Darjeeling

Darjeeling

Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. A popular tourist destination, it is located in the Mahabharat Range or Lesser Himalaya at an average elevation of 6,710 ft (2,045.2 m). It is noted for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Darjeeling is the headquarters of Darjeeling district which has a partially autonomous status within the state of West Bengal.
The development of the town dates back to the mid-19th century, when the colonial British administration set up a sanatorium and a military depot. Subsequently, extensive tea plantations were established in the region, and tea growers developed hybrids of black tea and created new fermentation techniques. The resultant distinctive Darjeeling tea is internationally recognized and ranks among the most popular of the black teas. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connects the town with the plains and has one of the few steam locomotives still in service in India.
Darjeeling has several British-style public schools, which attract students from India and neighbouring countries. The varied culture of the town reflects its diverse demographic milieu consisting of Nepalese, Tibetan, Bengali and other ethno-linguistic groups. Darjeeling, with its neighbouring town of Kalimpong, was a centre of the Gorkhaland movement in the 1980s. The town's fragile ecology has been threatened by a rising demand for environmental resources, stemming from growing tourist traffic and poorly planned urbanisation.

History

 The history of Darjeeling is intertwined with that of Sikkim, Nepal, British India and Bengal. Until the early 19th century, the hilly area around Darjeeling was controlled by the kingdom of Sikkim, while the plains around Siliguri were intermittently occupied by the kingdom of Nepal, with settlement consisting of a few villages of Lepcha and Kirati people.

The Chogyal of Sikkim had been engaged in unsuccessful warfare against the Gorkhas of Nepal. From 1780, the Gorkhas made several attempts to capture the entire region of Darjeeling. By the beginning of 19th century, they had overrun Sikkim as far eastward as the Teesta River and had conquered and annexed the Terai. In the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from overrunning the whole of the northern frontier. The Anglo-Gorkha war broke out in 1814, which resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas and subsequently led to the signing of the Sugauli Treaty in 1815. According to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed from the Chogyal of Sikkim to the British East India Company (i.e. the area between Mechi River and Teesta River). Later in 1817, through the Treaty of Titalia, the British East India Company reinstated the Chogyal of Sikkim, restored all the tracts of land between the Mechi River and the Teesta river to the Chogyal of Sikkim and guaranteed his sovereignty.

^{Places  of Interests}

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Rock Garden

It is situated about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Darjeeling. While proceeding from the town along Hill Cart Road, one has to turn right, well before reaching Ghum.

Rock Garden Darjeeling

The road descends rapidly into the valley. With sharp bends all the way, there are breathtaking views at many points. Tea gardens dot the hill slopes.
Constructed by The Gorkha Hill Council Tourism Department, it was inaugurated by Subhash Ghising, the GNLF supremo. The Rock Garden is not one in the conventional sense. A multi-level picnic ground terraced around a natural waterfall, its attraction is in it “being a sort of road-side facility but with a little too much concrete.” The garden offers a beautiful view of a hill stream cascading over rocks along the slope, done up with flower gardens and sitting spaces at different levels. There also is a small lake. With tourists pouring in large numbers, tea shops and snack kiosks have come up.

Ganga Maya Park

Ganga Maya Park is further down the road, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the Rock Garden. Named after an innocent victim of police firing during the GNLF agitation, “it meanders down the course of a chortling mountain stream, past gazebos, clumps of flowering shrubs and trees, over humped backed bridges under which koi-carp coruscate, and into a circular lake with paddle boats and a waterfall.” It has a small lake where boating facilities are available. Gorkha folk dances are performed to entertain the tourists.

Step aside

Good road conditions are essential in the hills, not only for comfortable rides but also for safety. Kanchenjungha (1962) helped the world discover the charm of Darjeeling, Raja Mukherjee’s directorial debut Bidhatar Khela (2007) renewed the magic of the town. Mukherjee, who had never been to Darjeeling before, was overwhelmed by the place and was surprised that the beauty of the hills has not been properly exposed to the world. After two trips to the town, he decided to capture every possible place here — from St Paul’s School to Mount Hermon, from Hotel Viceroy, Ganga Maya Park, Rock Garden, Happy Valley to even Morgan’s House in Kalimpong — in his movie.
The poor maintenance of the roads often led to protests by transporters’ associations. Amongst the bad roads in focus is the one to Rock Garden and Ganga Maya Park. DGHC maintains a vast network of roads and that they are in the process of repairing different stretches. Since it is difficult to get bitumen on time, repairs get delayed sometimes. Satyajit Ray’s

Kangchenjunga

Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world.It rises with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas called Kangchenjunga Himal that is limited in the west by the Tamur River and in the east by the Teesta River.Kangchenjunga is located on the boundary between Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim.Five Treasures of Snow after its five high peaks, and has always been worshiped by the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim. Two of the five peaks are in Taplejung District, Nepal. The other three peaks – main, central, and south – are on the border of North Sikkim and Nepal. Kangchenjunga Main is the second highest peak in Nepal after Mount Everest.

The Geological Survey of India indicates the summit of Kangchenjunga at 8,598 m (28,209 ft). It is the highest peak in India and the easternmost of the peaks higher than 8,000 m (26,000 ft). It is called
Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations based on various readings and measurements made by the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest, known as Peak XV at the time, was the highest. Allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain.