DARJEELING
THE town of Darjeeling is situated in an ideal position. It is built on the crest and slopes of a long ridge which runs in a northerly direction from Senchal Mountain at Ghum, and which divides into two lesser spurs that descend abruptly into the deep valley of the Great Rungeet River, 6,000 feet below. Almost equally deep valleys lie east and west of the main Darjeeling Ridge and merge in the Rungeet Valley to the north, across which the eye sweeps to range upon range of the lofty mountain chains of Sikkim and, beyond and above these, to the great snowy peaks that dominate the northern horizon.
The prominent object in the mountain landscape that lies open to view at Darjeeling is the great Kinchenjunga rising to 28,146 feet, which with its twin peaks towers above a majestic line of snowy summits in which are seven other peaks rising above 22,000 feet and none below 15,000 feet. Kabru (24,015 feet) with crest like a tent, and Jannu (25,300 feet) flank Kinchenjunga on the west; and on the east the best known peaks are Pandim (22,020 feet), Nursing (19,150 feet), Siniolchu (22, 520 feet) and Kinchenjunga (22,509 feet). There are many other snow summits in the range that are little known and u»named. As compared with mountain panoramas in other parts of the world the outstanding superiority of the Eastern Himalaya as seen from Darjeeling lies in its immensity and. extent, no known view from any other town in the world being capable of comparison, with it when the number and height of the mountains is considered and their proximity, Kinchenjunga being only 45 miles distant and Nursing, the nearest perpetual snow, being 32 miles.
The best views of the snowy range are obtainable from the Mall, a level circular road north of the Chowrasta, and from Observatory Hill, a short steep climb from the Mall. A more extensive view, including a peep at Everest, is obtained from Tiger Hill on the summit of Senchal Mountain (8,515 feet) near Ghum, information in regard of which will be found in the next chapter. During the months of November, December and January, during March and April, and during breaks in the rainy season, the traveller may feel fairly certain of seeing this panorama unveiled, but, on the other hand, if he has only a day or two for his visit he might be unfortunate enough to find the snows temporarily hidden behind a curtain of mist and cloud. As an offset to this possible disappointment, however, the traveller will find there is an abundance of beauty and interest around him at Darjeeling itself and on the nearer mountains, and in this chapter, after a brief account of the chief characteristics, of the hill people that form such an attractive feature of the place, notes will be given to inform him of places of interest in Darjeeling and walks around the hill station worthy of his attention.
Perhaps the most arresting and interesting of the hill men and women met with in Darjeeling are the Bhutias. These are of Mongolian type and Tibetan extraction. Most of them are descendants from Tibetans who settled in Sikkim a few centuries ago. The men are sturdy in build, noisy and very cheerful. In Darjeeling they form the majority among the men who pull rickshaws, carry the dandies., and act as porters generally. Their broad faces and twinkling eyes have a habitually jolly expression.; ear-rings and gambling are their chief weaknesses, if we except an apparent abhorrence of soap and water. In dress they affect a long wide sleeved mantle hitched up by a girdle at the waist, snow boots and every shape of old soft hat conceivable, sometimes trimmed with fur. The Bhutia women are broadly built and have fair yellow complexions and ruddy cheeks. They load themselves with massive gold, silver, and bead ornaments : necklaces, amulets, chains and belts, studded with rough turquoise. They wear short jackets and blouses, brightly coloured, and heavy striped skirts. They are as merry and open hearted as the men. They are continually knitting and spinning when not otherwise engaged.
A Lama or Priest
Next come the Lepchas who are the aboriginal race of these parts. The Lepchas are also of Mongolian type but they are not so sturdy as the Bhutias. They are a meeker and quieter race with sallow complexion; they wear their hair plaited in a tail. The men are as fond of ornaments as the women, and in their woolen garment, a sort of gown gathered at the waist and a tunic or blouse, they would often be scarcely distinguishable from their women but for the fact that the latter plait their hair in two tails instead of one. The women dress much like the Bhutia women and carry similar ornaments. Both Bhutias and Lepchas are nominally Buddhists, but the Buddhism they practise is of a very debased kind. Their religion amounts to little more than the propitiation of evil spirits, their plain idea being that the good requires no attention as good spirits do no harm, but the countless, demons who infest the ail , the streams, and the ravines must be petitioned and propitiated',ed. Hence cloth flags are stretched across streams oil elevated poles to flutter in the breeze and waft to the demons concerned the petitions printed oil the calico. Similarly, prayer wheels are likewise decorated with mystic sentences and revolved for the same purpose.
