The Darjeeling Heritage walk completion was on my list today. After a long & tiring trip to Sandakphu and Phalut, I decided to keep it light today. However, my aunt wanted to go shopping; hence, I decided to pick up my partially explored Darjeeling history. Last night was cold after a rain shower. But the daybreak brought glimmers of warmth where the sun’s golden light softly caressed the land and ignited the birds into a chorus of melodies. However, it was still raining on & off. Still, I had also planned for a ponderous brunch at Keventors, hence lazed around.
Darjeeling has been paramount in Bengali art and culture since the British era! Some of them lingered forever in their culture! But I wanted some detailed information about Darjeeling’s heritage; hence I caught hold of Prashant, the Manager of Rani Kothi. Over a cup of tea, he took me through the history of Darjeeling.
He started with the meaning of Darjeeling, which finds its root in Tibetan words “Dorje”, thunderbolt, and “ling”, meaning land! But Darjeeling is home to the Gorkha community. Though Lepcha, Bihari (primarily workers at the tea gardens), a few Tibetans and other ethnic Nepalese communities are part of this population. However, Darjeeling’s politics have been intertwined with Sikkim’s since Sikkim was established as a kingdom.
But t, the Gorkha and other hill tribe communities had a different lifestyle and were exceptionally brave in warfare. However, they succumbed when the king of Sikkim “Gifted” Darjeeling to the East India Company through legal deeds. TCompanyitics and history have found numerous courses to evolve over the past century.
Another fact that Prashant did not deny is that these colonists were the sole reason for urban development in Darjeeling. Little did Archibald Campbell know back in 1841 that his endeavour to start tea planting on the spiralling slopes of Daoneeling hill will give way to a new era of Tea connoisseurs around the globe! Tea tourism is one aspect where Darjeeling possesses immense opportunity, especially the y from discerning travellers. Prashant suggested to me some places to cover & took his leave.
I took a quick shower & am ready to explore Darjeeling again, although I covered 10% on the first day of my arrival. As usual, our driver Hari was on time at the hotel, & we took off to Mall road again. It was 10 am, and there was a massive queue in front of Keventers. The British colonial day restaurant has completed 100 yrs, serving English breakfast, tea & snacks in the hill town.
We took the queue and waited for an hour before a table was allotted. As I entered, I saw that the section was the bakery, with an ice cream parlour mainly for takeaways. I had to climb the narrow wooden stairway to the upper floor. There was notable in the indoor area, & rest settled on the open terrace. We took ton open terrace seating, as the weather was good, clouds floating in & out like a wave.
Keventer is Darjeeling’s traditional English breakfast and varieties of sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, and baked beans. But pork hotdogs and salami, sausages, meatloaf and eggs are unique. You even get special beverages. It’s Delicious! I ordered chicken sausages & cheese omelette, along with a cup of coffee. Others order hot dogs, baked beans, meatloaf, traditional English breakfast, and tea & hot chocolate. Please note that the portions served are pretty significant, so order carefully. After a heartwarming, we walked out of Keventer.
I started to walk up towards Observatory Hill & Mahakal Temple. It took 20 minutes of an uphill walk to reach the top, with a few flights of stairs. On the way, there are a few benches to relax on if you are out of breath. As I walked along, drag saw a few beautiful cottages with an open patio lounge for sunbathing. Monkeys started to be more promin as we approached the temple.
Mahakal temple has a deeply rooted history. It is said that where the temple stands now used to be the original site of Dorjeling Monastery, also known as Bhutia Monastery. Gorkha destroyed the original monastery in 1815, ideally built in 1765 by Lama Dorje It was rebuilt a year later & shifted to a lower level of Darjeeling. In its place, the Mahakal temple was built.
As I approached, the temple smelled of heavily scented incense sticks filled the air & I could hear the chanting of prayers. It was fascinating to see the rhythmic chants of priests & monks reading their psalms. Both harmoniously co-exist. This is the unique Darjeeling heritage. The fluttering Buddhist prayer flag caught my attention as it was all over. I asked one of the monks about the importance of these flags since I could not hold my curiosity. He smiled and replied to me, Buddhists believe the prayer Buddhistsaven from these flags. Along with the changing season, the colour of the flag and prayers, flags and blessings fade with the passing time; sin Wilson will also wash out with the passing time.
Well, finally, I entered the temple. It is said that the temple with three Shiva lingams was self-manifested in the 17th century. Three gold-plated icons stand for Brgold-plated & Maheswar. I saw many devotees doing parikrama of the temple as they offered their prayers. However, I rang the bell & offered my prayers too.
I walked ahead of the temple to find a Tibetan memorial shrine, though there were many small temples & shrines in & around the temple complex. I walked along the pathway and saw many shaded seating places. While standing near the seating places, I saw the mesmerising Kanchenjunga. It stood solemn and majestic amidst the fog. I sat for a while before moving towards my next destination.
As I climbed the temple rose bend, I saw a cave. However, climbing down a few steep stairs to each hem would be best. It is said tstairsve reach the old temple, and you must crawl to enter.
Well, I skipped this adventure & moved on towards St. Andrew Church, a tolerant church built in 1843. The exterior of the church construction is simple, as it was built for only Rs 9000. But as I entered the church, the interior walls were inlaid with alabaster tables that held the memories of the great residents of Darjeeling. One of them was of Lt. General A. Lloyd, the discoverer of Darjeeling. I sat in the church as I loved the silence there.
Later, I walk past the Darjeeling Gymkhana, which is fully operational even after 100 years of showcasing Darjeeling’s heritage.
Further down the mall road is Raj Bhawan, though we could not enter due to COVID protocols. I could gather a little information from the couture established in 1840 by the Britisher. Later, Maharaja of Cooch Bihar was bought but was finally taken over by the government of India in 1877. Hence, I took a few pictures before proceeding. The building holds the glorious Darjeeling heritage.
After a long walk, I was thirsty, so I headed to Fiesta, a cafe on Mall Road. And ordered a cup of coffee and a sandwich before heading towards the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.
We all know Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who conquered Mount Everest. And HMI, a Darjeeling heritage, was built to commemorate his success. HMI comprises a residential school for mountaineering students and Swiss-style houses for student trainers, along with a well-stocked museum with all mountaineering artefacts & loads of expeditions on display. I skipped expeditions to avoid the crowd amidst the COVID hazard. Instead walked directly towards the main gate of HMI. I bought a combined Rs 60 ticket for Zoo &HMI.
Upon entering the gate, I saw a few curio & souvenir shops on my left. However, as I walked forward, I could see the Institute whose walls had an impression of a mountaineer with a quote-“May you climb from peak to peak”. Interesting! I also noticed the founder stone, laid on 4th Nov 1854. And all along the wall were multiple knots hanging. Quite Amazing!
It would be best if you walked the road to reach the museum, but it’s worth it. The museum has two sections- The main museum on cells- The main museum on the ground floor, and Mount Everest & Mount Makalu oldest mountaineering museums in the country, set up in 1957, serve as a vital resource to many researchers & students. Since photography is prohibited inside the museum, I could not click any pictures.
I walked inside and took a walk through the museum. I noticed therein many sections like- Equipment in vogue, displaying various accessories. Another area shows badges of different mountaineering clubs & associations. A vast relief model of the Himalayas is placed in the centre, showcasing the entire range & principal peaks. Further ahead, the sections highlight clothes, boots, lamps, wireless sets, compasses etc., used during mountaineering. However, a Buddha statue (Vairochana) caught my attention; he is regarded as the first Thayanu Buddha by Nepalese Buddhists. Interesting!
I climbed up to the upper section, where I was astounded by a life-size model of a mountaineer showing a crevasse crossing. Mount Makala, your section has all the mountain mules used by Edmund Hilary and Morsger in 1953 during the British Everest expedition. At the same time, the Everest section consists of the chronological account of an attempt made at Everest in 1852. I also saw the period gear & clothing of Tenzing Norgay used during the climb. While moving out of the museum, I stopped by the information centre & collected a few pamphlets for reading. Outside the museum, you have the HMI Restaurant & tea parlour right in front, where we had a cup of tea. Beside it is an ice cream parlour & photo studio too.
Another interesting article that HMI owns is about a powerful telescope that views the entire range of views. Adolf Holter gifted it to Maharaja Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal. The Maharaja of Nepal later gave the telescope to HMgaves! I could not get a chance to use it because of the long queue; instead, I clicked the picture range through the lens.
It was time to head towards my next destination, the Old Cemetery; I walked down the hill to Lebon Carter Road. Although cemeteries are not a place to visit, I recall the British Raj memories of the Darjeeling heritage I dropped by. Upon reaching the cemetery, I got the idea that the area was understood. But looking around, I saw some graves still intact and dated to the early 1840s. I guessed there would be more than 100 graves since the cemetery was divided into two sections.
The oldest grave I found was oI found the oldest grave, Alexandar Csoma de Kros, who compiled the first dictionary and grammar in the Tibetan language. Damn Interesting! This was the only grave beautifully decorated with a flower bed and fenced. Another one I found was of Lt. General George W. Aylmer Lloyd, whose grave has the inscription in high Victorian style. Though I enjoyed the quietness around me, it wrapped me like a blanket. But I couldn’t stay for long as I had my ropeway trip already. My ropeway trip always arrived just in time.
Upon reaching, we had to take a few steep steps to get to the entrance gate of the ropeway. Omg! There was a large queue; trust me, I was leaving, but my aunt was adamant about taking the ride. Hence, we had to stand in line for an hour till we got the cable. The ropeway is called the Rangeet Valley Passenger Cable Car.. The reason is the spectacular view of the valley around the river, the Little Rangeet. The ride was 45 minutes, and we travelled at an altitude of about 7000 ft. This ropeway is an integral part of my Darjeean Integrale walk.
The Darjeeling ropeway started in 1968, though it was built to cater for the tea gardens at the valley below. But now it is more for tourists as 16 cable cars operate, each having a capacity of six people. The cable ride gives a breathtaking view of the valley, the spread of lush tea gardens on hill slopes, flowing rivers, dense forest, & a picture of the eastern Himalayas. The ropeway route is from Singmari and Singla Bazar, the tea estate. We di much time to spend at the Singla Bazar; it was evening already, hence we returned.
The rest evening was spent on Mall Road, shopping. Before heading to our hotel, we had dinner at Kunga, a tiny budget restaurant run by a family for over two decades. It is a part of the Darjeeling heritage. The restaurant serves Tibetan & Chinese dishes and has a seating capacity of 20 people. Generally, the restaurant is packed & you need to wait in a queue to get a seat, but we were lucky today.
I tried the Chicken Restaurant soup, a delicious Tibetan noodle soup, as suggested by the lady owner. It’s a complete meal as the soup has eight pieces of momos dipped in it. It was just Yum! My mom and aunt ordered their veg delicacies in a lesser quantity as they served in large portions—the remaining evening portions with good food in a relaxed, comfy atmosphere.
How to Reach
By Air:
The nearest airport is Bagdogra, approximately 95 km away from the city. From the airport, hire taxi to reach the city.
By Rail:
New Jalpaiguri is the nearest railway station to Darjeeling. New Jalpaiguri connects the city in India. You need to hire private cabs from the station to reach Darjeeling.
By Road:
Darjeeling is well-connected via road with Kolkata city & other closeby cities such as Gangtok and Kalimpong. Buses, private cabs, and shared taxis ply to Darjeeling and from these places.