In Photos: Quirky, Upside-Down House Draws Tourists in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri

Everything is inverted in the house, right from its rooftop to the car, bed, air-conditioners, western commode, curtains, water taps, and water geysers.

(Photo: Gurvinder Singh/The Quint)

Sk Jiyaur Rehman, 43, who stays in Upper Kalabari village in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, was running a software company till 2020, before the COVID-19 lockdown inflicted severe losses to his business, forcing him to shut it down.

“I didn’t have any work. But I had not lost hope. I was passionate to start afresh. I had a barren land of around 47 bighas in my village which I decided to bring into a profitable use,” he told The Quint. 

During the COVID-19 lockdown, when the world was confined inside their homes, Rehman started browsing the internet to look for a business that could be run from his vacant land. “I thought of various business ideas, but nothing was working out. But I kept on scrolling the internet... and one day, I found that a man had built an inverted house in Columbia, in South Carolina,” he said. 

He thought if he could make an inverted house by adopting the same idea, it could become a centre of attraction for tourists.

The entrepreneur said that the scenic natural beauty of Dooars offered him additional benefits. “We are blessed to live in Dooars that has scenic tree gardens, green forests, and also rivers that attracts tourists both from inside and outside the country. Even our inverted house, locally known as 'Ulta Ghar', is located on the bank of the Diana river and surrounded by tea gardens that serve as a tourist destination,” he said.

The construction of the house began in February 2022 and was completed in the next seven months. The Ulta Ghar was thrown open to the public on 15 October and named Dooars Fun City. “We have spent Rs 12 lakh in the construction. At first, the labourers involved in the construction thought I had lost my mind as they had never heard or seen such a house ever before. It was a herculean task to explain to them and do the construction work,” Rehman laughed.

Everything is inverted in the house, right from its rooftop to the car, bed, air-conditioners, western commode, curtains, water taps, and water geysers. Even the floor is made of false ceiling that is below the roof in normal houses.

Since its inauguration, the house has become the centre of attraction for tourists who visit Dooars. An entry fee of Rs 50 is charged from tourists. The only challenge? Ulta Ghar is located seven kilometres away from NH-31 that connects West Bengal to Assam – and the last-mile connectivity can be a dampener.