The third race that is principally met with in Darjeeling and the dominant race, is the Nepalese. The Nepalese are less Mongolian in appearance than the Bhutias and Lepchas and have admixture of Aryan blood. They are an alert and virile race, hard working and Intelligent. Most of the work on hill tea gardens is done by the Nepalese. They dress simply, in loose cotton trousers, a tight jacket, and a small cotton cap, without bright colours or indeed any at all, and they cut their hair short. Into a cloth girdle about their waist they thrust their curved knife, the kukri. Many of them enlist in the famous Gurkha regiments, and the loyalty and fortitude of their character expressed in their own proverb, "Orders have no answer and death has no medicine." The Nepalese are Hindus but it is only a thin veneer of Hinduism that they embrace. If the traveller is in Darjeeling on a Sunday he should not fail to go down in the morning to the bazaar and Municipal market where he will see the hill men and women decked out in all their finery and loaded with jewellery.
The Chowrasta and the Mall form the centre of Darjeeling, the former being a broad open space on the saddle of the mountain ridge, and the latter a circular road running front the Chowrasta, Northwards along the western side of the ridge, past the Church, the Park, and the Park, and the amusement Club, to the gates of Government House, and they circling round the base of Observatory Hill and returning again to the Chowrasta along the eastern side of the ridge. The Mall is pretty, well kept road, bordered by grassy banks, flowers, and fine crytomeria firs. It commands excellent views of the snows.
Market Day in Darjeeling
Observatory Hill (1/2 mile from Chowrasta) is ascended by a path taking off from the northern end of the Mall. The climb is steep and visitors may use a dandy or a rickshaw if desired. The ascent is well worth the trouble involved :is the views from the hill top are very fine, especially at dawn and at sunset. At one time there was a Buddhist Monastery on the top of the hill, and there is now a small shrine and a group of lofty poles dressed with prayer flags.
Chait and Prayer Flags
The Church of St. Andrews was built in 1870 In it is a memorial tablet to the beautiful Lady Canning, wife of the first Viceroy of India, who died as a result of fever contracted while sketching the Terai. There is a Scotch Church, St. Columbia's, near the railway station, a Roman Catholic Church at the Loreto Convent, and a Union Chapel, in charge of the American Methodist Mission, on the Auckland Road.
Prayer Flags on Observatory Hill
The Park is small but prettily laid out. Here the rosy cheeked English children of the hill station congregate on most fine days. There are also shelters for protection from the rain, a very necessary precaution for the months of June to October, the average rainfall of Darjeeling during these months being about a hundred inches.
Just below the Park is the Natural History Museum in which the visitor will find a fair collection representative of the flora and fauna of the Darjeeling District and Sikkim.
Snows from Birch Hill, Darjeeling
The Amusement Club is the principal social centre of the station. Membership is by election, but there is a system of temporary membership for duly recommended visitors. The Club has six tennis courts, a ball room, a skating rink, a theatre, billiard room, reading rooms and library.
Government House is the sunnier residence of .His Excellency the Governor of Bengal who spends the hot-weather months in Darjeeling. It stands within beautiful grounds. but these are not open to the public. Sentries and a guard of sturdy little Gurkhas may be seen on duty at the gate when the Governor is in residence.
A Buddhist Monastery
If the traveller, instead of following the Mall where it turns to the right at the gates of Government House, goes straight on for a mile further, following the Birch Hill Road, he will drop down to Birch Hill Park. In this beautiful and natural park are magnificent forest trees through which a few clearings have been made, allowing of lovely vistas to the snowy peaks. Wild strawberries, anemonies, violets and other English flowers grow on the mossy banks by the paths in the spring. There are grassy plots which form excellent picnic spots, and a pavilion (2 miles from Chowrasta). The park may be approached and entered in rickshaw or dandy.
