Darjeeling
(2002 est. pop. 110,000). Celebrated as a hill resort and tea-producing center, Darjeeling is a city in India situated along a ridge in the Himalayan foothills of northern West Bengal State, 500 kilometers north of Calcutta. Its name is derived from the Tibetan Dorje-Ling, "place of the thunderbolt," and much about the city is Tibetan in sensibility. It has three parts, joined by flights of steps and steep narrow streets; highest are hotels, shops, private schools, and entertainment for visitors and the wealthy, near the ridge line; lower, homes of residents, smaller hotels, and shops; at the bottom, the main market and bazaars. The rajas of Sikkim controlled Darjeeling intermittently until 1816, when the British gained use of the area. In 1835, the British established a sanatorium in Darjeeling. Tea arrived in 1856, and within twenty years 113 estates were producing 4 million pounds of tea per year. By the early 1900s, Darjeeling was considered among the most glamorous outposts of the British empire. After World War I, it became a staging ground for expeditions to Mount Everest. From the 1980s through the 1990s, the local population called for political autonomy from West Bengal. Attractions are the "toy train" (a narrow-gauge extension of the North Bengal State Railway); Tiger Hill, with its magnificent view of Kanchenjunga and, occasionally, Mount Everest; botanical gardens; Buddhist monasteries; and museums.
C. Roger Davis
Further Reading
Michell, George, and Philip Davies. (1989) The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India. Vol. 2. New York: Viking.
This complete Darjeeling contains 247 words. This
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