Gidda Pahar is the heart of Kurseong. Kurseong diary part VI. 2023

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Gidda Pahar

Gidda Pahar’s visit, scenic beauty, and other interesting episodes. Videography: Saikat Ghosh

:http://Gidda Pahar’s visit, scenic beauty, and other interesting episodes. Videography: Saikat Ghosh

Video of Saikat’s commentary from Subhash Chandra Bose museum and scenic beauty and a baffling structure on the way to the museum. Videography: Saikat Ghosh

Introduction

September 18, 2022 (Sunday)

The regular readers of my story may remember that I wrote in part V that the Gidda Pahar hid in the mist when we came out of the Makaibari tea factory. So we put the Gidda Pahar visit off, as suggested by Pradip Lamha.


I no longer have to talk about Pradip. In the previous articles in my Kurseong diary, I mentioned Pradip. “If you want to enjoy the Giddy Pahar, leave early in the morning,” said Pradip.

Visit Gidda Pahar

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Way to Gidda Pahar. Courtesy: a photo of flick driver

Pradip is a native of the area. He knows the climate in Kurseong. And he seemed right. The sky was visible when we got into Pradip’s car the next day. It was early morning, around 5 00. The dawn’s rays were visible. There was not a trace of cloud. We were going to Giddi Pahar, ”the home of a huge Hanuman idol.”

Description of scenic beauty and journey

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Photography: Saikat Ghosh
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Hanuman Statue and tea garden in Gidda Pahar. Photography: Saikat Ghosh


After a while, the sunrise over the hill, and the brown cloud clung to it. Soon, the wind pushed away the cloud, and the weather again became clear and bright.

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Pradip Lamha explains about tea leaf garden. Photography: Saikat Ghosh

The scene gladdened me: one side mountain and another side gorge.  Pradip was on the steering. The roads ascend/descend into curves leading to the giant Hanuman statue.

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Panoramic view from Gidda Pahar. Photography: Saikat Ghosh

Flocks of birds flying down from the mountain and headed to unknown destinations. Overall, it was heartwarming for me.


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Flock bird images. Courtesy: Free vectors, stock photo &PSD


“The road is easy to navigate. However, it would be an uphill climb and cause a physical strain if you are not in the habit of walking on such a winding, ascending, and descending hill road. You will gasp for air if that is the case. But trekkers enjoyed the road while looking at the beauty of nature,” opined Pradip.



The green tea garden keeps you greeted from the foothill to the head hill. The sun-drenched green hill will drain your drudgery.

Gidda Pahar and Giant Hanuman idol

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Hanuman statue in Gidda Pahar. Source: Google

We reached the giant Hanuman idol after traversing the high and low winding road of about one and a half kilometers. The Gorkha Territorial Administration built it in 2021.

The statue is 40 feet tall.

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Photography: Saikat Ghosh



What could be the reason for constructing such a huge Hanuman idol on the Gidda Pahar? Are the hill people devotees of Hanuman? Pradip smiled after listening to my question. “There is nothing like this. The hill people believe in the power of Hanuman. So the Hanuman idol is solid because of that. Looking at the idol, you can see how strong Hanuman’s arm is. So the statue would last long, and the idol corresponds to Hanuman’s strength.” Pradip said, laughing aloud.

So, that is one way of thinking. I smiled in my heart as well.

Durbindara is the ancient name of Kurseong. In the Gorkha language, Dara means hill. Pradip said that in the Gorkha language, the distant object seen from the mountain is called Durbindara.

You can have a panoramic view of Kurseong town from here, including the Sanatorium of the British era. We went to the Nai Basti monastery after seeing the Hanuman statue. The locals built it in 1961.

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Pradip Lamha shows important places through a panoramic view.

Gidda Pahar & Nai Basti

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Nai Basti monastry: Photography: saikat Ghosh
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Naibasti’s Monk’s hostel. Photography: saikat Ghosh

In Nai Basti, there was another viewpoint. You can view Tilang Dara from here. Aiming at the canal, if you look up, the place is called Simona. From Simona, the road goes to Sukha bazar, Lepcha Jagat, and Sanadakpur.

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Colorful flags in the monastery are called Lungar. Photography: Saikat Ghosh

We reached Sahihtor. You may glimpse Mahanadi and Ahildara from there.

We then advanced to another viewpoint. I saw something like an iron bracket under construction. It looked like an old structure. But Pradip said that the work of making a ropeway is going on. But one glance at it might make you think that this structure is a relic of yesteryear.

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The ropeway is under construction. The ropeway will carry tourists from the hill to Rohini lake. By road, Rohani lake is more than ren kilometers. Ropeway will shorten the distance to 6 kilometers.

The unpredictable climate in the hills

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The sunny day turns foggy. The reflection of unpredictable weather of hills. Photography: Saikat Ghosh
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The sunny day turns foggy. The reflection of unpredictable weather of hills. Photography: Saikat Ghosh

The weather in the hills is unpredictable. The sun was glaring moments ago. Then, the sun sank under the cloud as the weather turned misty. Fog makes the mountain disappear.


Around it was foggy too. Nature might not have wanted us to enjoy the views on the last leg of our tour.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose museum

The video carries a live commentary by Saikat from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose museum and the scenic beauty on the way to the museum. Videography: Saikat Ghosh
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Photography: Saikat Ghosh

Correspondence with Emilie Schenk.

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Letter from Subhash Chandra Bose’s, then his would-be wife, Emilie Schenk
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Finally, we went to the Netaji Chandra Bose museum. It is a historical monument. He contributed to national affairs and personal matters while under house arrest here. The museum has preserved correspondences between Netaji, Rabindranath Tagore, and Jawaharlal Nehru on the controversy over the song ”Vande Mataram.”

Conclusion

At the start of this story, I uploaded two videos made by my son Saikat. The footage carries Saikat’s live commentary inside the Netaji Bose museum. Also, it covers the scenic beauty of our day-long tour. Readers may watch the video to get finer details.

We were to leave for New Jalpaiguri the next day, September 19. The return journey was on September 20 by Shatabdi Express.

However, I wanted to visit Darjeeling the following day before departure to New Jalpaiguri if the weather was pleasant for the Darjeeling tour. But to know whether we could make it, readers may wait for the next part of my story.