From the north eastern end of the Chowrasta the Rungeet Road drops down to the Lebong Spur through the Bhutia Basti (the village of the Bhutias). After a few minutes descent from the Chowrasta the traveller will come to a large Buddhist Shrine, or chorten, with prayer flags. A little further down, almost hidden by the trees and approached by a path on the left, is the Buddhist Monastery. Every traveller to Darjeeling should make a point of visiting this interesting habitation of the Lamas, as the Buddhist priests and monks are termed. The front of the building is fitted with rows of cylindrical prayer wheels, and the recessed doorway and wooden pillars and rafters within the temple are of carved wood, decorated with curious coloured designs. In an ante room is a large prayer wheel, 6 feet in height, which a Lama works with a strap and which rings bells as it revolves. In the temple may be seen Tibetan manuscripts and all the various implements of worship used in Buddhist temples, such as the cymbals, bells., conches, brass cups, copper trumpets six feet long and trumpets made of human thigh bones. The Lamas, interesting and medieval looking in the mantles and cowls, are pleased to show visitors round the monastery but expect a trifling contribution towards the upkeep of the place. Rickshaws may be taken down to the monastery.
Devil Masks Used At Certificates
Running southwards from the Chowrasta is Commercial Row where the principal European shops and the Rockville and Drum Druid Hotels stand. Commercial Row joins the Auckland Road which is one of the principal and the oldest roads in Darjeeling. It passes above the Woodlands, and Mount Everest Hotels and leads through a residential quarter for several miles eventually rising to Ghum, 4 miles from Darjeeling.
At the junction of Commercial Row and Auckland Road stands the long building of the Darjeeling Club, a residential club for tea-planters and others, and here the Post Office Road descends to Mount Pleasant Road. These are the roads followed in descending from the Chowrasta to the Bazaar and Cart Road. Mount Pleasant Road is the happy hunting ground of the curio seeker.
The Planter's Club, Darjeeling
The Bazaar and Municipal Market are always interesting but should be visited, above all on Sunday when coolies from the neighbouring tea gardens and a heterogeneous collection of hill men and women assemble to make their weekly purchases.
Eden Sanatarium, Darjeeling
Standing on a separate spur beyond the Cart Road is the Eden Sanitarium. This handsome two storied building was erected during the Lieutenant Governorship of Sir Ashley Eden in 1882, and named after him. It has accommodation for over sixty convalescents, and there is also the Eden Hospital adjoining the Sanitarium. The charges are moderate and the institution is of great benefit to the Europeans of Bengal. The same benefit is provided for Indian convalescents in the Lowis Jubilee Sanitarium not far from the railway station.
Botanical Gardens, Darjeeling
Below the Eden Sanitarium and approached by the Lochnagar Road are the Botanical Gardens. The traveller should endeavour to visit this beautiful spot. The descent and the return uphill are steep,but a rickshaw or dandy may be used as the path is good. The lay out of the grounds is very pretty and some fine orchids may be seen in the hot house.
During the rainy season, but only then, the Victoria Falls (3 miles from Chowrasta) are worth visiting and these can be reached readily from the Botanical Gardens. The falls, are about half a mile from the west gate of the Botanical Gardens which open on the Victoria Road. The water at the falls has a sheer drop of 100 feet.
The Cart Road when it leaves the bazaar at the northern end is then known as the Lebong Road, and runs round the main Darjeeling Spur past the Loreto Convent, the Courts, Cemetery, Diocesan Girls' School and St. Joseph's College, to Lebong Parade Ground. Lebong is dealt with in the next chapter.
The Loreto Convent, an imposing stone building standing in beautiful grounds, is a large school of 200 scholars taught by twelve nuns supplemented by lay teachers.
The Kacheri, or Magistrate's Office and Court, is of no particular interest to the visitor except that it is here he must apply for passes if he intends to undertake any of the tours detailed in Chapter VII.
In the Cemetery are the tombs of Cosnio de Korosi, a Hungarian philologist who compiled a Tibetan dictionary, and of Gustavus Septimus Judge, a pioneer of the tea industry.
The Diocesan Girls' School is under the management of the Clewer Sisters and has over one hundred and fifty pupils.
The St. Joseph's College is a thriving Roman Catholic School for boys under the Jesuit Fathers. The building and playing ground are excellent and the standard of teaching is high. There are about 250 boys in the school. The other large boys' school in Darjeeling is the St. Paul's School which is on Jalapahar Hill and is referred to in the next chapter.
Reverting to the Chowrasta, if the traveller follows the road that starts from the south eastern corner, the Jalapahar Road, he will quickly reach a turning on the left, the Calcutta Road. A couple of miles distant along this road, which commands very beautiful views, is an old Bhutia Cemetery on the hill side with old stone tombs (the curiously shaped chorten), surrounded. by prayer flags. The place is well worth visiting, the bold mountain slopes and a deep valley below forming an attractive setting to the picturesque old tombs.
Lebong