When the British first arrived in Darjeeling
it was almost completely forested and virtually uninhabited,
though it had once been a sizeable village
before the wars with Bhutan and Nepal.
After 1840 a road was constructed, rapid development followed,
numerous houses were built and by 1857-
Darjeeling had a population of some 10,000.
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Nepali laborours were recruited to toil in the tea gardens
established in the 1840s by British.
Even now, majority of Darjeeling inhabitants speak-
Nepali as the first language and the name Darjeeling
continues to be synonymous with tea.
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The immigration of Nepali-speaking people, mainly Gurkhas,
into the mountainous areas of West Bengal,
eventually led to political problems in the mid-1980s.
Resentment had been growing among the Gurkhas
over what they felt was discrimination against them
by the government of West Bengal.
Their language was not recognised by the Indian Constitution
and government jobs were open only to those who could speak Bengali.
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Since the formation of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council in 1988
the hill areas fall under its jurisdiction.
It has elected Councillors and they have the authority
in managing certain affairs of the hill
like education, tourism, health etc.
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On 29th May 1953 two men set foot on Mount Everest
for the first time in history
and one of them was Tenzing Norgay, from Darjeeling.
Subsequently, this historical event led to the formation of
the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling.
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A tactically key location in controlling
the entry to Nepal and Bhutan,
Darjeeling served as a British outpost in the Himalayas.
It was base for the defence of the trade route
to Tibet through Sikkim.
And from its imposing altitude, the whole of Sikkim
and the surrounding could be observed and sheltered.
More than any thing else it was a summer-
resort for British officials
to escape the heat of the plains of Bengal.
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The Sakya Monastery in Ghoom takes it start
from the Sakya-pa School.
This school is one of the most famous schools of Buddhism.
The school follows the teachings of
the Buddhist teacher, Sakya Trizin.
The original monastery was started somewhere around 1915.
Sakya Trizin shifted to India in the year 1959 and started this
Sakya Monastery near Darjeeling in the year 1960
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Tiger hills is the highest point in the area which provides
the most exotic view of the Kanchenjunga peaks.
From this place the other peaks of
theEastern Himalayas can be seen.
On a clear day the sight of Mt. Everest is just enthralling.
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“If thou art worn and hard beset
With sorrows, that thou wouldst forget,
If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep
Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep,
Go to the woods and hills! No tears
dim the sweet look that Nature wears.
I stood upon the hills, when heaven’s wide arch
was glorious with the sun’s returning march”
(HW Longfellow: Sunrise on the Hills)
–First rays of the rising sun on Mt. Kanchenchunga
A view from Tiger Hills–
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The first day’s sun asked
at the new manifestation of being-
Who are you? No answer came.
Year after year went by, the last sun of the day
the last question utters on the western sea-shore,
in the silent evening
Who are you? he gets no answer.
(Tagore: Rogashajjai)
~Sun peeping from the snow at the eastern valley of Tiger Hills~
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Here lies the ocean of peace,
Helmsman, launch the boat.
You will always be the comrade.
Take, O take him to your heart.
In the path of the Infinitewill shine the “Dhruba-tara”. (North Star)
Giver of freedom, your forgiveness, and your mercy
will be wealth inexhaustible
in the eternal journey.
May the mortal bonds perish,
May the vast universe take him in its arms,
And may he know in his fearless heart
The great unknown.
(Tagore: Sesh Lekha)
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For Buddha, Samsara is a vicious cycle of birth and death.
According to him, beginning and end of world is within Samsara.
As the part and vigor are relative it does not make any sense
to single out anything as the beginning.
Whatever speculation we make regarding the origin of the world,
there is no absolute truth in our notion.
~The revolving prayer rods from a monastry in Darjeeling~
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One day a disciple called Malunkyaputta asked Buddha
to explain the origin of universe.
He threatened to leave Buddha’s principle if he failed to explain.
Buddha calmly explained that it is of no effect
to himif Malunkyaputta followed him or not,
as the truth did not need any one’s testimonial.
Then Buddha said that he would not discuss the origin of universe,
for him gaining knowledge about the past
and the future is a waste of time,
and man’s aim is to liberate himself from the present.
--A snap from outside the Ghoom monastry, Darjeeling.--
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To illustrate this, Buddha related the tale
of a man who was shot by a poisoned arrow.
The idiotic man rejected to have the arrow detached
until he found out all about the person who shot it.
By the time his followers discovered these pointless facts,
the man was dead.
Similarly, our immediate task is to attain Nirvana,
not to worry about our beginnings.
~another snap from Ghoom monastry~
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The ‘worshipping’ at the Buddha image
is quite a different matter.
Buddhists revere the image of the Buddha
as a gesture to the greatest, wisest, most benevolent,
compassionate and holy man who has ever lived in this world.
It is a historical fact that this great man actually lived in this world
and has done a great service to mankind.
The worship of the Buddha really means paying homage,
veneration and devotion to Him and what He represents,
and not to the stone or metal figure.
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Life so striking, a heart so chaste and pious,
a mind so profound and liberal,
a character so moving and noble –
such an ideal life, such a concerned spirit,
such a quiet mind, such a serene personality
is really worthy of reverence, worthy of tribute
and worthy of submission.
Buddha was one of the highest perfections of mankind
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Some answers which the Buddha gave to the queries
had close parallels to the kind responses
which are given in nuclear science.
According to Robert Oppenheimer, ‘If we ask, for instance,
whether the position of the electron remains the same,
we must say ‘no’; if we ask whether it is in motion,
we must say ‘no’.
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Buddha has given such answers when interrogated
as to the conditions of a man’s self after his death;
but they are not familiar answers in accordance with the tradition
of seventeenth and eighteenth century science.’
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Women’s position in Buddhism is unique.
Buddha gave women full freedom
to participate in a religious life.
Buddha was the first religious Teacher who gave
this religious freedom to women.
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Before the Buddha, women’s duties
had been restricted to the kitchen;
women were not even allowed to enter any temple
or to recite any religious scripture.
‘When one’s mind is well concentrated and wisdom never fails,
does the fact of being a woman make any difference?’
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"I sit at my window this morning
"I sit at my window this morning
