kalyaneshwari temple at Kalyanpur, about 25 km away, is a significant Hindu pilgrimage site in the region. Closer in, the Ghaghar Burhi shrine sits in a wooded ravine on the eastern edge of town, and Burnpur — the captive township around the IISCO steel plant — has the city's most interesting urban character.